Master of Divinity

The Southwestern M.Div. prepares students for the broadest range of Christian ministries, especially in local churches. Students receive training in classical theological disciplines such as Old Testament, New Testament, church history and historical theology, systematic theology, ethics, and philosophy, as well as applied disciplines such as pastoral ministry, preaching, evangelism, and missions. In addition, students may use elective hours to pursue concentrations in any school at Southwestern in accordance with their ministry goals and academic interests. The M.Div. is the only approved first master's degree for a student preparing for a pastoral or preaching ministry, as well as any other ministry largely comprised of biblical teaching.

Prerequisite

The student must have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.

Course Title	Course Number	Hours
Biblical Studies
Biblical Hermeneutics	BIBST 3203	3
Basic Old Testament I	OLDTS 3313	3
Basic Old Testament II	OLDTS 3323	3
Basic New Testament I	NEWTS 3313	3
Basic New Testament II	NEWTS 3323	3
Biblical Greek I	GREEK 3313	3
Biblical Greek II	GREEK 3323	3
Biblical Hebrew I	HEBRW 4313	3
Biblical Hebrew II	HEBRW 4323	3
Theological Studies
History of Christianity I	CHAHT 3103	3
History of Christianity II	CHAHT 3113	3
Baptist Heritage	BPTST 3203	3
Systematic Theology I	SYSTH 3003	3
Systematic Theology II	SYSTH 3013	3
Ethics and Philosophical Studies
The Christian Home	ETHIC 4303	3
Basic Christian Ethics or	ETHIC 4313 or	3
The Bible & Moral Issues or	ETHIC 4323 or
Development of Christian Character and Decision Making	ETHIC 4333
Philosophy of Religion or	PHILO 4313 or	3
Christian Apologetics	PHILO 4373
Evangelism and Missions Studies
Contemporary Evangelism	EVANG 3303	3
Personal Evangelism Practicum1	EVANG 3000	0
Introduction to Missiology	MISSN 3363	3
Missions Practicum1	MISSN 3100	0
Preaching and Pastoral Studies
Foundations for Christian Ministry I or	PASMN 3313 or	3
Women's Ministries in the Local Church2	WOMST 4003
Christian Ministry Practicum1	PASMN 3000	0
Introduction to Expository Preaching or	PRCHG 3313 or	3
Expository Communication of Biblical Truth3	WOMST 4043
Advanced Expository Preaching4	PRCHG 3323	3
Preaching Practicum1	PRCHG 3000	0
Additional Requirements
Spiritual Formation I	SPFTH 3101	1
Spiritual Formation II	SPFTH 3111	1
Applied Ministry - Disciple-making in the Local Church	APLMN 4011	1
Applied Ministry - Mentoring	APLMN 4021	1
The Ministry of Education	EDMIN 3003	3
Concentration and Free Electives5,6
Concentration and Free Electives		18
	Total	91

¹Students will be enrolled in these practicums automatically when registering for the parent course above them in the degree plan.

²Female students take WOMST 4003 Women's Ministries in the Local Church.

³Female students take WOMST 4043 Expository Communication of Biblical Truth.

⁴Female students take a free elective in lieu of Advanced Expository Preaching.

⁵Students seeking a concentration take specific courses in lieu of elective hours. Some concentrations require more than 15 hours. See concentrations for details.

⁶Students may take up to 6 hours of MODLG courses for elective credit.

Planning Tools

In addition to the official degree plan above, the School of Theology produces a recommended sequence of courses and a degree checklist for students. Students may also access program evaluations online through WebAdvisor.