Theology

Department Chair: Dr. David Deavel, david.deavel@stthom.edu

The major in theology seeks to instill competency in major topics in the study of Catholicism and in the methods of investigation and research appropriate to the discipline of theology. Theology plays a particularly important role in the synthesis of knowledge as well as in the dialogue between faith and reason. The study of theology, as part of a liberal arts education, aids the University community in its “constant effort to determine the relative place and meaning of each of the various disciplines within the context of the human person and the world that is enlightened by the Gospel,” and thus in preserving “the sense of the transcendence of the human person over the world and of God over the human person.” (John Paul II, Ex corde Ecclesiae, 16, 19).

Students who successfully complete the major program will be able to: read and use scripture in accordance with theological methods; interpret documents in Church history according to their historical and theological contexts; and assess, from within the ecclesial tradition, arguments in systematic and moral theology. Fulfillment of these objectives will be determined by means of an exit examination.

The school also offers a five-year BA/MA Combined degree in Theology which enables high–achieving undergraduate students to earn both the bachelor’s and master’s degrees in a streamlined program combining undergraduate and graduate studies. The BA/MA requires 120 undergraduate credit hours and 30 graduate credit hours of study and allows students to take undergraduate and graduate courses concurrently during the senior year. The BA and MA degrees will be conferred only after the BA/MA student completes the 120 undergraduate credit hours and 30 graduate credit hours of study successfully. The undergraduate hours for the Theology coursework are reduced to 36 hours from 42 hours. The chair of the Theology major will advise the student on which courses to take.

For graduate students, the department offers an MA in Historical Theology. Through its six-course sequence in historical courses and its offering of systematic courses based in the Catholic dogmatic tradition and integrating Sacred Scripture, students will be given a solid basis in Catholic theology that is informed by both Scripture and the Tradition. Students will complete the MA by passing a set of comprehensive exams or, with the permission of the director, an MA thesis.