Perique69

PhD in religion? Be careful out there. It's so tough to land a job.

Yes!

Ask yourself why you feel so compelled to be gratified by some silly professor? 99.9% of them are little more than ventriloquists who spend their careers idolizing their favorite thinkers.

This thread's low turnout is interesting, indeed. It just doesn't make much sense to pour into a religion PhD only to end up in a market offering about 1 job for every 100 graduates (at best). Compare this ratio to newly minted psychiatrists who cherry pick from approximately 50 job offers per individual. Even if the "prestigious" religion PhD lands a job, the salary is so meager that canned baked beans soon become costly. Meanwhile, lowly nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and IT folks command salaries well over $100k with a fraction of the education and debt of a religion PhD. Resist the narcissistic institutions who keep irresponsibly offering degrees requiring years to earn but deliver such figuratively and literally paltry returns. Walk away. Clear your dewy eyes and become something of which Thomas Paine would be proud.

I'd go with Boston. No question. There is no good reason to incur debt for theology / religion degrees.

Thanks! I'm excited. Not a joke post as some seemed to have thought.

Accepted to Emory, Bob Jones, Princeton U, and an online program (Capella) so far. PhD in NT except for the online program. Really waiting to hear from Regent and Harvard.

Only raging masochists incur debt for a PhD in religion. $180,000 for Oxford is just insane considering the degree won't be worth much more than $40k per year salary.

MarXian, great point about the subjective element. Many refuse to believe such a force plays a role in admissions decision making. But it plays a larger role than most realize.

Personally, I would not incur any amount of debt for any master-level degree in religion especially the purely academic degrees. There simply is no reliable job market for these degrees without a PhD.

7 plus years is the norm for PhD programs (especially religion) in America. It's not unusual for some to take 10 or more years. The most focused and effective can finish in 5 or 6 years, but that's rare. Why 7 years? The combination of coursework, language exams, comprehensive exams and dissertation require A LOT of time. Most don't even begin the dissertation until year 4.

Not at all. Just doing my part to clear the clouds on the reality of careers in teaching religion, etc.

A degree in math from an elite liberal arts school? Be aware that your math degree holds far more earning potential than any degree in religion or philosophy. Read philosophy of religion for fun, and get a real job with your math degree. Read this in 20 years if you go the religion route then you'll say, damn, perique69 was right on the money.

MarXian, yes, you're right about my broad point that Kant is really important for understanding later figures, and even earlier figures to a degree. He is that pervasive. End of story. Joseph is miles down a rabbit trail regarding my posts. That's about all I can say. Besides, isn't an MPhil a one year advanced degree that presupposes at least 2 years of higher level coursework in philosophy? I know this is the case at Cambridge. I'm not sure why the OP seems to want a very basic intro to philosophical theology.

For the OP, check out F. Beiser's The Fate of Reason, which is a great general history of the period between Kant and Fichte. The Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy series are well worth your time. Be well acquainted with Augustine's Confessions and Descartes' Meditations as precursors to Kant's Critique. (Hint: Confessions is NOT a spiritual autobiography.)