I. The Holy Scriptures

 

• The various scholarly approaches to biblical criticism - their values and limitations.
• Principles and practice of exegesis and hermeneutics.
• Chronology, history, important personalities in the Old Testament, New Testament and Apocrypha.
• Geography of biblical lands.
• Knowledge of world events and their effects upon the development of the Judeo-Christian tradition.
• Gospel narratives in Johannine and Synoptic traditions, including Acts.
• Theme, contents and historical context of each Old and New Testament book.
• Major theological developments in the entire tradition.
• Biblical sources of Christian creeds and historical doctrines.

 

II. Church History, including the Ecumenical Movement

 

• Major events and personalities from Apostolic and Patristic times through medieval and reformation periods to the present - in relationship to their historical and social contexts.
• Development of distinctive Church institutions, formation of the canon of scripture, doctrinal development, heresies, theological controversies, creeds, classical writings, missionary expansion.
• Church of England from beginning to present, especially the Reformation period and since - Caroline Divines, evangelical revival, Tractarians, expansion of the Anglican Communion, Anglican role in ecumenical movement.
• The Episcopal Church from beginning to present in context of American Church history in general - major events and personalities.
• Modern missionary movement, biblical and theological basis, relation to Ecumenical Movement.
• General knowledge of Comparative religions.

 

III. Christian Theology, including Missionary Theology and Missiology

 

• Doctrines: Revelation, Creation, Sin, Christology, Atonement, Trinity, Soteriology, Church, Sacraments, Missiology and Eschatology.
• History of Christian thought: Church Fathers, creedal development, Anglican tradition, recent developments.
• Application: ascetical, hermeneutical, apologetic - relation to contemporary understandings of human nature in both individual and social dimensions.

 

IV. Christian Ethics and Moral Theology

 

• The sources of Christian ethics and moral theology, including the Holy Scriptures, Christian tradition and experience.
• Major ethical theories and major figures in the field.
• The nature, focus and justification for "the good" including the relation between God, Christ and the good.
• The nature of moral agency, including the understanding of such issues as freedom, responsibility, obligation, virtue, conscience and character.
• Moral judgment, including the knowledge of the relation between religious belief and moral judgment.
• The place of spirituality in Anglican teaching about the moral life.
• Major moral issues facing Christians, past and present, and how Anglican moral theologians have resolved or might resolve them.

 

V. Studies in Contemporary Society, including Racial and Minority Groups

 

• Current social issues and problems, such as poverty, homelessness, hunger, racism, injustice, addiction, crime, illegitimacy, child abuse, war and peace, environmental pollution, etc.
• Ways in which the Church and Christian individuals have addressed and may address these.
• Current concerns peculiar to major ethnic groups in the USA.

 

VI. Liturgics and Church Music

• Christian worship and music according to the contents and use of the Book of Common Prayer and the the various hymnals.
• Historical development of Christian worship from Jewish origins to present.
• Theological understanding of the role and function of worship in the life of individuals and of the Church.
• Sacramental theology.
• Esthetic and nonverbal elements of worship.
• The role of music in particular.
• Evolution, contents and use of the Book of Common Prayer, the Hymnal 1982, and other authorized liturgical and musical resources.

VII. Theory and Practice of Ministry

• Theology of vocation and of all forms of ministry.
• Ministerial roles of laity, diaconate, priesthood and episcopate.
• Duties and responsibilities of clergy in contemporary Church.
• Nature and significance of pastoral care.
• Knowledge of the practice of preaching, counselling, spiritual direction, the education of people of all ages, parish administration, stewardship, and evangelism.
• Polity of our Church, Constitution and Canons, national and local.

Further information may be obtained from: