On Mon, 2007-10-08 at 16:19 -0400, Shawn McMahon wrote: > In the US, not only does "doctor" mean a medical professional with an MD > degree and anybody with a Ph.D. degree, but also a Doctor of Divinity > degree (which is the equivalent of a Bachelor's degree in anything else) > and even the Juris Doctor degree that all law school graduates have > (which is roughly the equivalent of a Master's Degree in most fields).
A DD is *not* the equivalent of a bachelor's degree. There is an old "bachelor of divinity", which like the old "bachelor of laws" was a post-graduate degree. But even that is gone. The standard professional degree for religious types in the US is the Master of Divinity (M.Div.), which is a three-year professional degree in the style of the MBA, MSW, JD, and MD. This replaced the old Bachelor of Divinity for the same reason that the JD and MD were created. The Master of Theological Studies (M.T.S.) is a two-year academic masters, like the MA or MS. The Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) is a practical advanced doctorate, assuming the M.Div. already and based upon practical work. It is similar in purpose to the Ed.D., as a further-training degree for professionals "in the field" with lesser reasearch requirements than a research doctorate. The Doctor of Theology (Th.D.) is a research doctorate with the same sort of requirements and importance as the Ph.D. The Doctor of Divinity (D.D.) is awarded as a honorary degree. For example, in the Episcopal Church, bishops are customarily awarded the D.D. by their seminary. Other people who have "made a name" in the field of religion or theology are given the D.D. as a recognition of their accomplishments. So in religious stuff, there are essentially two tracks, one "academic" and one "practical": M.Div. -> D.Min. M.T.S. -> Th.D. Of course, many people have various other combinations. Thomas -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]