In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity (BD or BDiv) is usually an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology or, rarely, religious studies.
At some institutions, the BD is regarded as a higher degree than the BA. At the University of Oxford,[1] and the University of Cambridge, the BD is still a postgraduate qualification, and applicants must have already completed an undergraduate degree before being accepted on the course. Registration for Cambridge's BD is only open to senior graduates of that University,[2] and is also a postgraduate degree. The University of Durham BD is of a similar nature, and available to graduates of seven years' standing. It is awarded on the basis of published work of a similar extent to a PhD - the usual basis for the award is a book. St Mary's College at the University of St Andrews - where the main undergraduate award is the MTheol (Master of Theology) - offers the BD following a three year course of study for graduates in other disciplines.
In most modern universities, the BD is essentially equivalent to a Bachelor of Arts degree with a specialty in divinity. Relatively few institutions award Bachelor of Divinity degrees today, and the distinction between institutions which do award such degrees and those which award B.A. degrees for theological subjects is usually one of university bureaucracy, rather than curriculum.
Current examples of when this degree is taught as an undergraduate programme in the United Kingdom are[3]: the University of St Andrews (where entrants must hold a degree in another discipline); Queen’s University, Belfast; the University of Wales, Lampeter; Bangor University; the University of Aberdeen; University of Edinburgh; University of Glasgow. Note the pre-eminence of the Scottish intuitions due to the BA being alternate to the Scottish MA.
Heythrop College, at constituent institution of the University of London offers the BD course parallel to a Bachelor of Arts programme in Theology.[4] However, here the BD is indicated for candidates of the Roman Catholic Priesthood. Heythrop College, first founded as a Jesuit institution, is a specialist centre for the study of Theology and Philosophy related studies.
In Ireland St. Patrick's College, Maynooth(Pontifical Univeristy) offer the Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD) Degree which is available to students who already have completed studies in Theology or Philosophy.[5] Most other Catholic seminaries Clonliffe, Thurles, Carlow etc., would have awarded the BD degree. Trinity College Dublin as it traditionally did for Church of Ireland clergy offer a Bachelor in Divinity (BD)[6] it is classified as a postgraduate course. The Presbyterian Union Theological College as part of Queen’s University, Belfast also award the Bachelor of Divinity as an undergraduate qualification.
Bachelor of Divinity offered in the region of South Asia by the affiliated colleges under the Senate of Serampore College (University) is rather a post-graduate qualification in the sense that only graduates can register for BD.
The same has applied in New Zealand, where the undergraduate degree is MTh. Until recently both were offered at the University of Otago. The BD is the older degree and was usually attained by people training for the Presbyterian Church ministry of word and sacrament.
The Master of Divinity has replaced the Bachelor of Divinity in most American seminaries as the first professional degree, since the latter title implies in the American academic system that it is on a par with a Bachelor of Arts or other basic undergraduate education.
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