Lux Lex Pax

Despite his recent, more polemical work, Ehrman's introduction to NT is great for providing the contextual, historical, literary background; it's well written, and a pleasure to read. For a theological perspective that reads the NT through the eyes of faith, I would recommend Luke Timothy Johnson's introduction to NT. When I was at PTS, we used Johnson's intro, but I supplemented it with Ehrman's; the two complement each other nicely.

This isn't my area, but I think Emory and PTS are supposed to be good at theological interpretations of the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible.

I wouldn't read too much into the Princeton professors not getting back to you. The religion, ethics, and politics / religion and philosophy subfield is stretched thin this year. Two of them (Eddie Glaude and Eric Gregory) are on sabbatical this year -- an unusual occurrence. Leora Batnitzky is the chair of the department this year and is very busy. Jeff Stout receives lots of emails a day and is obviously in high demand; he tries his best to respond but sometimes its impossible to keep up with the volume. This, however, shouldn't deter you from the program since they always make time for students in the program.

Exactly.

I'd say 90th percentile or higher should be good enough. A low GRE will keep you out, but a high one will only get you in the running. I had a friend (white male) who got into a bible program Ph.D. program at Harvard with a verbal GRE score somewhere around the 85th percentile, so it really depends on the complete package you bring to the table. As for the revised GRE, I thought it was easier than the previous one. I like the emphasis on reading comprehension rather than on analogies, so I'm biased.

Emory also offers full funding for fives years that isn't contingent on teaching.

As someone who has gone through this process, let me offer you some advice about applying to Ph.D. programs. Your undergraduate institution isn't a big deal if you have a master's degree. I graduated from a small, Christian, liberal arts college that few have probably heard of, and I did well during my Ph.D. application season. Obviously, it'll matter more if you apply straight out of undergrad, but, although schools will allow you to apply with a bachelor's degree alone, you probably won't be competitive enough to get admitted. Most competitive schools admit people who already have at least one master's degree and often have more than one; this is true of both Princeton Seminary and Princeton University. So you'll want to get a master's degree. Like others have said, an M.Div. is primarily for minister and an MTS is more academically oriented. The former is 3 years long, the latter is 2 years. The former is usually general, the latter is usually focused in a specific area. The former usually accepts more people and provide better funding, the latter is usually limited and provides funding only to a few. I took the M.Div. route but many future academics take the MTS (or MAR) route. It's your choice. The most important thing about applying to Ph.D. programs is "fit." It's a nebulous concept, but it basically means do your interests cohere with the faculty's and can they imagine you getting along with everyone in the department. Look at the school websites, read faculty publications, etc. to get a feel for the intellectual environment of a department or school. Contact current students. Contact faculty members. Ask about course work. Look at previous dissertations. Where are students getting placed (theology or religious studies) after graduation? These are just some of the issues you should be thinking about. Can you imagine yourself fitting in? Ask mentors in theology/religion what they think, take what they say seriously but balance that with other information and think for yourself. Faculty will determine your "fit" with their department based on your statement of purpose and letters of recommendation, so make them good. Another important element in your application will be letters of recommendation. They need to be excellent. And it usually helps if at least one is from someone they know. That's where getting a master's degree from a well-known and respected school comes in. Be strategic. Want to attend Yale for your Ph.D.? Then work with people during your master's degree program who graduated from Yale or who are friends with people who are currently there and with whom you'd like to work. It's all about connections. Grades aren't as important as people make them seem. Most faculty members will tell you that if you're a good fit and have excellent letters of recommendation, all you'll need is a 3.7 or above. The same goes with the GRE. Schools vary more with the GRE; for instance, Duke and Yale use it to weed out applicants, but in general, I'd say something above the 90th percentile in verbal is adequate. As for which schools are the best in the field, you'll have to determine that for yourself since the weight you attach to each of the criteria is subjective. Care about financial aid? Then Princeton U, Harvard, and Yale are top choices (you'll have to factor in cost of living - places like Emory, Duke, and Notre Dame might top that list). Care about job placement after graduation? Then Duke, UVa, Yale, and Princeton U. What kind of formation do you want? Duke, U Chicago, Union NYC, and Notre Dame will all be very different from each other. So you have to ask yourself what you care about most. What are your theological/religious commitments? Roman Catholic? Reformed? Methodist? Barthian? Calvinist? Pragmatist? Augustinian? Thomist? Radical Orthodoxy? Postliberal? Where you stand on those issues will help determine the best schools for you, and these considerations barely scratch the surface. For example, you might have well-known scholars at a school who don't get along, making it impossible to have both of them on our committee. Are there factions? Is someone hard to work with? Is there someone who's a great mentor? Who'll support you most, academically and personally? I chose based on financial aid, job placement after graduation, mentorship and support, friendliness of the department, and intellectual vitality. Things like theological orthodoxy or small size or the lack of someone who does "systematic" theology weren't determinative for me, but I'm in a religious studies program, not a theology program, even though I have theological interests. These are just a few of the issues you should be considering.

