General information about this course

1.   Nature and Purpose of the M.Th Course:

The Degree of Master of Theology (M.Th) is a post-graduate programme offered by the Senate of Serampore College. Responsibility for administering the programme is with the Academic Council under the over-all supervision of the Senate of Serampore College (SSC).

The M.Th Degree programme was first introduced by the SSC in the year 1948. At that time the primary purpose of the programme was to train teachers for the various theological colleges in India. Over the past several years the programme has also come to be seen as for the ministry of the church in its own right and as a programme oriented towards equipping men and women at an academic level higher than that of the B.D programme for the various ministries of the church. Though M.Th is a degree complete in itself, it also serves as a preparation for advanced study and research at the doctoral level.

Moreover, the contemporary challenges that the church in India faces in the context of religious awakening and cultural pluralism, the issues of poverty and justice, ecology, people with disability, people living with  HIV/ AIDS, people with different sexual orientation. With human trafficking and caste and gender discrimination, oppression of Adivasi, Dalits and Tribals; and the concerns raised by liberation movements and social development groups call for a contextual and holistic approach to higher theological studies paying also attention to our heritage. Therefore, the M.Th Curriculum is designed to include an integrative and interdisciplinary approach to study with due awareness to the need for specialization.

2.   Objectives of the M.Th Degree Programme:

a.   To train candidates for teaching in theological colleges.

b.   To equip candidates with adequate academic tools and skills for critical and methodological reflection as well as creative participation in the diversified ministries of the church.

c.   To develop holistic knowledge and proficiency in candidates so that they may engage in independent and contextual research which may lead to advanced study at the doctoral level.

d.   To promote contextual, contemporary and inter-disciplinary perspectives which will help critique our own understanding of theology and develop an integrative, plural, diverse and holistic to achieve knowledge and thinking and deepen our understanding of spirituality.