LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO

2024-2025 CATALOG

The Academic Catalog is the official listing of courses, programs of study, academic policies and degree requirements for Loyola University Chicago. It is published every year in advance of the next academic year.

Theology (PhD)

The study of religion has been called a “field-encompassing field” (Clifford Geertz) in that the understanding of religion involves many disciplines. The PhD in Theology at Loyola emphasizes interdisciplinary engagement, drawing on historical, linguistic, philosophical, sociological, and literary methods, in addition to the core materials and texts of the fields of Systematic Theology, Christian Ethics, or Biblical Studies. Loyola University’s doctoral program in theology is designed for those who envision a career primarily in teaching and scholarly research at an advanced level. We offer two specializations.

In our Integrative Studies in Ethics and Theology (ISET) specialization, students give particular attention to the ways in which theology (historical and systematic) and Christian ethics intersect with and influence one another in particular thinkers and with respect to concrete theological and ethical questions.

The New Testament and Early Christianity specialization concentrates on the New Testament and closely related texts in their historical, cultural, and religious context. The interpretation of texts involves the use of a variety of methods, both literary and historical. While studying the New Testament in its multifaceted reality, students explore the fascinating history and culture of contemporary Jewish and Greco-Roman worlds, the richness of the Jewish Scriptures, and the challenging diversity of Second Temple Judaism.