Master of Divinity

Master of Divinity

The Master of Divinity is a recent invention. Until the 1960s, young men who felt called to pastor went from high school directly to seminary to earn a Bachelor of Divinity. When secular academic degrees became inflated in the 1970s, seminaries joined the trend and re-branded their Bachelor of Divinity as the Master of Divinity, which became the de facto prerequisite for pastoring a church. The Master of Divinity must be replaced for the reasons below, with the system described further below.

1.  Beyond Satanic

"Divinity" means "deity" or "the quality of being divine," so "Master of Divinity" means "Master" of deity or "Master" of the quality of being divine. The angel who tried to become God and turned into Satan tried to attain divinity, but even he didn't claim to be a "Master" of it, so anyone who confers or receives the "Master of Divinity" degree is guilty of a blasphemy worse than Satan's. And the claim that "divinity" means "study of God" is false, as the study of God is "theology" - the "study" (ology) of "God" (Theos). And since no one has mastered the study of God, "Master of Theology" wouldn't work either.

2.  Extra-Biblical

In 1 Timothy 3:2-7 and Titus 1:6-9, God specified these 25 requirements for those who are to lead His church:

"husband of one wife"
"rules his own house well"
"having his children in submission with all reverence, not accused of dissipation or insubordination"
"blameless"
"temperate"
"sober-minded"
"of good behavior"
"a lover of what is good"
"hospitable"
"gentle"
"just"
"holy"
"self-controlled"
"have a good testimony among those who are outside"
"holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught"
"able to teach"
"able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict"
"not a novice"
"not given to wine"
"not violent"
"not quarrelsome"
"not self-willed"
"not quick-tempered"
"not covetous"
"not greedy for money"

Overlooking these God-given requirements and focusing on the Master of Divinity degree has filled pulpits with "novice"s, some whom have yet to have, let alone raise "children," are "greedy for money" and "contradict" no one who can put it in the offering plate.

3.  Doesn't teach what it should

A pastor must be able to exegete (correctly draw meaning out of) the original texts of the Bible, yet woefully little of the Master of Divinity curricula is aimed at fostering this ability. Instead, philosophy, psychology, ethics, history, culture, the business of running a church or ministry, etc. comprise the bulk of Master of Divinity curricula, while the doctrines of the denomination(s) that financially support the seminary infuse its courses on systematic theology (topical understanding of the Bible) and hermeneutics (interpretation of the Bible). Where those doctrines diverge from the Bible, the doctrines of its financial supporters, who sit on its board of trustees, are taught.

4.  Taught by many who must not teach

The faculty of Master of Divinity programs includes the unsaved, women (see below), hirelings, and some of Satan's brightest minions who sit in tenured chairs and poison the minds of the students, many of whom confide that their goal shifts from learning to surviving the program with their faith intact.

5.  Teaches the uncalled

About 30% of the students in Master of Divinity programs today are women, whom God forbade from teaching men: "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man" (1 Timothy 2:12). Even worse, a growing number of students are homosexuals and others who engage in sexual "abomination" (Leviticus 18:22) and who are now being allowed to form LGBTQ student groups on campus. Even among the heterosexual male students, many are unsaved and others whom God has not called.

6.  Produces cowards

Armies send their best-trained men to the toughest frontlines, so the best-trained men in God's army should serve in frontline mission fields. Yet, women comprise 85% of all single missionaries in the field today. While women missionaries battle on the frontlines, the supposedly best-trained men are staying home, playing video games, watching pornography, and whining about declining offerings at seminary reunions.

7.  Does more harm than good in the mission field

The few who do head to the mission field after graduation tend to arrive with a chip on their shoulder, then set about trying to boss around indigenous pastors, some of whom began to minister before the newcomer was born. They also bring in the prosperity false gospel, charismania, other heresies, the latest seeker-friendly gimmickry, and then soon leave, having rounded out their resumes enough to land a comfortable position back home.

Solutions

1.  Replace all existing Master of Divinity diplomas with "Bachelor of Theology" diplomas, and issue only the latter going forward.

2.  Burn all Master of Divinity diplomas and repent for the blasphemy now, before you meet Jesus face to face. Think about it - if Jesus asks you, "Why did you hang a 'Master of Divinity' diploma over your head in your office?", how will you respond?

3.  Remove all women and homosexuals from seminary faculty, eliminate the tenure system, individually question and terminate all faculty who believe the Bible is errant.

4.  Remove all women and LGBTQ from the student body.

5.  Strip away all worldly "wisdom" from the curricula and rebuild them around Biblical exegesis and the true Gospel.

6.  Upon completion, require all graduates to serve at least 3 years in frontline mission fields.

7.  When they return, appoint as pastors only those who meet God's 25 criteria above.

Update: Not content to be a mere "Master" of Divinity, many are pursuing a PhD, ThD, DMin or at least lobbying for an honorary DD (Doctor of Divinity) so that they can be called a "Dr." Because a doctorate is conferred for expanding an academic field by adding some new knowledge to it, a doctorate in theology by its nature disobeys God, who closed the Bible with a stern warning against adding anything to the Bible, which is not only inerrant (without error) but also complete: "For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book" (Revelation 22:18). And the evasive claim that a doctorate in theology is conferred for giving merely a new understanding of what is already in the Bible amounts to taking the honor and glory reserved for and plagiarizing from God the Holy Spirit, who grants "all" such understanding: "When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth" (John 16:13).