doctor of theology dissertation

Programs > Doctorate

Doctor of philosophy (theological studies) (phd), credit hours, doctor of philosophy (phd) 36 credit hours, phd program learning outcomes.

• Conduct original scholarly research that contributes to the specific field of theological study.
• Assess historical and contemporary theological issues biblically.
• Validate theological issues with the Free Grace perspective.
• Communicate theological truth effectively.

The Doctor of Philosophy program is designed with the following goals:

Educational goals.

The program aims to equip students to:

• Develop and cultivate critical thinking and reflection skills;
• Gain comprehensive knowledge & mastery in their specific area of study;
• Analyze key issues and scholarly views within their academic discipline;
• Conduct reliable independent research utilizing both primary and secondary sources; and
• Make meaningful contributions to biblical and theological scholarship.

Spiritual Goal

Ministry goals.

The program aims to prepare students to:

• Clearly and effectively communicate through both writing and teaching; and
• Exhibit ability and readiness necessary for Christian ministry.

Admission Requirements

• Applicants for the PhD program must have completed the Master of Theology (ThM) from a Regional or ATS-accredited school, with a minimum 3.6 GPA, prior to enrollment.
• Biblical Language Proficiency (3 years of Greek and 2 years of Hebrew) – Applicants must demonstrate knowledge of grammar and reading proficiency at an advanced MDiv level in both Biblical Hebrew and New Testament Greek.
• Recommendations (Personal, Pastor & Seminary Professor)
• Logos Competency

Applicants who have an MDiv degree but do not have a ThM may complete Grace’s ThM program before entering the PhD program. Applicants for the ThM program must have completed the Master of Divinity (a minimum of 90 credit hours, including one year each of biblical Greek and Hebrew). Those who have not completed the biblical language requirement may still enroll but must complete the first-year language requirements before proceeding to subsequent years of language study. The language requirement may be accomplished concurrently while enrolled in the ThM program. Students may not take ThM and PhD courses concurrently.

PhD Program Overview

Phd course progression (sample), full-time student, phd summary of requirements, connect with us.

If you have any questions about our programs and admissions, our team will be happy to help.

College of Arts & Sciences

PhD Dissertations

For more details, including abstracts and PDFs, please see our institutional repository, Digital Georgetown .

Mohamed Lamallam, Society, Religion and Political Power: The Theory of ulfa jāmi’a (Social Harmony) in the Socio-Political Works of al-Māwardī (d.450/1058). Advisor: Paul Heck.

Arunjana Das, A Hindu-Christian Approach Towards Peace-Making: How do Theological Discourse and Agency Emerge in Religious Systems? Advisor: Ariel Glucklich.

James Shelton Nalley, Towards a Holy Friendship: Reflecting on Interreligious Friendship with Thomas Aquinas and Ibn al-ʿArabī. Advisor: Stephen Fields.

Susan O’Neill Hayward, Enduring War and Enduring Peace: Religion, Resilience, and Resistance. Advisor: Jose Casanova.

Jordan Denari Duffner, Muḥammad’s Character as “Fruit of the Spirit”: Toward a Catholic Pneumatology of the Prophet of Islam. Advisor: Leo Lefebure.

Nan Kathy Lin, Religious Change as Seen Through Buddhist Environmentalism; 2023. Advisor: Francisca Cho.

Halla Attallah, Gender and (In)fertility in the Qur’ān’s Annunciation Type-Scenes ; 2023. Advisor: Julia Watts Belser.

Danielle Lynn Clausnitzer, The Roots of Rootwork: Addressing Contemporary Concerns of Hoodoo Practitioners ; 2023. Advisor: Joseph Murphy.

Kirsty Jones, Barren, Blind, Berserk: (Un)Assuming Disability and Madness in Judges 13-16 ; 2023. Advisor: Julia Watts Belser.

Nathan Chapman Lean, Journey to the One: Jazz as an Expression of Islam, 1940-1970 ; 2023. Advisor: Dan Madigan.

Ray Kim, Halal in Korea: The Social Constructions of a Contested Category in a Globalized World ; 2022. Advisor: Jose Casanova.

Teng Kuan Ng, Wisdom Cinema: Buddhism and Film in Contemporary China ; 2022. Advisor: Francisca Cho.

Theodore Dedon, Conciliarity, Nationalism, and the Roman Social Imaginary: A History of Political and Ecclesiastical Ideas on the Separation and Integration of Powers ; 2022. Advisor: Drew Christiansen.

Tasi B. Perkins, The Thirst, And The Sun, And The Bleeding”: Husayn As A Passible Liminal Figure in Pro-ʿAlid Hagiography ; 2022. Advisor: William Werpehowski.

Steven Matthew Gertz, Inter-Religious Relations in a Sectarian Milieu: Fatimid Rulers in Relationship to Their Melkite Christian Subjects in Palestine and Egypt ; 2020. Advisor: Dan Madigan.

