External Bachelor of Divinity at University of London

Good day to all. This is my first post, but I am a frequent visitor of the forum and I must say that I have learned tremendous amounts of valuable information here just from reading the idea exchanges. I especially appreciate the friendly atmosphere throughout and the professional attitudes shown from all the participants. Keep up the good work.

Here is a question that I hope you can share some insight on. I have looking at the External Undergraduate Degree programs at the University of London, and the Bachelor of Divinity program looks to me particularly interesting. What do you think of the program? Would anyone with first-hand knowledge care to share his/her experience and thoughts on the degree’s quality, reputation, and acceptability in North America?

Is this degree a good preparation and acceptable for graduate study (MTS, MDiv) at ATS accredited seminaries/theological schools? Even though I am currently only considering the study of theology as personal interest, I would like to know what options this degree could open the door to.

Thank you in advance.

Willy

 

Excellent questions. I'll answer them as best I can:

1. In some countries (including the UK, as of twenty years ago), the B.D. is used instead of the M.Div. as the basic-level ordination credential. It's supplemented with other pastoral training, of course, but my understanding is that it is, or was, the academic component of ministry training.

2. Acceptance is a tricky issue, but any credential evaluation service worth its weight will approve it as being *at least* bachelor's level, and very possibly master's level.

3. If you're thinking of leveraging the B.D. and additional credentials (say, an M.Min.) into M.Div. equivalency, be sure you pick a biblical languages track. The London B.D. has three options: Hebrew Old Testament, Greek New Testament, and English New Testament. The difference between whether the B.D. is part of M.Div. equivalency or a good preparation for M.Div. equivalency will probably lie in the question "Did you have to do any biblical languages?"

Good luck!


Peace,


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Tom Head
www.tomhead.net

 

Thank you Tom for sharing the info. Much appreciated.

At the moment I am still trying to understand exactly what is involved in enrolling and graduating from the program. A lot of it is just getting used to the British academic language. But the program does look very interesting.

I am not quite clear about your message on point 3: on the Biblical Language requirement. Are you saying that, to make the BD most credible, I should choose the Biblical Language Track (Hebrew, Greek)?

BTW, are you going to put up more interesting articles on your website? What about sharing your recent experience on choosing Doctorate program on Religion?

Willy