ICAS-Accredited Degree Program
Doctor of Philosophy in Biblical Languages
Ph.D. credential
Discover the Hebrew and Greek behind the Bible, and explore the meaning that its original words bring to Scripture.
Doctor of Philosophy in Biblical Languages: Your Grant Price
Applications are free. Eligible applicants receive their admission and Grant decision before any one-time program fee is requested.
Published tuition
$24,900.00
$649.00 Registry & Assessment Fee
$149
Doctoral Degree
2026 Life in Christ Grant is active
Ministry Experience, Evaluated Against Academic Standards.
Documented prior learning may be considered when it aligns with program outcomes; every credit decision follows academic review.
Program Overview
About this program
Doctoral study in Biblical Languages is for those who will teach exegesis and be held to the standards of the discipline. Everything in this program serves one end: reading the text without a translator standing between you and it. The ICAS-accredited Kingdom of Life University curriculum takes Hebrew and Greek to the point where you can see what a translation had to decide, and say honestly whether the original settles the question or leaves it open.
Competency-Based Ministry Assessment
Recognition of demonstrated learning in theology and ministry
Experienced ministry practitioners demonstrate competencies developed through years of service, theological study, and continuing learning. The assessment connects that learning with the published outcomes of the Doctor of Philosophy in Biblical Languages through biblical understanding, theological reflection, research, and ministry judgment.
70
Audited questions in this pathway bank
30
Questions drawn for each sitting
60 minutes
Time available for the knowledge component
24 hours
Interval before reassessment
Theological knowledge and degree outcomes
- Published bank title
- Biblical Languages - Doctoral Competency-Based Ministry Assessment
- Credential
- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Biblical Languages
- Question construction
- 14 pathway subject-bank sources contribute 5 questions each, producing the complete 70-question bank.
How completion is reported
- The knowledge component contributes 40% and assessed ministry experience contributes 60% to one weighted result.
- The reported result is no lower than 80%, matching the 80% degree pass mark.
- Reassessment draws a fresh question set and is included in program access, with no additional fee or limit on sittings.
- The integrated assessment covers the published degree plan; separate course assessments, a capstone paper, and a dissertation defense are not required.
Program Objectives
What you will achieve
Integrate advanced theological inquiry and ministry judgment in service to the church and its mission
Read narrative and discursive passages in Hebrew and Greek with the aid of standard reference tools
Parse and account for the grammatical forms that carry an interpretive decision
Weigh textual variants using the standard critical criteria
Explain a translation choice to a congregation honestly and without overstating what the original settles
Learning Outcomes
Skills and competencies you will develop
Synthesize doctoral-level theological evidence, research judgment, and ministry wisdom for faithful leadership
Translate an unseen passage of Biblical Hebrew or Koine Greek with defensible accuracy
Build an exegetical argument in which the grammatical evidence is stated precisely
Adjudicate a textual variant and explain the reasoning to a non-specialist
Prepare sermon material in which the original languages inform the content without dominating it
Career Opportunities
Where this degree can take you
Exegesis instructor
Bible translation consultant
Preaching pastor
Theological researcher
Major Subject Areas
The fourteen subjects you study, and the ones the ministry assessment draws on
Foundational and Major-Core Subjects
Four foundations every pathway shares, then four that belong to this field.
Doctoral Seminar: Biblical Interpretation
Interpretation for people who will read the originals, including the particular temptation of the language student: treating an etymology or a tense as though it settled a question it cannot settle.
Doctoral Seminar: Old Testament Theology
Hebrew Scripture read for its theology and its language at once, so that grammar work and theological reading are not two separate habits.
Doctoral Seminar: New Testament Theology
The Greek New Testament's theology, with the vocabulary and syntax that carry it, read closely enough that translation choices become visible.
Doctoral Seminar: Christian Doctrine
The doctrines the languages are usually deployed to defend, set out clearly, so you can tell a genuine exegetical argument from a proof-text with a lexicon attached.
Doctoral Seminar: Elementary Biblical Hebrew
The Hebrew alphabet, vowel pointing, noun and verb morphology, and enough syntax to read narrative prose in Genesis and Jonah without continuous recourse to a translation.
