Master of Divinity Online Classes

Master's Level Individual Online Classes

The University of Dubuque Theological Seminary is delighted to offer graduate level theology courses online!  These courses are offered for those who are admitted as Unclassified Students.

1.  UNCLASSIFIED STUDENT ADMISSION FORM:  Anyone who desires to take courses online must first be admitted to the seminary. Upon admission, you will be able to continue to take up to 12 credits in a 2 year period.  To apply for admission as an Unclassifed Student, click here.

2.  UNCLASSIFIED STUDENT COURSE REGISTRATION FORM: If you are applying for admission or are a returning Unclassified Student, you must complete a registration form every term to register for classes.  For registration for the current offerings, please click here

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Three Master of Divinity credit hours are earned for successful completion of each course. A Bachelor’s Degree is necessary to apply for participation in these courses.

The application and all supporting materials must be submitted to the Seminary Office of Admissions by the deadlines listed below. Early application is highly recommended as enrollment is limited.

Tuition for these courses is $600* per credit hour and is non-refundable. Upon acceptance, one-third of the total tuition is required. The remaining two-thirds is due on the dates indicated below.

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Summer 2012

• HT 615 Presbyterian History and Confessions
  Instructor: Dr. Gary Eller
• MN555 Polity and Program of the Presbyterian Church (USA)
  Instructor: Dr. Scott Nesbit
• MN709 Worship in the Reformed Tradition
  Instructor: Dr. Robert Hoch

Contact Seminary Admissions at 800.369.UDTS if you have any questions about the application, admission, or registration process.

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Term	Application Deadline	2/3 of Payment Due	Start Date
Summer 2012	April 20, 2012	May 21, 2012	June 04, 2012 (course continues for 12 consecutive weeks)

For more information about these online courses contact: UDTSOnline@dbq.edu

 *tuition subject to change

 

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Summer 2012 Courses

HT 615
Presbyterian History and Confessions

Instructor: Gary Eller
3 credits, letter grade or pass/fail

Full course description

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MN555
POLITY AND PROGRAM OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (USA)  

Instructor: Scott A. Nesbitt
3 credits, letter grade only

Full course description

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MN709

Worship in the Reformed Tradition

Instructor: Robert Hoch
3 credits; letter grade, credit/no credit
Prerequisites: None
This course is highly recommended for Presbyterian students.

Full Course Description

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Spring 2012 Courses

BI550 
New Testament Intro

Instructor: Dr. Annette Huizenga
3 credits

Course Description

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BI503
Hebrew Exegesis (Prerequisite Required)

Instructor: Dr. Amanda Benckhuysen
3 credits

Course Description

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HT502
Reformation and Modern Church History

Instructor: Dr. Gary Hansen 
3 credits

Course Description 

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HT556
Christian Doctrine 2  (Prerequisite Required)

Instructor: Dr. Elmer Colyer
3 credits

Course Description

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IN783
Missional Church

Instructor: Dr. Les Longden
2 credits

Course Description

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HT775
Theology of John Calvin

Instructor: Dr. Gary Hansen
3 credits

Course Description

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Fall 2011 Courses

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BI 500 
Hebrew 1

Instructor: Dr. Matt Schlimm
3 credits, letter grade or pass/fail

This course provides a basic introduction to the syntax, grammar, and vocabulary of biblical Hebrew. As such, it introduces the linguistic tools that allow students to enter the world of the Old Testament in the original language and hence become better equipped to interpret and proclaim God’s Word. 
This is an elective course that is required by certain denominations (please check with your governing body) but it is highly recommended for all students of Scripture.

Textbooks
The following books are required for class participation:

• Futato, Mark D.  Beginning Biblical Hebrew. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2005
• Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia.  American Bible Society, 1997.
• Holladay, William L. editor. A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI:  Eerdmans, 1988.

The following resources are not required, but recommended to facilitate course work:

• Hebrew Tutor Interactive Learning System.  [CD-Rom]  Parsons Technology. [order online]
• Biblical Hebrew Vocabulary Cards.  Springfield, OH: Visual Education.  [order online from www.vis-ed.com]
• BibleWorks 8.0

Full Course Discription

 

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BI 511
Old Testament Intro

Instructor: Dr. Matt Schlimm
3 credits, letter grade only

This course provides an introduction to the content, historical background, canon, theological and critical issues of the Old Testament. This course fulfills the M.Div. basic first-year requirement in Old Testament studies, but is open to all UDTS students.

