Bachelor of Divinity

In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity (BD or BDiv) is usually an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology or, rarely, religious studies.

At some institutions, the BD is regarded as a higher degree than the BA. At the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, and the University of St Andrews the BD is still a postgraduate qualification, and applicants must have already completed an undergraduate degree before being accepted on the course. Although the University of Oxford still seems to offer the qualification, it is no longer accepts new students as per 1 October 2005. [ http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/examregs/31-67_General_Regulations.shtml ] . Registration for Cambridge's BD is only open to senior graduates of that University [http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/gradstud/bachelor/divinity.pdf] . St. Andrews seems to be, therefore, the only remaining university in the UK generally offering a graduate BD degree. The main undergraduate degree in Divinity in the University of St. Andrews being the Master of Theology (MTheol) degree.

In most modern universities, the BD is essentially equivalent to a Bachelor of Arts degree with a specialty in divinity. Relatively few institutions award Bachelor of Divinity degrees today, and the distinction between institutions which do award such degrees and those which award B.A. degrees for theological subjects is usually one of university bureaucracy, rather than curriculum.

Bachelor of Divinity offered in the region of South Asia by the affiliated colleges under the Senate of Serampore College (University) is rather a post-graduate qualification in the sense that only graduates can register for BD.

The Master of Divinity has replaced the Bachelor of Divinity in most American seminaries as the first professional degree, since the latter title implies in the American academic system that it is on a par with a Bachelor of Arts or other basic undergraduate education.

References

ee also

* Bachelor of Theology
* Master of Divinity
* Master of Theology