You shouldn't rule out winning on Millionaire, since someone at Princeton Seminary was recently on the show. You have a shot.

Actually, Princeton Seminary has a number of people that ThereWillBe might be interested in working with. In Church history, you might be interested in Paul Rorem or Kathleen McVey, although McVey's interests might be a little earlier in time than yours. In Theology, you can check out William Stacy Johnson and Mark Taylor. Johnson seems to be working on creation/ecological theology and has been doing post-modern theology for a while. Taylor does postmodern stuff and critical theory as well. Also in Theology is Ellen Charry, who deals with patristics, medieval mysticism, and contemporary theology. You can also check out John Bowlin, who is a top-notch scholar of Aquinas. If you apply to do historical theology through the Theology department, then you can do the constructive stuff you're interested in with Johnson, Taylor, and Charry and the historical stuff with Rorem or McVey.

You might also consider Princeton Theological Seminary. At the master's level, they offer tons of courses in theology and church history. At the Ph.D. level, you can do historical theology in either department, depending on what you want to emphasize more, i.e., the historical aspect or the theological aspect.

I'm not a career changer, but when I was at PTS, there were quite a few of them. I think it's actually an advantage for you, especially since you'll have a Ph.D. which other academics will respect. I think you have a great background and am sure PTS will be generous with you.

According to the web page (http://www.princeton.edu/religion/graduate/academic_fields/religion_in_america/) for the Religion in the America's subfield, which I'm guessing you're interested in, students are actually encouraged to work with faculty in departments like Anthropology, Sociology, etc., so I don't think you'd catch any flak for doing ethnography. Based on your interests, Princeton might be the perfect place for you. I'd encourage you to contact members of the faculty to get more information about the program.

The humanities and social science departments at Princeton are actually quite interdisciplinary. It may not be advertised, but there is a lot of collaboration among them. For instance, they have an interdisciplinary doctoral program in the humanities (http://www.princeton.edu/ihum/). As far as the Religion department's amendability to your project, you'd have to be more specific since your proposal might fall in multiple subfields. What regions, historical periods, languages, and religions will you need to work in and with? The answer to this question will be determinative since certain fields aren't covered by the Religion department, for instance, Medieval and Modern Europe. For that, one might try the History department.

When I was at PTS a couple of years ago, I took courses in History, Politics, and WWS/Sociology. Although they are separate institutions, they have an agreement to allow each other's students take courses. In recent years, there has been more collaboration between PTS and the Religion Department at PU.

Based on a quick search of the Harvard Divinity web site, it looks like Ann Braude might be of interest to you.

Theology and continental philosophy is not my area. However, it's easy to be misled into thinking that something is bigger and more important than it really is when one is in the middle of it. As an outsider, I think I have a little more critical distance. I looked up the people you cited and discovered that all -- with the exception of Crockett, but I may be mistaken -- are Europeans who studied in Europe and teach in Europe -- except for Dalferth, Hart, and Critchley who teach in the U.S. That doesn't indicate to me that theology and continental philosophy is a growing area here in the U.S., which is where I thought the op wanted to teach. Moreover, that Clayton Crockett teaches at the University of Central Arkansas doesn't seem to demonstrate the success of theology and continental philosophy on the academic job market, especially if you thought him important enough to mention along with the likes of Zizek, Critchley, Ward, and Hart. Although lots of students want to study theology and continental philosophy, it still appears that among the gate keepers of the profession -- university hiring committees -- it is still a marginal area of study. Radical Orthodoxy has done much to reinvigorate the discussion between theology and the continental tradition, but it still has much further to go.