Textbooks

• No author. The New Interpreter's Bible Old Testament Survey. Abingdon, 2005. 978-0-687-05344-5.
• Michael D. Coogan, Marc Z. Brettler, Carol A. Newsom, and Pheme Perkins, editors. The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha: New Revised Standard Version. Fully Revised Fourth Edition. Oxford University Press, 2010. 9780195289558.
• Many additional articles are also required.  They are available online.

Recommended Textbooks

• T. Fretheim. About the Bible: Short Answers to Big Questions. Augsburg: 2009. 978-0-8066-5767-7.
• Ellen Davis. Getting Involved with God: Rediscovering the Old Testament. Cowley: 2001. 1-56101-197-5

Full Course Discription

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HT 500 

Early & Medieval Church History

 Instructor: Dr. Gary Hansen
3 credits; letter grade only.
Prerequisites: NoneCore Requirement for M.Div. and M.A.M.C. student 

This course is the first half of the required two-semester survey of the history of Christianity. Its objective is to familiarize students with the history and teachings of the Christian Church from early in the second century to the beginning of the sixteenth century.

Textbooks
Readings of which the full text will be assigned:

• Gonzalez, Justo L., The Story of Christianity, Vol. 1, The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation, revised and updated edition, 2010, ISBN 978-0061855887.
• ______, Church History: An Essential Guide, ISBN 978-0-687-01611-2. 
• Fry, Timothy, ed.,  The Rule of St. Benedict, ISBN 978-0-8146-1272-9.

Readings of which excerpts will be assigned (Some students may wish to wait until paper assignments are made the first week of class before purchasing books):

• Brown, Raphael, trans., The Little Flowers of St. Francis, ISBN 978-0-385-07544-2.
• Chadwick, Henry, trans. and intro.,  Saint Augustine: Confessions. ISBN 978-0-19-283372-3.
• Davies, Brian and G. R. Evans, eds.,  Anselm of Canterbury: The Major Works, ISBN 978-0-19-282525-4.
• Fathers of the English Dominican Province, trans., St. Thomas Aquinas: Summa Theologica (accessed online).
• Greer Rowan A., trans., Origen: An Exhortation to Martyrdom, Prayer, and Selected Works, ISBN 978-0-8091-2198-4.
• Oden, Amy, ed.,  In Her Words, ISBN 978-0-687-45972-8.
• Noble, Thomas F. X. and Thomas Head, Soldiers of Christ, ISBN 978-0-271-01345-9.
• A Religious of the CSMV, trans., St. Athanasius: On the Incarnation, ISBN 978-0-913836-40-8.
• Spearing, A.C., translator, Julian of Norwich: Revelations of Divine Love, 978-0-14-044673-9.
• Williams, Frederick and Lionel Wickham, trans., Gregory of Nazianzus: On God and Christ, ISBN 978-0-88141-240-6

Full Course Discription

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HT 540
Christian Doctrine 1

Instructor: Dr. Elmer Colyer
3 credits: letter grade only
Prerequisite: HT501D & HT502D, or permission of the professor

This course introduces students to the content of the Christian faith as believed and confessed by the Christian church from the early church to the present day.  Christian Doctrine I examines the Trinity, revelation, Scripture, authority, method, creation, human nature, and sin.  There will be lectures, readings, and discussions. This will include readings and discussions of a variety of contemporary perspectives, such as Third World, feminist, and other theologies.

Required Reading:

• Rosemary Ruether, Sexism and God-talk
• Rebecca Merrill Groothuis, Women Caught in the Conflict
• W. Dyrness, Learning About Theology From the Third World
• J. Leith, Basic Christian Doctrine
• A. McGrath, Understanding Doctrine
• A. McGrath, Christian Theology: An Introduction, 4th edition
• D. Migliore, Faith Seeking Understanding
• D. Bloesch, Essentials of Evangelical Theology, Vol. I 
• T. F. Torrance, The Mediation of Christ
• (there is additional material in the form of articles & chapters)

Full Course Discription

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HT615
History and Confessions of the Presbyterian Church (USA)

 Instructor: Dr. Carlton Badger
3 credits, letter grade or pass/fail

Through readings, online discussions, lectures and research, this course will consider the history and confessions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A). This course is strongly recommended for Presbyterian Students.

