ICAS-Accredited Degree Program
Doctor of Philosophy in Christian Ethics
Ph.D. credential
Bring Christian wisdom to everyday choices about relationships, work, justice, technology, and the kind of person you want to be.
Doctor of Philosophy in Christian Ethics: 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 Christian Ethics is for those teaching moral theology and advising on contested questions. Ethics is the part of theology that gets tested on Monday. This ICAS-accredited program covers the biblical and traditional sources, the main methods, and then applies them to bioethics, economics, sexuality, war and creation care — as cases with real disagreement rather than as questions with an obvious answer. Kingdom of Life University expects you to reach a judgement and defend it.
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 Christian Ethics 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
- Christian Ethics - Doctoral Competency-Based Ministry Assessment
- Credential
- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Christian Ethics
- 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
Reason from Scripture and Christian tradition to a defensible moral judgement
Distinguish the method behind a moral conclusion from the conclusion itself
Analyse a contested case without reducing it to its easiest features
State an opposing moral position in terms its holders would recognise
Learning Outcomes
Skills and competencies you will develop
Synthesize doctoral-level theological evidence, research judgment, and ministry wisdom for faithful leadership
Produce a case analysis that names its method, its evidence, and its remaining uncertainty
Compare virtue, deontological, and consequentialist treatments of one problem
Apply Christian teaching on justice to a specific economic or political question
Advise a congregation on a contested ethical matter with clarity and charity
Career Opportunities
Where this degree can take you
Ethics instructor
Pastor or ministry leader
Christian policy researcher
Denominational adviser
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
How Scripture functions in a moral argument — the difference between a command, a narrative, and a principle, and the ways each gets misused in ethical debate.
Doctoral Seminar: Old Testament Theology
Torah as moral instruction, the prophets on justice, and the problem of moving from a covenant community's law to a modern obligation.
Doctoral Seminar: New Testament Theology
The Sermon on the Mount, the Pauline paraenesis, and the New Testament's moral vision, including the parts the church has consistently found inconvenient.
Doctoral Seminar: Christian Doctrine
The doctrines that determine moral conclusions: creation and its ordering, the image of God, sin's reach, and what redemption is expected to change.
Doctoral Seminar: Biblical Foundations of Ethics
Law, prophets, wisdom, and the Sermon on the Mount as moral sources, and the problem of moving from an ancient covenant community to present obligation.
Doctoral Seminar: Virtue and Christian Character
Character rather than decision: the cardinal and theological virtues, habituation, practices, and the account of the moral life that follows from taking formation seriously.
Doctoral Seminar: Bioethics and the Sanctity of Life
Beginning and end of life questions, reproductive technology, genetic intervention, and the allocation of scarce care, worked through as cases rather than slogans.
Doctoral Seminar: Justice, Poverty, and Economics
Property, work, wages, markets, and poverty in Scripture and in Christian social teaching, with attention to what the tradition actually commits its adherents to.
Specialization Subjects
Six more that take the field into the places it actually gets used.
Doctoral Seminar: Marriage, Sexuality, and the Body
Marriage, singleness, sexuality, and embodiment, setting the biblical and traditional material against contemporary argument with the disagreements stated honestly.
Doctoral Seminar: War, Peace, and Political Order
Just war, pacifism, and the responsibility to protect, alongside Christian accounts of political authority, resistance, and the limits of obedience.
Doctoral Seminar: Creation Care and Stewardship
Creation, dominion, and stewardship examined against climate, biodiversity, and consumption, and the question of what the doctrine of creation obliges.
Doctoral Seminar: Ethical Method and Case Analysis
How moral reasoning actually proceeds: competing methods applied to the same hard cases, and the discipline of reaching a judgement you can defend.
Doctoral Seminar: Spiritual Formation and Christian Vocation
Character as the thing ethics is finally about, and the vocation of someone who will be asked for a judgement and has to give one.
Doctoral Seminar: Integrative Theology and Ministry
A contested moral question analysed the whole way: the facts, the competing methods, the tradition's resources, and a judgement you can defend.
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 Christian Ethics 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.