Th.M. Curriculum

Purpose

The Master of Theology degree program is designed to produce competent Bible expositors who are qualified to serve God effectively as pastors, missionaries, or leaders in other areas of vocational Christian ministry.

Goals

Educational Goals

To enable students to:

  • verbalize a general knowledge of the Bible, including a synthetic understanding of the major books
  • evidence an understanding of the historical development of theology, a knowledge of premillennial theology, and an ability to support their theological views and apply them to contemporary issues
  • demonstrate ability to exegete the Hebrew and Greek texts of the Bible
  • evidence an understanding of the educational program of the local church and an awareness of the worldwide mission of the church.

Spiritual Goal

To enable students to evidence an increasing likeness to Christ as manifested in love for God, love for others, and the fruit of the Spirit.

Ministry Goals

To enable students to:

  • communicate the Bible effectively
  • demonstrate skills in various ministries
  • lead a local church or other group by means of biblical exposition, leadership skills, evangelism, and service.

Admission Requirements

Admission requirements and application procedures for the Th.M. program are the same as for all programs of study at the Seminary.

Transfer of Credits

Transfer creditof up to 60 semester hours is allowed toward the Th.M. degree from accredited graduate theological schools. (See Admissions for more information.)

Curriculum

The prescribed Master of Theology curriculum involves not only extensive preparation in Hebrew, Greek, Bible, and systematic and historical theology, but also preparation in pastoral ministries, Christian education, missions, and field education. Th.M. students enroll in Spiritual Formation groups during their first four semesters in the program.

While the Master of Theology degree is coeducational, the Seminary holds the position that Scripture limits to men the roles of elder and senior pastor in the local church.

Students are encouraged to take courses in the order in which they appear on the curriculum chart. This is to the student’s advantage, as courses are designed to build on previous course work.

The Th.M. curriculum requires 120 credit hours, including 14–20 hours in a ministry track, of which two hours are a Field Education internship related to the track. (The only exception to the two-hour internship is in the Bible translation track, which requires fieldwork as part of the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics [GIAL] portion of the degree program.) When students declare their ministry track (at the completion of 60 hours), they should start planning for their internship experience because of the time involved (as many as 400 hours of ministry).

Th.M. students are responsible to demonstrate competence in research by satisfactorily completing either (1) a Th.M. thesis in an academic department of their choosing, or (2) a two-hour research seminar.

The program includes up to nine hours of open electives, depending on the track selected. To provide greater opportunity for learning, students may also take up to five courses for credit beyond the 120 hours required for the degree, for only a modest fee to cover the cost of materials.

Spiritual Formation

Because Dallas Seminary values character and spiritual maturity, Th.M. and M.A./CE students are required to register for and participate in Spiritual Formation groups each of their first four semesters of study. Extension students must contact the Spiritual Formation director regarding fulfillment of their Spiritual Formation requirements. In the Spiritual Formation curriculum small groups (six to eight students) focus on identity, community, integrity, and ministry. The groups also provide an atmosphere for prayer, fellowship, career assessment, and integration of learning with ministry. Additionally, the groups act as the small group component of all required internships. As courses should be taken consecutively, students are encouraged to arrange their schedules so they may stay in the same group each semester. Spiritual Formation is a noncredit, transcripted experience. The prerequisite for all required internships is SF101 Spiritual Formation I (Identity).

Additional Spiritual Formation courses focusing on leadership may be taken as electives.