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Bachelor of Divinity

The Bachelor of Divinity (BD) program seeks to integrate academic excellence with spiritual formation, in
order to prepare church leaders and educators for vocations in a variety of types of ministry. The Bachelor
of Divinity is informed by the history of thought and practice within Christianity, by profound and open
dialogue with other religious traditions, and by the quest to understand and respond constructively to the
contemporary world. It presupposes that men and women can exercise responsible leadership only when
they combine an intimate knowledge of their own traditions, a deep engagement with today's social and
political realities, openness to all forms of spiritual practice and insight, and an appropriate set of dialogical
and critical thinking skills.

The Bachelor of Divinity is a 120-unit degree that prepares candidates for positions of professional ministry.
It is designed with two emphases: Ministry and Personality and Bible and Theology. Students are expected
to complete all requirements pertaining to the degree and necessary for ordination in the CCCAS.
The Bachelor of Divinity degree program focuses on two streams:

1. Ministry and Personality
The BD in Ministry and Personality is designed to prepare students for teaching in theological schools and
for leadership in the church and society. It is a theological degree. It requires broad theological knowledge
and aims at preparing the student for the competent scholarly development of a special field of study in the
context of the theological disciplines. The student is also expected to understand the methodological and
epistemological presuppositions of the field of concentration and to become capable of advancing the filed
through original research. The degree program stresses the professional applicability of the field of research by correlating theoretical and practical course work and by implementing critical reflection on the
nature of the interdependence of professional theory and practice, as well as on relevant methods and
procedures.

2. Bible and Theology
The Bible and Theology will equip and empower students to lead the global church through creative
teaching, writing and other missional endeavors. This highly selective program will challenge participants
to integrate the highest levels of intellectual achievement with biblically focused, contextual praxis.
Concentrations include biblical theology, Old and New Testament studies, systematic theology, historical
theology, and global theology.

Moreover, it is intended to address the needs of Church leaders, including pastors, administrators, teachers
and others who wish to deepen their knowledge of the Bible, and Christian Theology. It is designed to
enhance ministerial vocations by promoting critical theological reflections on the interpretation of the Bible
and Christian thought and their application within the Church. The program enables students to develop
scholarly skills in biblical exegesis and theological reasoning well beyond the levels provided by the
Diploma in Theology program. It is an integrative design in that it combines specialized diploma studies in
the Bible, Theology, and Ethics in an effort to provide students the opportunity to examine the
interrelationships between these fields within the context of Christian ministry.

This program presupposes that students have already completed the Diploma or former theological
education, and it requires that students develop competence in two ancient languages, such as Greek and
Hebrew (Bible and Theology only). This enables students to engage in study of the biblical text in the
original languages, and to pursue theological discourse within a primitive context.

Students in both emphases will submit academic thesis based on independent research. In addition to the
results of the research, students will increase their research skills and learned how research projects work,
which is aiding them as they pursue their degrees. It is expected that students must show the capacity to
relate materials from at least one of the classical theological disciplines and material relating to the
student's major field.

The Bachelor of Divinity seeks to accomplish the following objectives:

• To cultivate competent skills in the study and interpretation of Scripture.
• To develop and understanding of theology and fashion a systematic framework informing the ethics
of personal and social behavior and the practice of ministry in the Samoan and Pacific contexts.
• To value the origin and growth of the Christian tradition and appreciate its richness and diversity.
• To promote growth in Christian maturity and ministry in the Samoan and Pacific church and the
global world.
• To develop detail skills oriented towards critical and scholarly interpretation of scripture.
• To equip students with a meticulous approach to theology and other related fields necessary for a
successful vocation in teaching and ministry.
• To prepare students academically to pursue further studies at the graduate and post-graduate
levels.

The Bachelor of Divinity program requires other requirements distinctively necessary for the degree: the
completion of electives and the submission and approval of a thesis project. While the Diploma is more
general in outlook, the completion of electives and the submission and approval of a thesis project allows
the BD to be more explicit, especially towards the student's area of interest.

The BD program offers an opportunity to undertake 4 years of theological studies in preparation for
graduate studies, or for a vocation in teaching or pastoral ministry. Students are advised to take course in
each of the following areas:

1. Old Testament

• Interpreting and Background Studies
• History of Texts, Canon, Translations
• Cultural World of the Biblical Narratives
• Exile and Restoration
• Historical Books, Exploring Biblical Wisdom
• Psalms and Poetry
• Advance Hebrew Language

2. New Testament

• New Testament Survey/Theology
• Greco-Roman World
• Exegetical Theology
• Gospels and Other Gospels
• Pauline Letters and Epistles
• Life of Christ, Studies of the Historical Jesus
• Advance Greek Language

3. Ministry Studies

• Theo-cultural Anthropology
• Foundations of Christian Missions
• Counseling, Life Sciences
• Pastoral Leadership and Development
• Preaching Paul
• Discipleship and Mentorship

4. Theological Studies

• Christian Thought and History
• Moral and Practical Theology
• Faith, the Church, the Sacraments, and Eschatology
• Doctrine of God, Creation, Revelation, and the Trinity
• Ethics and Culture
• Theologians of the 21st Century

5. Church History

• Problems and Issues in Church History
• Exploration of Samoan and Tuvaluan Christianity
• Early Church to the Present
• Ecumenism, Secularism, Evangelism
• Church Organization and Administration

6. General Studies

• Philosophy of Religion
• Samoan Studies
• Psychology and Counseling
• Christianity in the Non-Christian World
• New Trends in Mission Societies
• Paul and the Law
• Life and Teachings of Jesus
• The Cross in the New Testament
• Christian Education for Peace and Justice
• Christian Spirituality

7. Thesis Project = 6 units

NOTE: Thesis proposal must be submitted to the Office of the Registrar for submitting to the faculty on May
30. This will allow enough time for the faculty to review the proposals before the beginning of the fall
semester. The proposals will be assessed where supervisors will be assigned accordingly. Guidelines for
evaluation of Thesis Proposals can be acquired from the Office of the Registrar. The seminary faculty
evaluates the proposal to ensure that the student follows the appropriate form in elaborating a thesis and
that the methodology is clear and appropriate to the purpose of the thesis. The faculty determines the
proposal's acceptability. (Please see Academic Policies for more detail on the procedures and process of
Thesis project.)

On December 15, BD students are required to submit the first draft of their thesis project to the Office of the
Registrar for evaluation in regards to proper citations and format, and other requirements for thesubmission of thesis projects. This is done only after consultation with the supervisor and had agreed on the condition of your work. NO draft is considered final until it goes through the proper channel for academic dealings and assessment. Students who fail to meet this requirement could be deferred from completing the BD program.

Students must submit their final drafts to the Office of the Registrar no later than the first week of March to
allow time for the external readers to evaluate before graduation. Please plan accordingly.