This is a serious question for anyone reading this post:
Any ideas about places I might go to grad school?
I'm looking to study historical theology at least for the master's level. I'm pretty sure if I ever break into academia my research interests will include theology of sexuality and the Christian concept of human dignity (I'm particularly interested in the ways in which 20th century authors, especially but probably not only Catholics, have used the world's concept of dignity as a negative definition of the Christian concept.)
So if anyone has any suggestions, please let me know. I kind of already know what Catholic places I sort of want to apply to (for instance, CUA and Notre Dame are on my list, still thinking on the Catholic GTU schools in Berkeley because I think I might choke on the little-l liberalism down there.)
If anyone knows of good Protestant schools especially for historical theology I'd like to know. I know a couple of other Carnival people either are or have been grad students in the past, so if you'd have anything about those to offer, let me know.
3 comments:
I am curious? What is historical theology?
One part systematics, one part church history, if I've come to understand it correctly.
Basically, as I understand it, if we think of Christian historical theology, it means studying what different movements and thinkers in the church in the past have thought and taught about God, and what in the church's history moved them to teach such. Kind of a 'history of ideas,' of sorts. If I'm thinking right an example would be to take the Methodist movement and talk about how the Pietists influenced its founders, the Wesleys, or to try and understand the historical and theological factors that can cause a lifelong member of the Anglican Church (John Wesley, but you probably knew that already) to start two new ones in America.
wikipedia's definition is roughly congruent with what I've come to understand it to be, but it places less emphasis on more directly theological influences.
Hope that helps.
Dan, HT is my specialty, and I heartily recommend both of my alma maters: Wheaton College (MA) and Princeton Seminary (MDiv), depending on the sort of degree you want and how quickly you would like to get it done. (Princeton also has a short MA program, I think.) One is academically-minded, one is ministry-minded but very strong academically.
It's also important to consider long-term goals before deciding where to attend. If you know you will be applying to PhD programs in theology down the road, it's important to have a strong school on your application and strong letters of reference.
Give a shout if I can be of further assistance. (And hey, I'm from Portland, too!)
Best,
Darren
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