Easten G. Law, Discerning a Lived Chinese Protestant Theology: Everyday Life and Encounters with the Other in Contemporary China ; 2020. Advisor: Peter Phan.

Joel David Daniels, Does the Wind Bend or Break the Grass? A Comparative Study of Pentecostal Spirituality and Chinese Religious Thought ; 2020. Advisor: Erin Cline.

Michael David Friedman, Our Problems and Our Future: Jews and America ; 2019. Advisor: Jonathan Ray.

Joshua Clark Mugler, A Martyr with Too Many Causes: Christopher of Antioch (d. 967) and Local Collective Memory ; 2019. Advisor: Paul Heck.

Peter Charles Herman, Overcoming Whiteness: A Critical Comparison of James Cone’s Black Liberation Theology and Shinran’s Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism ; 2019. Advisor: Peter Phan.

Stephanie Marie Wong, From Subjects to Citizens of the State and of God’s People: Frédéric-Vincent Lebbe (1877-1940) and the Project to Indigenize the Chinese Catholic Church in Republican China ; 2018. Advisor: Peter Phan.

Matthew Mitchell Anderson, Prohibited Speech and the Sacred: Critically and Constructively Engaging Taqī al-Dīn al-Subkī’s (d.756/1355) al-Sayf al-maslūl ‘alā man sabba al-rasūl ; 2018. Advisor: Paul Heck.

Joshua Canzona, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and Muhammad Iqbal on Human Consciousness and Sociality: A Critical Comparison ; 2018. Advisor: Leo Lefebure.

Nicholas John Boylston, Writing the Kaleidoscope of Reality: The Significance of Diversity in the 6th/12th Century Persian Metaphysical Literature of Sanā’ī, ‘Ayn al-Quḍāt and ‘Aṭṭār ; 2017. Advisor: Paul Heck.

Rahel Fischbach, Politics of Scripture. Discussions of the Historical-Critical Approach to the Qur’an ; 2017. Advisor: Dan Madigan.

Matthew D. Taylor, Commonsense Scripturalism: The Textual Identities of Salafi Muslims and Evangelical Christians in America ; 2017. Advisor: Paul Heck.

Taraneh Rosanna Wilkinson, Dialectics Not Dualities: Contemporary Turkish Muslim Thought in Dialogue ; 2017. Advisor: Dan Madigan.

Jason Welle, Clarifying Companionship: Al-Sulamī’s (D. 412/1021) Kitāb Ādāb Al-Ṣuḥba ; 2016. Advisor: Paul Heck.

Pietro Lorenzo Maggioni, Comparative Theology: Toward a Semiotic Theological Foundation ; 2016. Advisor: Dan Madigan.

Gurbet Sayilgan, The Ur-Migrants: The Qur’anic Narratives of Adam and Eve and Their Contribution to a Constructive Islamic Theology of Migration ; 2015. Advisor: Dan Madigan.

Fuad S. Naeem, Interreligious Debates, Rational Theology, and the ʿUlamaʾ in the Public Sphere: Muḥammad Qāsim Nānautvī and the Making of Modern Islam in South Asia ; 2015. Advisor: Dan Madigan.

George Archer, A Place Between Two Places: The Qur’an’s Intermediate State and the Early History of the Barzakh ; 2015. Advisor: Dan Madigan.

Sara Singha, Dalit Christians and Caste Consciousness in Pakistan ; 2015. Advisor: Ariel Glucklich.

Jason M. VonWachenfeldt, Knowing the Known Unknown: Comparing the Religious Epistemologies of Edward Schillebeeckx and Gendun Chopel in Response to Modernity ; 2014. Advisor: Leo Lefebure.

Laura Tomes, Reforming Religion: Sabbath Schools and the Negotiation of Modern American Jewish Education, 1873-1923 ; 2014. Advisor: Jonathan Ray.

Melanie Elizabeth Trexler, Evangelizing Arabs: Baptists and Muslims in Lebanon, 1895-2011 ; 2014. Advisor: Yvonne Haddad.

Diego Sarrio Cucarella, The Mirror of the Other: Shihab al-Din al-Qarafi’s Splendid Replies ; 2013. Advisor: Paul Heck.

Peter Leo Manseau, Untying the Holy Tongue: the Transformation of Sacred Language in American Yiddish Literature ; 2013. Advisor: Tod Linafelt.

Jerusha Tanner Lamptey, Toward a Muslima Theology of Religious Pluralism: the Qur’an, Feminist Theology and Religious Diversity ; 2011. Advisor: Dan Madigan.

Erika B. Seamon, The Shifting Boundaries of Religious Pluralism in America Through the Lens of Interfaith Marriage ; 2011. Advisor: Chester Gillis.

Maureen L. Walsh, ‘Because they are no more’: Memorializing Pregnancy Loss in Japanese Buddhism and American Catholicism ; Advisor: Vincent J. Miller.