Purpose of the Th.M. Degree Program
As part of its overall mission to educate persons for ministry in the Christian Church, Erskine Theological Seminary offers the Master of Theology (Th.M.) degree. Its purpose is to equip students with skills and experience in advanced research in Biblical or theological studies. Such study will further students’ pastoral and/or teaching ministries and will provide excellent preparation for those who desire to pursue Ph.D. work in Biblical studies or historical/systematic theology. It is especially suitable for those who desire a degree program with a shorter duration than the Ph.D., but with a more academic focus than the D.Min.

Institutional Goals for Erskine Theological Seminary
The following general institutional goals apply to all degree programs offered by Erskine Seminary and reflect intended outcomes for all Seminary graduates.

Knowledge of Religious Heritage (Knowing)
1. Graduates will articulate the Bible’s message in light of its own literary, historical, and theological setting.
2. Graduates will utilize the Church’s historical and theological heritage as an important resource in their personal spiritual development and ministry.
3. Graduates will communicate the Bible’s message so as to make clear that its meaning is relevant for today.

Understanding of the Cultural Context (Knowing)
4. Graduates will articulate the relation between the Bible and the contemporary contexts in which ministry takes place.

Capacity for Ministerial and Public Leadership (Doing)
5. Graduates will write and speak using theological language that is clear, well considered, disciplined, and meaningful for those to whom they minister.
6. Graduates will view their ministries in light of the Church’s mission to worship, follow, bear witness to, and serve Jesus Christ.

Growth in Spiritual Depth (Being)
7. Graduates will serve the Church with Christian character and integrity in their personal and professional lives.

Goals of the Th.M. Degree Program
Graduates will:

1. Demonstrate mastery of the ancient and modern languages needed for their specific research/thesis. (Knowing)

2. Demonstrate use of advanced theological methodology. (Doing)

3. Demonstrate knowledge and use of important literature in Biblical and theological studies. (Knowing/Doing)

4. Possess an ability to express Biblical and theological constructs in conventional scholarly language. (Knowing/Doing)

Admissions Requirements
Admission into the Th.M. program is accomplished through the Post-Graduate Committee. Requirements are as follows:

• A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university
• An M.Div. degree or a two-year master’s degree indicating sufficient preparatory work for advanced work in the area of study. The student’s GPA in this degree must ordinarily be at least 3.0 on a four-point scale.

• Three references indicating the student’s ability to pursue post-graduate work
• Submission of a TOEFL score for applicants whose native language is not English (See the Th.M. manual for additional requirements for students whose native language is not English.)
• Demonstration of basic research, writing, and critical thinking skills by submission of a graduate-level research paper
• An interview may be deemed necessary to establish your level of interest, aptitude, and personal qualities necessary to engage in advanced study

Residency and Graduation Requirements
You must complete 24 semester hours of for-credit work to qualify for the Th.M. degree, of which 18 come in the form of coursework and 6 come either through the completion of a thesis of 25,000-35,000 words or through two additional courses. In addition, the degree requires the demonstration of competence in two research languages, a research methodologies seminar, and the successful completion of a comprehensive examination. The work is spread out over at least two years of study and must be completed within four years from your first semester in the program. All coursework for academic credit must be completed in residence, either at the Due West campus (Columbia campus courses do not count toward residency in the Th.M. program), by directed study, or (in the case of transfer credit) at the home campus of another accredited institution. In order to graduate, you must complete the 24 semester hours of academic study with at least a “B” average (3.0 GPA).

Relation to Other Degrees
Successful completion of an M.Div. or M.A.T.S. degree, or the equivalent, is a prerequisite for enrollment in the Th.M. program. The Th.M. may serve as excellent preparation for a Ph.D. or Th.D. program at another institution. The Th.M. is not ordinarily followed by a D.Min.

Curriculum

General Description of the Curriculum:
The Th.M. degree is designed either to prepare students for doctoral studies, (particularly for those students desiring to pursue a teaching career) or to provide advanced theological education for persons in the pastorate or other ministries. Such persons may seek personal enrichment or may desire to equip themselves for a more effective teaching ministry in the Church or in the local community. The 24-hour curriculum includes:

• Three required Area Seminars in either Biblical Studies or Theological Studies (three semester hours each)

• One “required elective” course in the student’s major area of study (three hours)
• Two “free elective” courses (three hours each)
• A thesis of 25,000-35,000 words OR two additional courses approved by the Th.M. director (six hours)

The three Area Seminars and the required elective must be related demonstrably to your intended area of research. The Bible Department and the Theology Department will each offer one Area Seminar per semester. The rotation of four Area Seminars will thus be completed over the course of four semesters.

