Busut

Actually, I have MA in Philosophy. It's really helpful for me to apply schools, so you got a nice point, bonhoeffer80. Nowadays, my philosophical view is obsoleted and almost all of contemporary philosophers do not care the view. If they accepted or denied it, I would carry on what I did. However, they just ignored it so I couldn't keep the way. Thank you guys anyway! All of your answers are very helpful for me.

Well.. I'm not sure about my color in theology because I did not study well, and I did not care about diverse traditions of Christianity until now. I think I should study a history of the church before I go abroad, and care about this point when I research colleges. Korean church tradition is very conservative, so they think me as a progressive one. However, I think that my position in U.S. theology can be conservative. I don't want to leave my evangelical tradition, but I can open my ears and listen to other tradition's story and other religion's point. Actually, the principle of charity is natural for me, so I can be a good listener even for enemies of the church. I think that I can study in a school which is a progressive one, though some topics that I want cannot be dealt thoroughly. My ultimate goal is not clear because it will be something mixed with theology and philosophy. I'm not sure which portion is more important, but I know that I should start with theology. Therefore, open-mind is the most important thing for me at this stage. Of course, I research schools before applying them, but most of them can give me a good training to be a scholar.

Thank you, guys. Your answers are really helpful for me. I think it is ok to apply for M.Div programs. Currently, I'm trying to apply top divinity schools like Harvard, Duke, Emory(Candler) etc. Of course, it is not sure that I can be admitted or not, but it is worth to try. If I rejected those schools, then I'll try seminaries. Denver, Trinity Evangelical, GTU, Talbot are good examples. I think that if I can be admitted top schools, the program that I choose will not be a huge problem. Thanks a lot!

Hello. I'm planning to apply for M.Div or M.T.S program, and I'd like to obtain a Ph.D. degree eventually. I'm not sure that what major I have to choose. It will be systematic theology or philosophy of religion or something similar with these, and I don't want to be a pastor. I want to be in an academic field. In Korea, there is a rumor that there are some schools which do not allow applying for a Ph.D. degree to M.Div owners. This makes me nervous, so I want to confirm this. I think that M.Div will be better for me because M.Div programs offer a broader range of study in theology. Therefore, I want to apply for a M.div program if it does not interfere applying for Ph.D. programs.