Graduate Diploma in Theology

• Entry Requirements
• General Information
• Course Objectives
• Course Regulations
• Course Structure
• Rationale
• Cycle of Offerings by year & semester 2008-2009
• Scheduled Unit Outlines 2008

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Rationale

 

The Graduate Diploma in Theology is an 80 cp award intended both for lay persons and for those preparing for ordained ministry through the BCT's graduate courses. Building on foundational work completed in the Graduate Certificate in Theology (or equivalent), the Graduate Diploma in Theology provides students with the opportunity to continue their study of the various fields of theology at a more advanced level. The emphasis remains on breadth rather than specialisation, with students required to complete electives in a minimum of three Fields including Biblical Studies and Systematic and Moral Theology. (The other Fields from which students select electives are Church History, Philosophy, and Ministry and Mission.).

The program caters for students who wish to extend the knowledge and skills acquired in the Graduate Certificate in Theology but have no immediate plans to continue beyond the Graduate Diploma in Theology, and students who will continue on to more advanced theological studies at masters level and beyond. For both groups of students, the kinds of generic skills identified in the rationale for the Graduate Certificate in Theology and under Specialised Professional Skills continue to be refined, with increasing emphasis being placed on mastery of the genres of writing employed in theological discourse, development of an understanding and appreciation of theological research, and continuing development of the skills that underpin theological research.

As the second in a sequence of nested courses providing successively more advanced studies in theology, the underlying purpose of the Graduate Diploma in Theology is to support the attainment of outcomes implicit in the overall rationale for the BCT's postgraduate courses in theology. This means that for students proceeding from the Graduate Certificate in Theology to the Graduate Diploma in Theology, their academically rigorous engagement with the discipline of theology intensifies as they continue to

• develop their ability to make critically analytical responses to such sources of theological reflection as Scripture, tradition, and experience
• develop their awareness of the constant reinterpretation throughout history and within diverse contexts of the historical event of Jesus Christ
• engage with contemporary scholarly thinking about Christianity and the Church and their interpretation within the broader contexts of culture and society
• develop competencies in the analysis and development of theoretical frameworks for understanding and communicating the Christian faith
• develop their ability (a) to engage in sustained theological reflection about the Christian faith in general and about their own faith in particular, and (b) to formulate carefully conceived, clearly argued personal responses to significant new ideas encountered throughout the program.

On successful completion of the Graduate Diploma in Theology, students who satisfy the GPA requirement of 5.00 or better are eligible for entry into the BCT's Master of Theology and Master of Ministry courses.