You may select your required elective and the free electives from among the following:

• Other Area Seminars
• Existing upper-level M.Div. courses (course numbers in the 700s) with additional Th.M. requirements
• D.Min. “Norms” courses, if appropriate
• Fourth-semester language courses (Greek or Hebrew)
• Directed Study Courses
• Independent Study Courses
• Transfer Credit (You may transfer no more than two courses from other approved Th.M.-level programs, and neither of these may count as one of the required Area Seminars.)

In addition to these for-credit requirements, the non-credit requirements are:

• Research Methodologies course
• Ancient and/or modern language competencies (See explanation below.)
• Comprehensive Examination

Students in Biblical Studies may focus their research on either Old or New Testament. Students in Theological Studies may focus their research on either Historical Theology or Systematic Theology. Students who have an interest in Reformed Worship may focus their historical or theological studies further by making use of electives offered by Erskine’s Institute for Reformed Worship. Student’s whose interests overlap between one aspect of ministry and Biblical or theological studies may pursue their interests through appropriate selection of electives and/or appropriate choice of a thesis topic.

You will be assigned an advisor upon acceptance into the program and will, from the very beginning, negotiate coursework and a potential thesis topic with your advisor.

The non-credit, required research methodology course is held in January each year, and you should take it during your first year of study in the program.

During the semester in which you expect to graduate, you will: 1) pass a Comprehensive Examination (written, oral, or both) in the area of study, and 2) present and defend the thesis before the faculty of the appropriate department.

Language Competence Requirement:
Two languages are required for the Th.M degree. Depending upon your interests and/or intended research/thesis topic, you may select Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, or German. Students preparing for advanced teaching ministries in the church often choose the two Biblical languages, Greek and Hebrew. Ordinarily, students planning to go on to Ph.D. or Th.D. study should select one ancient language (Hebrew for Old Testament, Greek for New Testament and systematic theology, and Greek or Latin for historical theology) and one modern research language (usually German for Biblical studies or systematic theology, French for historical theology). Other languages may be substituted if you can demonstrate the relevance of those languages for the intended thesis. Language competence may be demonstrated by the completion of three semesters of the language at college or seminary level or by passing a Reading Comprehension Exam in the proposed language. Language requirements will be determined by your advisor in consultation with you.

Please note that students do NOT receive Th.M. credit hours for the first three semesters of study in a relevant language (these three semesters simply fulfill the language competence requirement), but they MAY receive Th.M. elective credit for fourth-semester language courses. All students are encouraged to study the relevant languages in as much depth as possible. (Current Th.M. students who are taking master’s-level classes in Hebrew I, II, or III, Greek I, II, or III, or Latin I, II, or III to meet the Th.M. language requirement must take those courses for a letter grade, and they must pay full tuition even though they are receiving zero hours of Th.M. academic credit for the courses. Students may take fourth-semester language courses or any courses in languages other than the ones they are counting toward the language requirement for CEU credit if they wish. Of course, if they wish to receive Th.M. academic credit for fourth-semester language courses, they must take them for a grade, pay full tuition, and do extra assignments as they would in any master’s-level course taken for Th.M. elective credit.)

Important Financial Aid Information:
In the Th.M. program, students must maintain a 3.0 GPA in order to qualify for financial aid. Students receiving Federal Stafford Loans, VA benefits, and some other types of financial aid should note that some requirements in the Th.M. program carry zero credit hours, and fulfilling these requirements does not make a student eligible for financial aid in a given semester. Accordingly, if you are receiving financial aid, you need to plan your schedule carefully so as to ensure that in every semester, you are taking at least three hours of for-credit work.

Registration Requirements, Duration of Study and Special Administrative Provisions:
Because many Th.M. students are involved in ministry while they study, and because of the demands of the program (especially the language requirements), Th.M. work is to be spread out over at least two years of study, and not more than four years. In the Th.M. program, full-time study is defined as six hours of for-credit work (plus non-credit work such as language competencies) in each of the traditional semesters. You may take Th.M. credit work in the summers, but this is not required. You are required, however, to register for each Spring and Fall semester without interruption once you begin the program, unless you have been granted temporary withdrawal. Failure to do so will result in automatic suspension from the program.

If you have not yet begun your thesis and are not taking a for-credit course in a given semester (fall or spring), you must register for TH 081 Continuation of the Th.M. Program for that semester or semesters. You will receive no credit for this, but you must register for it in order to maintain your status in the program, and therefore, your access to library materials. (You do not have to register in the January or Summer terms.)

When you are ready to begin working on your thesis, you must demonstrate candidacy for that research. To demonstrate candidacy, you must present to the Th.M. director a 3-5 page statement of the thesis topic and the expected (or possible) findings, along with a preliminary bibliography. If this presentation of the topic is sufficient, the Th.M. director gives written approval for you to begin the thesis and formally assigns you to a faculty advisor for the thesis research. You may not register for TH 808 until you have received written approval from the Th.M. director through this candidacy process.