Required texts:

• Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Book of Confessions: Study Edition
• James Smylie, A Brief History of the Presbyterians 
• Christopher Elwood, Calvin for Armchair Theologians
• John H. Leith, Introduction to the Reformed Tradition
• Milton Coalter, John Mulder, and Louis Weeks, The Reforming Tradition
• Joseph D. Small, ed., Conversations with the Confessions

Recommended texts:

• Donald McKim, ed. Major Themes in the Reformed Theological Tradition
• Homer Rice, Reformed Spirituality
• M.W. Armstrong, L. Loetscher, C.A. Anderson, eds. The Presbyterian Enterprise. Sources of American Presbyterian History
• Reformed Reader. A Sourcebook in Christian Theology. 2 Vols
• Kate Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 7thed.
• Bradley Longfield, The Presbyterian Controversy
• Donald K. McKim, Encyclopedia of the Reformed Faith
• Jack Rogers, Presbyterian Creeds
• Also helpful background and more involved discussions would be found in books on theological introduction or loci (i.e., common topics) from a Reformed theological perspective, such as Daniel Migliore's Faith Seeking Understanding, Shirley Guthrie's Christian Doctrine, or Donald McKim's Introducing the Reformed Faith. The classical Reformation source is John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion. More advanced discussions can be found in Otto Weber's Foundations of Dogmatics (2 vols.), Herman Bavinck's Reformed Dogmatics (4 vols.), G. C. Berkouwer, Studies in Dogmatics (14 vols), or Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics (multi-volume).

Full Course Discription

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IN581
Theology of Mission & Evagelism

 Instructor: Dr. Bonnie Sue Lewis 
3 credits; letter grade only; core requirement for M.Div.

This is the first of three required mission/evangelism courses for fulfillment of the M.Div.  It is 3 credits, letter grade only.  This course orients mission in the very heart of our missional God and as the very essence of the Church and of every local congregation.  It will focus on the Triune God as a missionary God, the congregation as hermeneutic of the Gospel, and on changing paradigms of mission that influence how we do evangelism in today’s post-modern, post-Christendom, pluralistic society.  Thus, evangelism and mission are grounded in a missiological ecclesiology. 

Textbooks:

• William Abraham, The Logic of Evangelism
• Samuel Escobar, The New Global Mission
• Lesslie Newbigin, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society
• Martha Grace Reese, Unbinding the Gospel: Real Life Evangelism
• Dana Robert, Christian Mission: How Christianity became a World Religion
• Lamin Sanneh, Whose Religion is It? The Gospel beyond the West
• Selected Articles

Full Course Discription

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MN501

Foundations of Christian Worship

 Instructor: Dr. Tim Slemmons
3 credits; Letter Grade OnlyPrerequisites:  None

This course serves as an introductory study of the history, theology, and practice of Christian worship. Attention will be given to biblical, theological, historical, and practical foundations of worship.  Within these larger categories of worship, the course will also introduce topics of space, language, and time.

Required Texts (Essential to the content of the course)

• Long, Thomas G. Beyond the Worship Wars: Building Vital and Faithful Worship. Alban Institute, 2001.
• Parry, Robin. Worshipping Trinity: Coming Back to the Heart of Worship. Paternoster Publications, 2005.
• Stookey, Laurence Hull. Eucharist: Christ’s Feast with the Church. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1993.
• White, James F. A Brief History of Christian Worship. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1993.
• White, James F. Introduction to Christian Worship. 3rdEdition, Revised and Expanded.Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2000.
• And one of the following:
  • Costen, Melva Wilson. African American Christian Worship. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1993. 
  • Galloway, Kathy, ed. The Pattern of Our Days: Worship in the Celtic Tradition from the Iona Community. New York: Paulist Press, 1999.
  • Gonzalez, Justo L., ed. Alabadle: Hispanic Christian Worship. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1996.

Recommended Texts (These texts are not required, but will provide added insight to our conversation)

• Blount, Brian K. and Lenora Tubbs Tisdale, ed. Making Room at the Table: An Invitation to Multicultural Worship. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001.
• Dawn, Marva J. How Shall We Worship?: Biblical Guidelines for the Worship Wars. Carol Stream, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, 2003.
• Duck, Ruth C. Finding Words for Worship: A Guide for Leaders. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1995.
• Hawn, C. Michael. One Bread, One Body: Vital Worship, Healthy Congregations. Alban Institute, 2003.
• Stookey, Laurence Hull. Calendar: Christ’s Time for the Church. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1996.
• Vander Zee, Leonard J. Christ, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper: Recovering the Sacraments for Evangelical Worship. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2004.

Suggested Reading

• All students are encouraged to identify resources that have been authorized for use in worship by their particular denominational body.
• United Methodist students who are interested in a look at the sacraments from a Wesleyan point of view should consider.

Full Course Discription

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