Revolage

That's very odd that a faculty member dissuaded you like that. Did he give a reason? Something like that requires justification - I hope he offered one. I'd be interested to know your background - I know many places are very suspicious of individuals who seem "too conservative" or "too evangelical", which is a sad commentary on religious institutions that claim tolerance. Anyway, here's my rundown: Boston University (Div. of Religious and Theological Studies): accepted, awaiting funding info Harvard University (Graduate School, not Divinity): rejected 3/6/2008 University of Chicago (Divinity School): no word yet Marquette University (Theology Dept.): no word yet Notre Dame (Philosophy): rejected by implication (three of my colleagues at NIU got in to the PhD program, though!) Notre Dame (Theology): rejected by implication Boston College (Theology): rejected 3/3/2008 Saint Louis University (Philosophy): no word yet Loyola University Chicago (Philosophy): accepted, awaiting funding info I regret not applying to PTS. It seems that I would have been able to pursue my interests there. Broadly, I want to study philosophy of religion and philosophical theology. Specifically, I'm interested in (1) Barth/Wittgenstein's common disagreement with natural theology and (2) religious epistemology.

Stud. Theol., Sorry to hear about your progress so far this year regarding applications. I didn't get into any programs last year and was kinda bummed, despite having 2 M.A.'s, a 4.0 GPA on my last one, great GRE scores, adjunct teaching experience, and great recommendations. I can relate to a lot of what you said. My M.A.'s are in precisely the two fields you mentioned: analytic philosophy and Christian systematic theology. Finding a PhD program that allows one to combine both is a challenge, but I do think there are options. I'm surprised you said that the faculty you spoke with at Boston University didn't seem helpful. Did you speak with Dr. Garth Green? Besides being a genius, his research and teaching interests are right at the connection between philosophy and theology (http://www.bu.edu/religion/faculty/bios/green.html). I spoke with him about a similar project for doctoral work, and he was quite helpful and informative. There were some others at BU who also seem to have interests up that alley. I got into Boston University this time around, and am quite excited at the prospect of studying there. Also, they have the Institute for Philosophy and Religion, which I think would also be helpful. Regarding Chicago, I've also applied there and am waiting to hear word from them. I spoke with Gamwell, and he seemed understanding of my interests. Chicago might be more difficult for one from a more conservative theological background (from what I've heard), but it still might be possible to engage in a project of that nature if one were willing to broaden it a bit. You may want to consider another program that i'm waiting on: Marquette's Theology program. They have a program called Theology and Society which is specifically geared toward interdisciplinary work, and they are very open to integrating philosophy with theology. As a matter of fact, they consider a solid philosophy background as being crucial to doing good theology, and advised that I stress that on my application. Dr. Stephen Long does a lot of work on Barth and also is very much engaged in philosophical theology. Mark Johnson and Ralph Del Colle would also be great for such projects. Hope that helps!