Benefits of Attaining a Religious Degree

Religious degrees such as Doctor of Divinity are certainly not for everyone. In some people’s minds, they are in the same league as diploma mill degrees because in some cases you can send a payment and get your degree by return mail – hardly the same as a four-year degree earned in a brick and mortar university…actually by the time you get to the doctoral level, you will have already spent four years earning a bachelor’s degree; likely another two years on your masters and now face yet another two years to earn your doctorate. Your costs by this point could have mounted into hundreds of thousands of dollars. On the other hand, many degrees issued by religious organizations are ‘honorary’, based on life achievements and cost far less. Practically all brick and mortar universities issue honorary degrees and yet they seem to be the ones who often express umbrage at religious degrees.

But religious degrees do have their place. Let’s go way back to the beginning…

Anyone who has bestowed upon them the Degree of Doctorate whether it is accredited, or honorary, has the right to use the title of Doctor before their name. They have the right to be addressed as such. They have the right to place the title on letterheads, cards, and any form of written correspondence. They have the privilege of meritorious acknowledgment of the community for their honors.

The Masters Degree, though considered to be of a lesser standing, also carries many of the same rights and privileges whether accredited or honorary. It is commonly considered that such titles such as Bachelor, Master, or the highest of all, the Doctorate, belong primarily to the Academic community.

Truth in fact is that the Ancient Guilds and Religious sects created these titles to honor the most skilled, and important of their members.

The title of Doctor was a creation of the Church to give honor to those of achievement within their orders that were commonly not of landed nobility, or the clergy. These honored persons were not warriors or priests, yet deserved high acknowledgment. The title came from the older German word meaning husbandry of a field of knowledge. Husbandry of an intellectual field of study expresses the greatest knowledge achieved in that study and work or the maturity of knowledge of the field.

The title of Master was given by the various Guilds to place honor upon those most skilled or powerful within the domain of each craft. It was the title used by a subordinate within a group to show deference to the most crafted. Monarchs also granted it to persons whom they chose to perform services for them. Master denoted the relationship of the teacher to the student, the greater skilled and the more knowledgeable within the specific area of work. When an apprentice, disciple, understudy or other student completed his course of study, he created a ‘masterpiece’ to show that he had earned the right to be called a master. The masterpiece could be a symphony, painting or thesis, depending on his field of study.

During the Middle Ages, it became common practice amongst the Guilds, and the Church, to sell Entitlements to increase their own fortunes. Though they added the epithet of Honorary to the Degrees, the recipient usually enjoyed the same privileges of the rank as one who earned it. Today an honorary degree still provides the title and assumed authority of ability, yet can normally be acquired through life experience rather than set study.

Honorary Degrees are also bestowed on persons who, through Life experiences, deserve recognition. It is often not the title that matters so much as the individual’s right to be recognized.

All major Universities and Religions today bestow Honorary Degrees upon the rich and famous for huge sums of money that they donate or bring through their association with that organization. Rarely will these major groups give equally deserving persons of lesser means such recognition.

Through the rights of Common Law, Constitutional law, Legal Precedence, and Ancient Proclamation, religious organizations are fully authorized and empowered to bestow both Honorary Religious entitlements and Earned Religious entitlements upon all worthy individuals. They are legal and valid degrees, honorary or earned, and should be recognized as such. Of course, a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Religious Studies degree may not be appropriate if seeking a position in engineering, e.g., but if you are a teacher, minister, pastor, independent scholar, researcher, historian, curator of religious artefacts, or speaker in the field of emerging, alternative, esoteric, or modern spirituality, your PhD would be highly relevant.

Robert Taylor

Rev. Dr. Robert W. Taylor is a Canadian educator living and working in Thailand. He has held ministerial credentials for more than 25 years. Interfaith-Academy LLC is a religious organization legally registered in the State of Delaware, USA and holder of a church charter from Universal Ministries. Interfaith Academy does issue a limited number of earned degrees at the bachelor, master and doctoral level to worthy individuals. These are reviewed on a case by case basis. For information about Interfaith Academy and the good work they do helping needy children, go to http://www.interfaith-academy.org