An Easy Newburgh ThD

[Martin]

I have seen ads on this page for "Newburgh Theological Seminary
and College of the Bible" and I am sure I have looked at their webpage before. However this morning I looked at their ThD program and was shocked to find out how simple it is.

To earn a ThD a student must:


1. Read the following books and write a 10-20 page paper on each.

THD 600 Systematic Theology, By Wayne A. Gruden
THD 610 Christian Theology by Millard J. Erickson
THD 620 The God Who Risks: A Theology Of Providence by John Sanders
THD 630 A Search for the Spiritual: Exploring Real Christianity by James Emery
THD 640 Experiencing the Passion of Jesus By Lee Strobel, Garry Poole
THD 650 It's Not About Me: Rescue from the Life We Thought Would Make Us Happy by Max Lucado
THD 670 The Story of Christian Theology: Twenty Centuries of Tradition & Reform, By Roger E. Olson
THD 680 The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: Seeking the Face of God, By Robert Louis Wilken
THD 690 Mere Christianity, By C.S. Lewis

A doctoral course that is 100% made up of a Max Lucado book? A Lee Strobel book?

2. Write a 60-125 page dissertation.


That is way too easy! I guess we know why they are not accredited. Wow, imagine somone honestly calling that a Doctor of Theology program. All I can say is wow.

LINK

 

[exscentric]

Actually it says "Six of the following courses may be selected for the Th.D. program." and you can suggest two alternate books.

This has changed from years past. :tonofbricks:

 

[TomVols]

What's sad is this is meatier than one "seminary" I know of that does a lot of advertising. They awarded a friend a Master's degree and Th.D. due to his extensive education and ministry. He had a BA and was youth minister for one year. But he signed a KJVO statement, so it's all good :laugh:

Another earned a Doctorate without a Master's just by writing one paragraph summaries of each book of the Bible. He showed it to me. It was done in pencil on his child's spiral bound notebook. He said it was hard. I couldn't keep from laughing.

 

[UZThD]

why are such schools allowed to advertize here?

 

[Martin]

why are such schools allowed to advertize here?

Very good question :type:

 

[Martin]

Actually it says "Six of the following courses may be selected for the Th.D. program." and you can suggest two alternate books.

Wow, it is worse than I thought. Read six books, write a 60 page dissertation, and you have a doctorate degree. If real ThDs were that easy everyone would have one. I am amazed that people can be taken in by schools like "Newburgh Theological Seminary and College of the Bible".

:BangHead:

 

[Havensdad]

why are such schools allowed to advertize here?

Advertising reduces the cost of maintaining the site. The site owners have no control, in most cases, of the advertisements presented on their sites.

 

[Havensdad]

Wow, it is worse than I thought. Read six books, write a 60 page dissertation, and you have a doctorate degree. If real ThDs were that easy everyone would have one. I am amazed that people can be taken in by schools like "Newburgh Theological Seminary and College of the Bible".

:BangHead:

Actually, you have to read six books and write a 10-20 page paper on each one.

O.k., so the total work required for this ThD would be between 120-245 pages of writing, total. How many pages of writing are required in the average European style "Dissertation only" style doctorates? Does anyone know, so that we can compare the two?

Dr. Grover, wasn't your ThD dissertation only? How many pages were you required to write?

 

[UZThD]

Actually, you have to read six books and write a 10-20 page paper on each one.

O.k., so the total work required for this ThD would be between 120-245 pages of writing, total. How many pages of writing are required in the average European style "Dissertation only" style doctorates? Does anyone know, so that we can compare the two?

Dr. Grover, wasn't your ThD dissertation only? How many pages were you required to write?

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My dissertation , taking 3 1/2 years, was about 270 words. But it did not consist of book reports.

Grudem & Erickson are survey texts at MA or MDiv, not doctoral, level. I would like to see a good 20 page book report on either written at doctoral level . It might take 20 pages just to discuss well their differences in Christology and Trinal relationships.

 

[UZThD]

Advertising reduces the cost of maintaining the site. The site owners have no control, in most cases, of the advertisements presented on their sites.

