Master of Arts in Biblical and Christian Studies

 Concordia’s Master of Arts in Biblical and Christian Studies (MABCS) encourages a comprehensive approach to Biblical and Christian studies. Students in this program develop a high level of competence in research, writing, teaching, and communication skills.

• This program prepares students with the knowledge and skills that will qualify them for any Ph.D. program in the broad field of Biblical and Christian Studies at any university offering such a program.
• Students are expected to demonstrate their scholarly ability through the preparation and defense of a major thesis.
• In this program students are prepared to serve as highly qualified resource people within a church or para-church setting or, after further graduate work in a doctoral program, to seek a teaching or administrative position in a university or seminary.
• They have the opportunity in this program to expand their communication skills in seminar settings and in supervised lectures delivered by them to undergraduates.
• This program also helps students to increase their knowledge of what it means to think in a Christian manner about their vocation, their relationships, their activities–indeed, about all of life.

Program Design

Students in the Master of Arts in Biblical and Christian Studies will receive instruction in a specialized field of study. A wide-range of subjects is offered in three areas of concentration:

• Old Testament Studies
• New Testament Studies
• Christian Theology and History

Each student will complete three courses (9 credits) in one of the above areas of concentration, two courses (6 credits) from among the other two areas of concentration listed above, a Principles and Methodology of Biblical and Christian Studies course (3 credits), and a Thesis (12 credits) in his/her major area of concentration, for a total of 30 credits needed to complete the program.

In addition a foreign language requirement must be satisfied. The usual foreign language requirement is a reading ability in a language other than English that is most likely to be relevant to the student’s research.

Admission Requirements

In addition to meeting the Admissions and General Admission Requirements for the Faculty of Graduate Studies, students applying to the MABCS program must meet the following requirements:

• Students should have completed 36 undergraduate credits in Religious Studies at an accredited university, including 6 credits in one of the following concentration areas: (1) Hebrew Scripture, (2) New Testament, (3) Christian Theology/History.
• A minimum admission grade point average of 3.0 (on Concordia’s 4-point scale) or equivalent on the most recent 60 credits of undergraduate (or graduate) study.
• Students must have completed six credits of a language other than English: Biblical Hebrew for students who intend to study Hebrew Scriptures, Classical/Koine Greek for those intending to study New Testament, one of Latin, French, or German for those intending to study Christian Theology/History. Students lacking these requirements upon application to the program will have their cases reviewed by the Master’s Program Committee, who may prescribe placement exams or make-up courses.
• Students must also submit with their applications a recent written sample of work, normally a research paper produced in the last two years of a BA program. Papers specifically prepared for application also will be accepted.
• They must also submit a statement of interest (approximately 500 words) and two letters of reference: please ask your referees to use Concordia’s Graduate Application Confidential Assessment Form on the Graduate Studies website.

Biblical and Christian Studies Course Descriptions