Doctoral Seminar: Intermediate Hebrew Exegesis
Sustained reading in Hebrew prose and poetry, working with lexica, concordances, and critical apparatus, and learning to state what the grammar does and does not decide.
Doctoral Seminar: Elementary New Testament Greek
Koine Greek from the alphabet through the indicative and participial systems, with reading in 1 John and Mark's Gospel as the vocabulary and paradigms accumulate.
Doctoral Seminar: Intermediate Greek Exegesis
Extended Greek reading in the Gospels and Epistles, taking up the subjunctive, infinitive, and conditional constructions and their weight in exegetical argument.
Specialization Subjects
Six more that take the field into the places it actually gets used.
Doctoral Seminar: Hebrew Syntax and Discourse
Verbal aspect, word order, and discourse markers in Biblical Hebrew, and how clause-level choices signal emphasis, backgrounding, and the shape of an argument.
Doctoral Seminar: Greek Syntax and Discourse
Greek beyond the sentence: aspect, cohesion, prominence, and paragraph structure, applied to passages where discourse analysis changes the interpretive result.
Doctoral Seminar: Textual Criticism
The manuscript evidence for both Testaments, the major text types, and the reasoning by which variants are weighed, worked through on readings that affect translation.
Doctoral Seminar: Language Tools for Preaching
Turning language work into usable preaching: what belongs in the study, what belongs in the pulpit, and how to speak about the original text without posturing.
Doctoral Seminar: Spiritual Formation and Christian Vocation
Keeping devotional reading alive in a language you are being graded on, and the vocation of the person who can now correct a translation in public.
Doctoral Seminar: Integrative Theology and Ministry
A sustained exegetical argument in Hebrew or Greek: text, variants, syntax, secondary literature, and a conclusion you are prepared to be questioned on.
Admission Requirements
What you need to apply
- Master's degree in theology, ministry, or a relevant field from an accredited or recognized institution
- Official graduate transcripts demonstrating advanced academic preparation
- Research statement identifying a proposed area of theological or ministry inquiry
- Scholarly or ministry-focused writing sample
- Current curriculum vitae documenting relevant research, church, or ministry leadership experience
- Three ministry or academic recommendations and a faculty interview
Degree Completion Requirements
Requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy
Graduation Requirements
- Complete at least 60 doctoral semester credits in the approved degree plan
- Pass the Competency-Based Ministry Assessment for the degree
- Satisfy every doctoral-core, research-methods, specialization, elective, and Competency-Based Ministry Assessment requirement group
- Integrate theological knowledge with assessed ministry experience under the published result-weighting policy
- Recognize demonstrated learning against every published degree-plan requirement
Culminating Experience
Demonstrate doctoral-level theological synthesis, research judgment, and ministry leadership through Competency-Based Ministry Assessment, combining theological knowledge with assessed ministry experience.
Credit Distribution
| Requirement Area | Credits | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced Doctoral Core | 24 | 8 courses. Doctoral theory, disciplinary foundations, and scholarly leadership. |
| Research Design and Methods | 12 | 4 courses. University-wide doctoral preparation in quantitative, qualitative, measurement, and research-ethics competencies. |
| Area of Specialization | 15 | 5 courses. Focused doctoral inquiry supporting the learner's research agenda. |
| Doctoral Elective | 6 | 2 courses. Any doctoral-level major course from any school that is not already part of this degree plan. |
| Competency-Based Ministry Assessment | 3 | 1 course. Integrated doctoral theological knowledge and assessed ministry experience, recognizing demonstrated learning across the published degree plan. |
| Total Degree Credits | 60 | All requirements must be completed within the approved degree plan. |
Program Details
Program Length
Self-Paced
Self-Paced Learning
Total Credits
60 credit hours
Up to 30 Transfer Credits
Published Degree Plan
20 courses
Across 5 required curriculum groups
Format
Flexible Study
Assessment Format
Competency-Based Ministry Assessment
Selected Degree
Doctorate
School
School of Theology and Ministry
Institutional Status
ICAS Accredited
Ready to Begin Your Accredited Biblical Languages Degree?
Applying costs nothing, and the work you have already done may count. Have a look at what this pathway asks for before you decide.