Divinity school
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A divinity school is an institute of higher education devoted to the study of divinity, religion and theology. Different nomenclature is used for a divinity school depending on national location and denominational affiliation.
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom there is no standard nomenclature; each university determines the name of its divinity school according to historic precedent and individual policy. The majority of schools in the United Kingdom are independent of direct control by a Church, though some maintain links with historic sponsors.
The following lists the names of various divinity schools in the United Kingdom:
England
Scotland
- School of Divinity, University of Aberdeen
- School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh
- Faculty and School of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Glasgow
- Faculty and School of Divinity, St Mary's College, University of St Andrews
United States
In the United States there are three basic types of institution, there are not a hard-and-fast distinctions, but more of a general guideline, and there are some notable exceptions:
- Non-denominational divinity schools affiliated to a university.
- Schools of theology which are university schools affiliated with a Christian denomination.
- Seminaries which are usually independent institutes affiliated with a particular denomination.
University divinity schools
There are five university-based, independent divinity schools: Harvard, Yale, Vanderbilt the University of Chicago, and Wake Forest University.
Schools of theology
Generally, a university school affiliated with a denomination is called a school of theology or theological school. United Methodist schools in particular, such as those at Emory and Duke, tend to follow this pattern.
Catholic institutions vary widely in this area. There are free-standing schools of theology (Weston School of Theology, in Massachusetts, and the Jesuit School of Theology, in Berkeley, California, for instance) -- these may have affiliations with other institutions (Weston with Boston College; Jesuit School of Theology with the Graduate Theological Union, for example). There are Schools of Theology that are contained within universities (The Catholic University of America, for example), or Graduate Schools of Faculties of Theology (at Fordham University, Boston College, and Marquette University, to name a few).
In Catholic practice a distinction is made between schools which have pontifical charters and those which do not. A school with a pontifical charter (as Catholic University, Weston, and JST mentioned above) may grant STB/STL/STD and JCB/JCL/JCD degrees: bachelor, licentiate and doctorate in Sacred Theology and in Canon Law (Juris Canonicis). These degrees are recognized in Catholic Canon Law for certain professional purposes (a judge of a Church court must possess a JCL or JCD degree for instance). Schools without pontifical charters (Boston College, Fordham University, as examples) usually grant B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Theology or Religious Studies. Some schools (Weston, for instance) may grant some of each set of degrees, in addition to the Th.D. and the D.Min. The M.Div. degree is offered in those schools which prepare candidates for ordination.
Seminaries
Most denominational institutions, particularly those which are not university based, are called a seminary. Among mainline denominations, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Lutheran, and U.C.C. schools tend to claim this title and also tend to have free-standing campuses unaffiliated with universities.
There are also several anomalies. Union Theological Seminary in New York, for instance, is free-standing, and also non-denominational (it broke from the Presbyterian Church (USA) in the 20th Century). Princeton Theological Seminary also used to be affiliated with a university, but is now independent. Dubuque Theological Seminary on the other hand is the only Presbyterian school affiliated with a university.
Catholic practice has been for each diocese, or at least each archdiocese, to have a seminary to train candidates for ordination. In some cases there is some level of affiliation with a Catholic university, but generally this is not the case. Such seminaries grant the M.Div. degree, usually during a four-year course. Some also grant an optional MA, and there are many with programs for lay people to earn degrees like the Master of Religious Education (MRE). Due to expense and shifts in enrollment patterns, many dioceses now pool resources or make arrangements to use each others facilities -- for instance, until recently, candidates for ordination from the comparatively less populous diocese of Gallup, New Mexico and Lincoln, Nebraska sent their seminarians to the relatively large St. Joseph's Seminary of the Archdiocese of New York for study. Some dioceses send their students to the Catholic University of America.
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