ICAS-Accredited Degree Program
Doctor of Theology in Christian Theology
Th.D. credential
Explore who God is, what Christians believe, and how the great truths of the faith give direction to life.
Doctor of Theology in Christian 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 Christian Theology is for those who will teach doctrine and contribute to its current arguments. Christian Theology is the attempt to say what the church believes, in order, with reasons. This ICAS-accredited program works through the main doctrines, shows where they came from and what they were answering, and takes seriously — as Kingdom of Life University's global student body requires — that the most interesting theology now is being written outside the West.
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 Christian 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
- Christian Theology - Doctoral Competency-Based Ministry Assessment
- Credential
- Doctor of Theology (Th.D.) in Christian 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
State how you reach a theological conclusion and what would count against it
Give a coherent account of the central Christian doctrines and their connections
Engage a contemporary theological debate on its own terms
Read theology written outside the West as theology rather than as local colour
Learning Outcomes
Skills and competencies you will develop
Synthesize doctoral-level theological evidence, research judgment, and ministry wisdom for faithful leadership
Construct a doctrinal argument that draws on Scripture, tradition, and reasoned analysis
Compare two accounts of a contested doctrine and assess their respective strengths
Trace a doctrine's development from its biblical material to its present formulation
Bring Christian doctrine to bear on a live question in church or public life
Career Opportunities
Where this degree can take you
Pastor or ministry leader
Theology teacher
Christian writer or editor
Church education director
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 theology reads Scripture — the authority claimed for the text, the role of tradition and reason, and the criteria by which a doctrinal reading is judged sound.
Doctoral Seminar: Old Testament Theology
The Old Testament's own theology, and the questions it raises that systematic categories were later invented to answer.
Doctoral Seminar: New Testament Theology
The New Testament material on which the doctrines stand, read closely enough that you can see which formulations it supports and which it merely permits.
Doctoral Seminar: Christian Doctrine
The heart of the program: the doctrines set out in order, from revelation and the Trinity through to the last things, each with its biblical warrant and its disputes.
Doctoral Seminar: Theological Method
How theology proceeds: the authority of Scripture, the place of tradition, reason, and experience, and the criteria by which a theological claim is judged sound.
Doctoral Seminar: Doctrine of God and the Trinity
The doctrine of God and the trinitarian confession, from the biblical material through the fourth-century settlement to current debate over simplicity, attributes, and relations.
Doctoral Seminar: Christology and Salvation
The person of Christ and the work he accomplishes, taking up incarnation, the Chalcedonian definition, and the major atonement models with their biblical warrants.
Doctoral Seminar: Ecclesiology and Eschatology
The church and the last things treated together: marks, ministry, and sacraments on one side, resurrection, judgement, and new creation on the other.
Specialization Subjects
Six more that take the field into the places it actually gets used.
Doctoral Seminar: Theological Anthropology
What it means to be human before God, covering image, embodiment, gender, sin, freedom, and the self, in conversation with the sciences and with lived experience.
Doctoral Seminar: Holy Spirit and Christian Life
The Spirit's work in regeneration, sanctification, gifts, and the church's common life, and the disputes that have followed the question of how the Spirit is known.
Doctoral Seminar: Contemporary Theology
Twentieth- and twenty-first-century theology: Barth and his critics, liberation and feminist theologies, and the debates that have set the present agenda.
Doctoral Seminar: Theology in Global Context
Theology as it is done in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and what the shift of Christianity's centre of gravity means for doctrine written in the West.
Doctoral Seminar: Spiritual Formation and Christian Vocation
The relationship between studying doctrine and believing it, and the vocational question of what a theologian owes the church.
Doctoral Seminar: Integrative Theology and Ministry
One doctrine carried from its biblical material through its historical formulation to a constructive argument of your own.
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 Christian 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.