My caveat to this is that if you're having a hard time finding someone who does work you're interested in or does work in your area, you should think long and hard before committing yourself to years of specialized work in that area. It's possible that the lack of people or programs specializing in that area signals a general lack of interest in the academy, which could spell doom for the job prospects of someone coming out of such a situation. It's also possible that the tides will turn and there might be a surge in hiring in your specialization when you graduate. But which do you think is more likely: theology and continental philosophy will suddenly be in demand within the next few years or things will remain the same? I'm not trying to burst anyone's bubble or destroy anybody's dream, but this is a big commitment that one should make fully-informed and with an awareness of all the realistic outcomes. If after all that you still decide to go for it, then good for you, go for your dream. Just make sure that you're fine teaching at a high school -- or any of the other options JD mentioned -- after having spent upwards of 5-8 years of life working on Ph.D. to work at a place where it isn't required. A final thought. You could also consider doing something a little more mainstream or in demand as your main specialization and maintain your other interests as a kind of minor field of concentration. Then, perhaps, after securing tenure, you can delve more deeply into other stuff. I know that sounds rather calculating and tedious but the job market is absolutely terrible, especially for the humanities and theology, and there's no sign of things improving anytime soon.

I heard, from someone in the Th.D. program at Duke, that theology at Duke is going through a bit of an upheaval. She didn't specify what was occurring, but given what others have said, it makes sense. Despite all that, Duke is a great place to study Christian theology. I'd recommend doing it through the Ph.D. program in religion, if possible. As for programs that do philosophy and religion, I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Religion department at Princeton University. They have some great people working there (Jeff Stout, Eric Gregory, Leora Batnitzky, Eddie Glaude, unfortunately Cornel West is leaving), and I'm sure that they could accomodate someone wanting to work in theology and continental philosophy. The program has a strong philosophical orientation (Stout and Glaude both work within the pragmatist tradition). For instance, Stout teaches a seminar on Hegel that I hear is excellent. Unfortunately for someone wanting to working in postmodern/continental philosophy, the Philosophy department at Princeton, like at just about every other U.S. university, is dominated by the anglo-analytic tradition, with the exception of, perhaps, Alexander Nehamas who does work on Nietzsche. With that said, I'm sure there are people in the German, French, English, and Comparative Literature departments amenable to the kind of work you would like to do. Add to this mix the theological resources of Princeton Theological Seminary next door, and I'm sure you could put together a stellar program at Princeton. The hardest part is gaining admission, but once you've cleared that hurdle, they'll take care of you with a generous, five-year financial aid package (that's not dependent on teaching or researching for anyone), strong mentorship and guidance, and a vibrant and interdisciplinary intellectual community. One more thing to think about while researching programs. It's important to realize that a Ph.D. program is an ends (a credential and training) to a means (finding a job). Check the job placement rates at the schools you're looking at as well. What's the percentage that secure tenure-track jobs? At what kinds of institutions (liberal arts, research, seminary, etc.)? On all these counts, few rank as high as Princeton. I hope these comments help. Just my two cents.

giordiocies, if you're going to write some crazy, rambling, long-winded rant about the scientific verifiability of your subjective religious experiences, it should at least be funny. Also, tl;dr.

I don't think they read the bible at Harvard.

It's my understanding that the MA in Theological Studies is only for international students. U.S. students may only apply to the M.Div., Th.M., and MA in Christian Education degree programs.

I didn't see a thread for Princeton University, so I decided to start one. Is anyone else here attending in the fall?

I just got my rejection as well. I'm at peace with the decision. I'm grateful to have other options at this point. I wish everyone else luck with their applications and decisions.

According to http://admissions.cua.edu/graduate/finaid/index.html: Academic Scholarships The Catholic University of America bases teaching assistantships and merit scholarships on applicant's academic history and their Graduate Record Exam results. In order to qualify for a university scholarship, students must submit a GRE score. The university-wide scholarship competition starts February 1st of each year and funds are awarded on a rolling basis after that deadline. Each academic school also has scholarship funds that are distributed to qualified applicants.

According to the results page, it looks like Yale has made offers to 3 people this year in NT. Either they're making up for shortages in previous years or something is amiss.