Church and Public Life

Program Overview

The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Church and Public Life studies how the church bears witness in the presence of the state, the law, the market, and the public argument. The question is unavoidable: every congregation is in a polity, pays or is exempted from taxes, is protected or restricted by law, and is tempted to trade its witness for influence. Political theology asks what faithfulness looks like under those conditions. Students read the classical sources — Scripture on kingship, exile, and empire; Augustine's two cities; the medieval and Reformation settlements; Anabaptist witness; Catholic social teaching; Barth and the Confessing Church; liberation and public theology; and contemporary Augustinian, Reformed, and post-liberal positions. Alongside these they study the actual structures: constitutional arrangements for religious liberty, establishment and disestablishment, the legal status of religious institutions, the ethics of voting and coalition, civil disobedience and resistance, nationalism and civil religion, war and peace traditions, and the political economy of poverty and welfare. Cases are drawn from live controversies rather than safe historical distance, and students are required to state the position they reject in its strongest form. The dissertation makes an original contribution on a thinker, tradition, institution, or contemporary question. Graduates teach political theology and ethics, lead denominational public-affairs work, advise institutions on religious liberty, write for public audiences, and pastor congregations through political conflict.

Core Courses

• PBT 801 — Scripture, Empire, and Political Order (6 credits)
• PBT 812 — Classical Political Theology (6 credits)
• PBT 824 — Modern and Contemporary Political Theology (6 credits)
• PBT 836 — Religious Liberty, Law, and Institutions (6 credits)
• PBT 848 — Nationalism, War, and Economic Justice (5 credits)
• PBT 860 — Research Design in Political Theology (4 credits)
• PBT 899 — Doctoral Dissertation in Political Theology (24 credits)

Admission Requirements

• Master's degree in theology, philosophy, religious studies, ethics, or a related field
• Prior study in philosophy, the sciences, or another discipline the specialization engages
• Statement of purpose naming the question your research will address
• Academic writing sample demonstrating sustained argument
• Current curriculum vitae
• Official transcripts from prior institutions when available