ICAS-Accredited Degree Program
Doctor of Theology in Systematic Theology
Th.D. credential
Connect the great Christian beliefs about God, salvation, the church, and hope into a clear understanding of your faith.
Doctor of Theology in Systematic 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 Systematic Theology is for those making a constructive contribution to a contested doctrine. Systematics is the discipline of making the doctrines answer to each other. Decide what revelation is and you have constrained what you may say about Scripture; decide about providence and you have committed yourself on evil. Kingdom of Life University's ICAS-accredited program follows those connections in order and makes you own the consequences.
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 Theology in Systematic 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
- Systematic Theology - Doctoral Competency-Based Ministry Assessment
- Credential
- Doctor of Theology (Th.D.) in Systematic 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
Order the Christian doctrines so that each is stated in the light of the others
Distinguish what the church has confessed from what remains legitimately open
Argue a systematic position with explicit biblical and historical grounding
Recognise how a prior methodological commitment shapes a later doctrinal conclusion
Learning Outcomes
Skills and competencies you will develop
Synthesize doctoral-level theological evidence, research judgment, and ministry wisdom for faithful leadership
Write a systematic treatment of a doctrine that engages Scripture, history, and objection
Show how a change in prolegomena alters a downstream doctrinal claim
Compare sacramental theologies across traditions without caricature
State an eschatological position with appropriate confidence and appropriate reserve
Career Opportunities
Where this degree can take you
Theology instructor
Pastor or teaching elder
Doctrinal writer
Denominational theologian
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 theology's source: how a systematic argument uses a text, and the difference between a doctrine drawn from Scripture and one merely decorated with it.
Doctoral Seminar: Old Testament Theology
Creation, covenant, providence and the human condition as the Old Testament presents them, before the categories were tidied.
Doctoral Seminar: New Testament Theology
The New Testament material on Christ, the Spirit, the church and the end, read as the constraint every systematic proposal has to satisfy.
Doctoral Seminar: Christian Doctrine
The whole structure assembled: revelation, God, creation, humanity, sin, Christ, salvation, church, and hope, each stated so its implications for the others are visible.
Doctoral Seminar: Prolegomena and Revelation
The prior questions: what theology is for, how revelation is understood, and how Scripture, tradition, and reason are related before any doctrine is stated.
Doctoral Seminar: Theology Proper and the Trinity
God in himself. Aseity, simplicity, eternity, and the trinitarian relations, with the classical formulations tested against their biblical warrant and their modern critics.
Doctoral Seminar: Creation and Providence
Creation out of nothing, the ordering of providence, and the questions of contingency, natural law, and divine action that follow from taking both seriously.
Doctoral Seminar: Sin and the Human Condition
Sin as act, condition, and structure, treated through the biblical vocabulary, the Augustinian tradition, and the alternatives proposed to it.
Specialization Subjects
Six more that take the field into the places it actually gets used.
Doctoral Seminar: Person and Work of Christ
The incarnation and the atonement in systematic order: the two natures, the communication of attributes, and how the person and the work require each other.
Doctoral Seminar: Soteriology and Grace
Grace, election, justification, and sanctification, with the Reformation debates and their later settlements examined for what remains genuinely at issue.
Doctoral Seminar: Doctrine of the Church and Sacraments
The church's nature and its sacramental life, covering baptism and the Lord's Supper across the main traditions and the ecclesiologies that underwrite them.
Doctoral Seminar: Eschatology and Christian Hope
Death, resurrection, judgement, and new creation, and the discipline of speaking about the future without claiming more than the church has been given.
Doctoral Seminar: Spiritual Formation and Christian Vocation
What sustained doctrinal work does to a person, and the vocational discipline of holding a position firmly without holding it arrogantly.
Doctoral Seminar: Integrative Theology and Ministry
A constructive treatment of one doctrine, engaging the biblical material, the historical formulations, and the strongest objection to your position.
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 Theology
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 Systematic 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.