ICAS-Accredited Degree Program
Doctor of Philosophy in Public Theology
Ph.D. credential
Explore how Christian faith speaks to public life, and how thoughtful service can contribute to the good of your community.
Doctor of Philosophy in Public Theology: 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 Public Theology is for those writing for public audiences and advising institutions. Christians argue in public whether or not they have thought about how to. This ICAS-accredited Kingdom of Life University program works on the theological grounds for public speech, the church-state settlements the tradition has produced, religious liberty as it is actually litigated, and how to say something intelligible to people who share none of your premises.
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 Public Theology 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
- Public Theology - Doctoral Competency-Based Ministry Assessment
- Credential
- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Public Theology
- 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
Give theological reasons for Christian participation in public life
Analyse a public dispute in terms of the competing goods actually at stake
Communicate a Christian position to an audience that does not share its premises
Hold conviction and civility together under real disagreement
Learning Outcomes
Skills and competencies you will develop
Synthesize doctoral-level theological evidence, research judgment, and ministry wisdom for faithful leadership
Write a public argument that is both theologically grounded and publicly intelligible
Analyse a religious liberty dispute on its competing principles
Assess how a media environment shapes the reception of a Christian claim
Propose a congregational response to a local question of the common good
Career Opportunities
Where this degree can take you
Public theology writer
Ministry advocacy leader
Christian nonprofit director
Church communications leader
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
Scripture as a public text: how it has been used in political argument, well and badly, and the interpretive discipline that distinguishes the two.
Doctoral Seminar: Old Testament Theology
Israel as a polity — law, land, kingship, prophetic critique — and what a nation under covenant does and does not tell us about a modern state.
Doctoral Seminar: New Testament Theology
Render unto Caesar, Romans 13, Revelation's empire, and the New Testament's genuinely mixed witness on political authority.
Doctoral Seminar: Christian Doctrine
The doctrines that decide a political theology: creation's ordering, the fall's reach into institutions, and what may be hoped for before the end.
Doctoral Seminar: Theology of the Public Square
What warrants Christian speech in public at all: the theological grounds for it, the forms it has taken, and the objection that it imports private conviction into shared life.
Doctoral Seminar: Church and Political Authority
Church and state across the tradition, from Augustine's two cities through Reformation settlements to modern constitutional arrangements and their tensions.
Doctoral Seminar: Christianity and Culture
The long argument over Christ and culture, tested against specific cultural artefacts and movements rather than left at the level of typology.
Doctoral Seminar: Religious Liberty
Conscience, establishment, accommodation, and the limits of religious exemption, examined through actual legal disputes and their competing principles.
Specialization Subjects
Six more that take the field into the places it actually gets used.
Doctoral Seminar: Poverty, Justice, and the Common Good
What the common good requires, and how Christian social thought on poverty and justice translates into policy, institution, and congregational practice.
Doctoral Seminar: Media and Public Witness
Public communication in a fragmented media environment: platform incentives, audience formation, and the difference between witness and performance.
Doctoral Seminar: Civil Society and Institutions
Associations, schools, charities, and congregations as bearers of public life, and the theological case for institutions that are neither state nor market.
Doctoral Seminar: Christian Hope and Public Life
How eschatological hope shapes political expectation, including the temptations of both withdrawal and triumphalism.
Doctoral Seminar: Spiritual Formation and Christian Vocation
Conviction and civility held together under pressure, and the vocational discipline of arguing in public without being formed by the incentives of the platform.
Doctoral Seminar: Integrative Theology and Ministry
A public question worked through theologically and then written for an audience that does not share the premises.
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 Public Theology 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.