Online Divinity Degrees: Understanding the Complexity of Faith

Online education has solved a lot of academic problems and pursuing a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree is one of them. If you are a busy professional already caught up in serving your community but still keen on pursuing your Divinity degree, you can do it easily from within the comfort of your home with the help of online education or distance learning.

It requires about three years completing your online Divinity degree program and it is designed specifically to train and prepare students for taking on the ministerial role in the Christian church. But not all student are pursuing this degree with the church in mind, some are more interested in gaining this knowledge and then passing it on to the next generation by going into teaching.



To begin with, if you want to pursue your M.Div. you need to be able to fulfill its four basic requirements. All four of these basic requirements are designed to combine to not just teach the student about the word of God, but to help it sink in as well and be implemented into their routine life.

The four requirements are:

1.Academic: the academic side of this criterion includes that the student have twenty-four courses and six or more semesters of residency for a successful graduation. Out of these twenty-four, twelve are selected by the school while the remaining twelve are selected by the student as elective courses. 

2.Field Education: Successful completion of two approved units of field education is mandatory for all students. 

3.Spiritual Formation: Joining a spiritual formation group during their first year at the school is also mandatory for all students.

4.Student Portfolio: Students in their final year are required to compile their portfolio consisting of spiritual formation leaders and faculty feedback, field education evaluations and student reflections. Each portfolio is carefully reviewed by a faculty member twice during this program.

Students in the MDiv program are taught how to walk the fine balance between the academic aspects of the study of religion and its implementation in their day to day life- merging it with the values of the past and the present. In this course the theology is often taken out of the classroom and into the fields, so students can better understanding the strength of their own convictions and religious practices with the convictions and practices of traditions other than their own.

In the true essence of the religion they are studying, here are some ideals the school and the degree programs they offer, try to impart: 

In-depth education of individuals who will one day have immense influence on the spiritual wellbeing of a community in scholarly, spiritual and practical dimensions of the faith.

The capability and ease of using fundamental intellectual tools for defining religion.

Genuine command and grasp over the scriptural languages.

Well acquainted in the arts of ministry pursued in both the classroom and the field.

And most importantly learning and teaching in a multi faith community base.