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The site owners have no control over what advertisements are put on this site? So, any sort of advertizing of anything is allowable?

 

[Havensdad]

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The site owners have no control over what advertisements are put on this site? So, any sort of advertizing of anything is allowable?

I believe, since it is a Christian site, certain things are excluded (pornography, etc.), but I am not sure.

 

[Alcott]

An easy ThD is nothing but a ThuD.

 

[UZThD]

----------

My dissertation , taking 3 1/2 years, was about 270 words. But it did not consist of book reports.

Grudem & Erickson are survey texts at MA or MDiv, not doctoral, level. I would like to see a good 20 page book report on either written at doctoral level . It might take 20 pages just to discuss well their differences in Christology and Trinal relationships.

-----------
pages:BangHead:

 

[Rhetorician]

Amen to Dr. Bill

Amen to Dr. Bill.

Keep up the good work!

 

[preachinjesus]

Institutions like this make me sick. Any pastoral search committee worth their salt should know how to screen out such foolishness. When resumes come across my desk I always scan the education as part and any kind of institution like this discredits the resume immediately.

With the proliferation of worthless PhDs we are really starting to see the watering down of evangelicalism and our society.

My dissertation , taking 3 1/2 years, was about 270 words. But it did not consist of book reports.

I know you made the changes but when I read this I laughed and was going to say these must have been the most measures 270 words ever! lol

Grudem & Erickson are survey texts at MA or MDiv, not doctoral, level. I would like to see a good 20 page book report on either written at doctoral level . It might take 20 pages just to discuss well their differences in Christology and Trinal relationships.

Nevermind the language requirements and research that go into a well rounded doctorate.

Its like a second year MDiv student made up this reading list. Where are the real and in depth theologies and readings? Barth's Dogmatics, Aquinas' Summa Theologia, anything by Schleiermacher, Tillich, Moltmann, Neihbur, Pannenberg, Rahner? Any serious student of theology needs to have read these minds (and more) in the course of their studies. Even though we might not (and probably don't) agree with them there is a need for this kind of research. But what do you expect from these guys?:tonofbricks:

 

[preachinjesus]

lol...I just read over the "reading list" and realized that I had read most of these books by the end of my master's degree.

Well except Lucado.

Perhaps he is included because of his well known deep theological investigation of self-image in easy to read wording...oy vey!

 

[TomVols]

I will say this, compared to the schools I mentioned, Newburgh is rigorous :tongue3:

 

[TomVols]

Actually, you have to read six books and write a 10-20 page paper on each one.

O.k., so the total work required for this ThD would be between 120-245 pages of writing, total. How many pages of writing are required in the average European style "Dissertation only" style doctorates? Does anyone know, so that we can compare the two?

Dr. Grover, wasn't your ThD dissertation only? How many pages were you required to write?

Interesting point.

 

[Pastor Larry]

O.k., so the total work required for this ThD would be between 120-245 pages of writing, total. How many pages of writing are required in the average European style "Dissertation only" style doctorates? Does anyone know, so that we can compare the two?

In any kind of legitimate doctorate, the dissertation will be 200-400 pages of research into a discrete field. The dissertation has to make an original contribution or move the field of discussion forward.

The European model is more specialized in a particular field, while the American model is more generalized across the theological spectrum.

However both are substantially more rigorous. The work listed in this thread would not even be a doctoral level seminar at a legitimate institution. And to get a PhD, one would have to take ten or more of those seminars.

In the European model, there are few if any seminars, but there are multiplied thousands of pages of research into primary sources.

What is listed in this thread is a joke at the MDiv level.

 

[Havensdad]

In any kind of legitimate doctorate, the dissertation will be 200-400 pages of research into a discrete field. The dissertation has to make an original contribution or move the field of discussion forward.

I know this is how it SUPPOSED to be, but from my limited experience (VERY LIMITED), from the few dissertations I have read, it seems as though much of it turns out to be a repackaging of the same ideas.

Is this due to a loosening of the standards associated with a PhD, or is their such a saturation of information on nearly every subject, that original thought is becoming nearly impossible?