If you are doing a thesis, you should normally register for TH 808 one semester and TH 809 the next, after completing most or all other requirements. (It is permissible to register for both of these courses in the same semester if you anticipate finishing the thesis in that semester but have not yet registered for TH 808.) If you do not complete the thesis within two semesters, you must register for TH 086 Continuation of the Th.M. Thesis in the following semester(s). You will receive no credit for this, but you must register for it in order to maintain your status in the program, and therefore, your access to library materials and the services of your advisor and reviewer. Please note that you have not completed your thesis until you have defended it and turned in the final, corrected copies. Your grade for TH 808 and TH 809 will appear on your transcript as “NC” (no credit) until your thesis has been completed and a grade has been assigned by the advisor and reviewer. At that point a letter grade will be entered on your transcript.

A student may request a temporary withdrawal from the Th.M. program by writing to the Post-Graduate Committee. During a period of temporary withdrawal, the student does not have to register for Continuation of the Th.M. Program. A student who desires to return from temporary withdrawal may do so by writing a letter to the Post-Graduate Committee requesting reinstatement and then registering for coursework.

If a student is inactive in the program for one semester (that is, if he/she neither does for-credit coursework nor registers for Continuation of the Th.M. Program or Continuation of the Th.M. Thesis, he/she will be suspended from the program. Such a student who later wishes to be readmitted must send a written request to the Post-Graduate Committee and pay the “application for readmission” fee. (See Schedule of Fees.) If he/she is readmitted, he/she must then pay the readmission fee. (See Schedule of Fees.) If two years have passed since the time a student initially registered for TH 808 Th.M. Thesis and the student has still not successfully completed the thesis or dissertation, that student will receive a grade of NC (“no credit”) for the thesis. In such a case, if the student wishes to continue in the program, he/she must register for TH 808 again and pay full tuition at current rates.

Students who reach the four-year maximum time allotted to complete the Th.M. degree (the four-year period does not include any time during which the student was on temporary withdrawal) will be suspended from the program unless they have requested an extension of the time allotted to complete the degree. Any student who is suspended will receive a grade of “F” for any outstanding work (including the thesis). If he/she is subsequently readmitted to the program, he/she will have to register again for outstanding work and pay the appropriate readmission fees and tuition.

You may request an extension of the time allotted to complete the degree by writing a letter to the Post-Graduate Committee explaining the circumstances that have prevented you from completing the degree on time and outlining your plan and time frame for completing all requirements. If the Post-Graduate Committee chooses to deny the request, you will be permanently suspended from the program. If the Committee grants the request, you must pay a sizeable extension fee and will be granted a one-year extension of the time to complete the degree. If you have still not completed the degree after the one-year period, you may apply for another extension. Under no circumstances will more than two such extensions be granted. (Periods of temporary withdrawal do not count toward these extension periods, so a student who is nearing the deadline and will not be able to work on the thesis/project/dissertation should apply for temporary withdrawal, not an extension.)

Other Graduation Requirements:
You should note that you must apply for graduation. If you are planning to graduate in January, you must apply by September 15 of the previous year. If you are planning to graduate in May or September, you must apply by December 1 of the previous year.

In addition to the requirements detailed above, if you are doing a thesis, you must submit to the Director of the Th.M. program at least two copies of the final, corrected, approved, unbound thesis, as well as an electronic copy of the thesis in PDF format (submitted by email). These final copies must be submitted AFTER the thesis is approved by both the advisor and the reviewer. The thesis must be in conformity with the Seminary’s specifications for theses/ dissertations and must be submitted by April 20 of a given year in order to qualify for graduation in May of that year, when Erskine Seminary’s annual commencement ceremony is held. In addition to the May conferral, the Th.M. degree can also be conferred in September or January. For a September conferral, the finished copies of the thesis must be submitted by August 15. For January, the deadline is December 15.

The defense of the dissertation (together with the comprehensive examination) will be held before the appropriate department after the finalized copies have been received.

A Suggested Schedule for the Master of Theology Degree Program
First Year

Fall Semester
Area Seminar...........................................................................................................3
Elective....................................................................................................................3
Credits Earned.........................................................................................................6/6

January Term
TH 090 Research Methodologies...........................................................No Credit

Spring Semester
Area Seminar...........................................................................................................3
Elective....................................................................................................................3
Credits Earned....................................................................................................6/12

Second Year

Fall Semester
Area Seminar.............................................................................................. ............3
Elective....................................................................................................................3
Credits Earned....................................................................................................6/18

Spring Semester
TH 808 Th.M. Thesis (or an additional elective)...................................................3
TH 809 Th.M.Thesis (or an additional elective)....................................................3
Thesis Defense.........................................................................................No Credit
Comprehensive Examination...................................................................No Credit
Demonstration of Competence in First Research Language………......No Credit
Demonstration of Competence in Second Research Language……… No Credit
Credits Earned..................................................................................................6/24

Total...........................................................................................24 Semester Hours