Systematic/Constructive Theology Departments

[Vita Passiva]

In your opinion, which schools have strong Systematic/Constructive theology departments? I am looking for a Master's program.

A few things to consider:

1. Faculty

2. Academic rigor

3. Institutional reputation

4. Areas of Theology (i.e. traditional loci or liberationist, feminist, etc.)

5. Ecumenical Dialogue

[PhdWannabee]

So this is a really good question, but I think no one has replied because the question is a bit of a landmine. Someone throws out their opinion about X School, and an X School alum gets angry because that is a generalization, a bias from another theological preference, etc. For instance there was (a year or two ago) a link to a ranking of theological programs on the First Things blog, and calamity ensued with some defending and some slamming.

I'm glad to help, but it might be better to maybe say what topics interest you, and perhaps what authors, because this will drastically change what a strong theology program will be for you. And for anyone else who joins this discussion, lets go ahead and keep it clean. People have different theological interests; some methods or traditions are more intuitively plausible to other people.

[Febronia]

I would strongly recommend one of the schools of the Boston Theological Institute, because then you can take classes at any of the others. They are very different places, with a very broad spectrum of theological approaches, but that makes it a great place for ecumenical work. And they all have different strengths, so if you went into any of these programs focused on taking classes throughout the consortium in the areas strongest for specific schools, you would come out with an incredible education, probably better than any individual school could give you. There are some individual programs that would be considered stronger than the individual BTI schools, but I think it would be hard to find anything that would compare to the strength of the consortium as a whole.

Of course, this advice assumes that you actively scross-register at the different schools. Too many students don't.

Andover Newton, Boston College, Boston University, Episcopal Divinity School, Gordon Conwell, Harvard Divinity School, Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, Saint John's Seminary

[Vita Passiva]

So this is a really good question, but I think no one has replied because the question is a bit of a landmine. Someone throws out their opinion about X School, and an X School alum gets angry because that is a generalization, a bias from another theological preference, etc. For instance there was (a year or two ago) a link to a ranking of theological programs on the First Things blog, and calamity ensued with some defending and some slamming.

I'm glad to help, but it might be better to maybe say what topics interest you, and perhaps what authors, because this will drastically change what a strong theology program will be for you. And for anyone else who joins this discussion, lets go ahead and keep it clean. People have different theological interests; some methods or traditions are more intuitively plausible to other people.

My interests in Systematics lie in the traditional loci. More specifically, I am interested in Prolegomena, Soteriology, and Trinitarian theology. I really enjoy "contemporary" theologians such as Robert Jensen, Eberhard Jungel, and Karl Barth. I am looking for a school with a faculty that is interested in orthodox questions, ecumenical relations (inter-denominational), and ecclesial edification. I suppose I would be more inclined to study with a more "conservative" faculty than "liberal", while holding the tension of being intellectually honest and academically rigorous.

[Vita Passiva]

I would strongly recommend one of the schools of the Boston Theological Institute, because then you can take classes at any of the others. They are very different places, with a very broad spectrum of theological approaches, but that makes it a great place for ecumenical work. And they all have different strengths, so if you went into any of these programs focused on taking classes throughout the consortium in the areas strongest for specific schools, you would come out with an incredible education, probably better than any individual school could give you. There are some individual programs that would be considered stronger than the individual BTI schools, but I think it would be hard to find anything that would compare to the strength of the consortium as a whole.

Of course, this advice assumes that you actively scross-register at the different schools. Too many students don't.

Andover Newton, Boston College, Boston University, Episcopal Divinity School, Gordon Conwell, Harvard Divinity School, Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, Saint John's Seminary

That certainly makes sense. There are many great faculty members at all of these schools. Do you know how much of a Master's degree you can divide up among all of these schools (e.g. must one take 50% of classes at the primary institution)?

[PhdWannabee]

My interests in Systematics lie in the traditional loci. More specifically, I am interested in Prolegomena, Soteriology, and Trinitarian theology. I really enjoy "contemporary" theologians such as Robert Jensen, Eberhard Jungel, and Karl Barth. I am looking for a school with a faculty that is interested in orthodox questions, ecumenical relations (inter-denominational), and ecclesial edification. I suppose I would be more inclined to study with a more "conservative" faculty than "liberal", while holding the tension of being intellectually honest and academically rigorous.

I'm a little less knowledgeable in this area (and thus invite those more learned to chime in), but those seem to be pretty well represented interests at most larger programs, and even well represented at some of the smaller Lutheran schools. I'm surprised that you named those three authors and didn't mention Pannenberg? JK. It may be better to focus then on conservative-leaning but intellectually rigorous schools since most of these will have Barthians, etc. Off the top of my head, I think of Andover-Newton, Fuller, maybe even Duke (not that they are conservative, but they do have a strong preference towards Christian orthodoxy (taking this from many friends of mine who have come out of the program). I'm going to think on this. Others?

[flynnkc]

You'll want to look at Princeton Seminary. Lots of Barthians and lots of modern theology.

[Febronia]

That certainly makes sense. There are many great faculty members at all of these schools. Do you know how much of a Master's degree you can divide up among all of these schools (e.g. must one take 50% of classes at the primary institution)?

It depends on the individual school. I went to HDS, and the rule for us was 50% of our courses at HDS. But each school has its own policies.

[Church Mouse]

My interests in Systematics lie in the traditional loci. More specifically, I am interested in Prolegomena, Soteriology, and Trinitarian theology. I really enjoy "contemporary" theologians such as Robert Jensen, Eberhard Jungel, and Karl Barth. I am looking for a school with a faculty that is interested in orthodox questions, ecumenical relations (inter-denominational), and ecclesial edification. I suppose I would be more inclined to study with a more "conservative" faculty than "liberal", while holding the tension of being intellectually honest and academically rigorous.

Have you thought about Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield IL? I've heard good things about them in terms of Barth and Trinitarian theology.