M. Div (divinity) that is online and non-christian?

Hi,
Please help me find an online M. Div degree program (US or Canada) that is
1- not entirely christian
2- very affordable

It would be nice if they focus on the idea of "consciousness" or eastern philosophy.


Thank you!

 

I don't think there is such a thing as a non-Christian MDiv.

 

Nations University which is NA offered it. It has a lot of schools in prisons so maybe it's considered non-Christian. This is my second post in a row mentioning the school... Sorry about that, but I've only read about it. In fact, I learned about it reading the forums here. It's $1000 a year.

 

Your thinking on this is not bad but I think that Ted is correct. From the Nations website:

"NationsUniversity 's Master of Divinity program seeks to train Christian leaders that are inclined for applied Christian living and ministry. The University's Master of Divinity program is designed as a general ministry professional degree."

 

Cherryhill University

A Pagan Seminary.

cherryhillseminary.org

 

Well, I have to admit that Cherry Hill's catalogue looks interesting. Unfortunately, it contains a similar statement to one I've seen from other schools that are just plain mills:

"We plan to apply for accreditation from the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC), a non-profit educational accreditation agency in the United States specializing in the accreditation of distance education institutions." (They must have been carrying this for a long time. The change to DEAC was quite a while ago.)

I've seen other schools carrying this claim and it was totally misleading. Those schools NEVER applied -- and none of them would have succeeded if they had. I hope this isn't another case of non-intent. Out-of-the-ordinary schools, e.g. University of Philosophical Research have achieved DEAC accreditation. Why shouldn't a properly-structured pagan school have a chance? Sometimes, as with natural healing, the subject matter is too far out of the mainstream for the standard accreditors. Perhaps this school could be an exception -- but first it has to apply.

I'm content to wait and see what happens. Meantime, yes, they offer a religious-exempt, unaccredited, non-Christian M.Div., if that works for anyone. Good find, CDW.

J.

 

There are a tiny number of non-Christian ones.

It's true that the M.Div. has historically been associated with Christian professional education. Non-Christians had other traditional ways of training their clergy. But since some ostensibly non-sectarian positions (such as some kinds of chaplains) require an M.Div., some some non-Christian educational organizations have started rolling them out. For example:

Master of Divinity – Institute of Buddhist Studies

I don't know of any offered by distance learning though.

 

To my knowledge, there are a few M.Div's that are non-Christian (I'm interested in Buddhist M.Div's myself), but none are online. Some may offer some distance options.

Harvard University Divinity School is non-denominational and includes a Buddhist Ministry concentration/track.

Naropa in Boulder, CO has a Buddhist MDiv, and they do a lot of online stuff, but I don't know how much of that program can be done distance/online.

Ditto University of the West in Rosemead, CA

Maitripa College in Portland, OR offers a Buddhist MDiv; I believe they are more Tibetan-tradition focused.

Institute of Buddhist Studies in Berkeley, CA (Shin Buddhist); some courses online I think.

U of Chicago Divinity School is mainly Christian but adding more Buddhist courses I believe.

Interestingly, Upaya in Santa Fe,NM (Soto Zen Buddhist) offers a 2-year low-residency program in Buddhist Chaplaincy. While not an MDiv program, their program is considered equivalent to 48 credits (i.e., 2 years) by the Association of Professional Chaplains for APC's purposes.

 

A school for "The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari?" :smile: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monk_Who_Sold_His_Ferrari

J.

 

I don't know if this fits what you're looking for, but here you go.

https://www.tku.edu/academics/graduate/master-of-divinity-in-messianic-jewish-studies/

 

The Department of Defense expanded its list of recognized faiths and belief systems for chaplains, but they still require a 72-credit M.Div or similar degree. I was curious if most people will have no choice but to complete a Christian program. The military gives alternative majors, but half the courses still have to be in theology. I don't think there is a social work program that is 50% theology, let alone, 72 credit hours.

 

UK distance learning from From a Masters site

Here is the link:

https://www.findamasters.com/masters-degrees/united-kingdom/theology-and-religious-studies/distance-learning/?52wE980

 

And one more link.

https://www.gradschools.com/masters/theology?countries=united-kingdom

 

I don't think there's a Social Work program that's even 1% theology. Why would it be? Social Work is a regulated, licensed profession. CSWE controls the MSW programs across the country. If you look at MSW programs they are essentially identical from one state to another, private v. public, etc. Now if you attend an MSW program at a university that has a Theology department you might be given the chance to take a theology class as an elective but I'm not even sure that's true. It just isn't going to happen.

 

The first US military Buddhist chaplain was Jeanette Shin in the US Navy in 2004. She is a graduate of Berkeley's Institute of Buddhist Studies. Interestingly, she didn't graduate from IBS' California-approved (but WASC candidate) MDiv, but rather from the RA-accredited IBS/GTU joint MA program. Apparently students in this particular program who have chaplaincy intentions can take additional units with the approval of their advisors to get them up to 72 units. The GTU schools certainly offer a plethora of pastoral counseling and leadership type classes that should be applicable across traditions.

U.S. Navy Commissions Military's First Buddhist Chaplain

https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/q-lt-jeanette-shin-us-militarys-first-buddhist-chaplain/

Common-MA Program Overview – Institute of Buddhist Studies

There are now several more Buddhist chaplains in various branches of the US military.

Here's one in the US Army. This guy is originally from Thailand and was a monastic there for years. He came to the US to be a resident monk at a Buddhist temple. While he was serving as a clergyman there he spoke to Buddhist military members who told him that there were no Buddhist chaplains. That's when he resolved to 'disrobe' (renounce his monastic vows at least temporarily, something that's common in Buddhism) and become a Buddhist chaplain. I believe that he might be a graduate of the University of the West's MDiv in Buddhist Chaplaincy as well.

https://www.army.mil/article/56452/jblm-soldier-first-only-active-duty-buddhist-chaplain-in-army/

https://www.lionsroar.com/university-of-the-west-graduates-its-first-student-from-the-master-of-divinity-in-buddhist-chaplaincy-program/

 

I don't know if there is a social work program that includes theology courses, but Amridge has MDiv programs with professional counseling and marriage and family therapy concentrations that meet LPC and LMFT licensing requirements. They're Christian programs, though.

 

I'm wondering if the military will waive the 72-credit master's requirement if the person has a theology master's plus a social work/counseling-related master's or doctorate that make the graduate credit hours total 72.

 

This Wikipedia article states that the MDiv is typically, but not exclusively a degree that focuses on the Christian religious tradition. I've included it here because there are a couple of citations in the references section that might be useful in your search.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_Divinity