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Master of Theological Studies (MTS)
1. For regular admission, applicants must hold a four-year baccalaureate degree or equivalent with a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.50 or better (on a 4-point scale) from a regionally or nationally accredited college or university. The Divinity School will consider for provisional admission a limited number of applicants who do not meet all of these requirements. In such cases, the school may require admitted students to complete additional undergraduate or graduate courses over and above the regular requirements. This provisional status is not available for F-1 visa students.
2. Applicants who meet the GPA requirements stated above may receive regular admission or by completing 12 units of courses in the program as a provisional student with grades of B or better. However, the school retains the right to require GRE scores from any applicant in advance of admission.
3. International applicants must meet the requirements of the university for English-language competence to enroll in full college level coursework.
4. Students may normally transfer up to half the number of required program units from an accredited graduate or graduate professional program in another university or seminary.
The following constitute the course requirements for the regular MTS program, which is designed for students who have little or no undergraduate coursework in religious studies or theology. It includes the foundation courses listed in italics. Students who have an undergraduate degree in religious studies or theology or who have taken the undergraduate equivalent of one or more of the foundation courses or the biblical language courses may qualify for advanced standing in the program. Contact the director of graduate programs for details. Students whose faith tradition differs from that of the Seventh-day Adventist Church may substitute up to two courses from their own tradition with the approval of the director of graduate studies. All courses are 4 quarter units.
General Religious Studies (4 units)
RELG 510 Research and Writing in Religion
One of the following (4 units):
RELG 501 The Study of Religion: Theory & Practice
RELG 511 The Religions of the World
Biblical Languages (8 units)
RELL 504 Linguistic Tools for Pastoral Ministry: Hebrew
RELL 505 Linguistic Tools for Pastoral Ministry: Greek
Biblical Studies (16 units)
RELB 501 The Old Testament & Its Communities
RELB 502 The New Testament & Its Communities
RELB 511 Interpreting OT Texts
RELB 512 Interpreting NT Texts
Christian Ethics (8 units)
RELE 504 Christianity and Culture
RELE 514 Christian Social Ethics
Christian Theology (8 units)
RELT 504 Principles of Christian Theology
RELT 514 Systematic Theology
History of Christianity (8 units)
RELH 504 A Survey History of Christianity
RELH 514 Studies in the History of Christianity
Seventh-day Adventist Studies (8 units)
RELH 506 History of Seventh-day Adventism
RELT 516 Seventh-day Adventist Theology
Pastoral Studies (8 units)
Foundation: one course required*
Praxis (Core): one course required*
*Each term the Department of Pastoral Studies publishes a list of any courses that meet this category.
Total: 72 units
1. Full-time students will normally enroll in 3 courses (12 units) per quarter.
2. Students must maintain a grade point average of 3.00 or better, with no individual course grade lower than C counting for credit.
3. Recipients of the MTS degree, within 5 years of completion, will be eligible for automatic admission to the MDiv program, and will receive credit for appropriate, completed courses. After five years, such students will be individually evaluated.
4. Recipients of the MTS degree, within 5 years of completion, may request admission to the MA in Religion program with advanced standing. Upon regular admission to the MA program, such students may petition to have up to 8 units of appropriate, applied to the MA program.
5. Before receiving the MTS degree, students must prepare the Summative Integrated Essay as a final, capstone project and submit it to the Divinity School Office during the last quarter before graduation. The detailed specifications of this project and the deadlines for submission are available from the Divinity School Office.