www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Doctor of Divinity?

can anyone tell me what a "Doctor of Divinity" degree is in our Church? I believe it is an honorary degree but i have been told that bishops automatically "have" this degree when ordained as bishops, that it may not be an actual degree but a title? this doesnt fit my knowledge of degrees and titles, but it may be true? any information? it does seem all bishops today have this degree or title, or letters after their name?

AFAIK a D.D. is an honorary degree. I�ve never heard of bishops automatically getting it on their consecration.

<A HREF="http://oldworldrus.com">Old World Rus�</A>

In the Latin Church there is a requirement that a bishop hold a doctorate. If he does not have one he is granted an honorary Doctor of Divinity (D.D.) degree by virtue of his position. I do not know if this automatically occurs in the Eastern Churches.

I do think it's a hard way to get a doctorate!

Edward, deacon and sinner

My understanding is that the degree is purely honorary; one cannot 'earn' a Doctor of Divinity degree. It's either a Th.D (doctor of theology), a PhD in theology or the D.Min. (doctor of ministry).

To my knowledge, the 'degree' was instituted for bishops to bring them to an 'equal' level with those who had spent the time and energy in studies. I vaguely remember reading something about the fact that canon law required a person to be degreed in order to preach (and also to hear confessions). If a candidate for bishop lacked the canonical academic credentials, then he got the D.D. to 'regularize' his status.

What many folks don't know is that even though a priest is ordained to celebrate the sacraments on behalf of the bishop, the ability to both preach and to hear confessions is actually a separate license granted to a priest by his bishop. The Middle Ages had 'Massing priests' who only celebrated Mass (usually for stipends) but who were not allowed to preach or hear confessions. In the East, such priests also existed and in some places still do. In very rural villages in Greece, a man who farmed the land might be ordained to celebrate Liturgy, baptize and sanctify marriages, but he would not be allowed to preach or hear confessions. That was reserved to the 'educated' priest only who had the 'license' from the bishop. (I wonder if this the reason why our people(s) didn't go to confession except yearly -- and thus received communion only at Pascha or some other major feast?)

In Greece (and some other Byzantine countries) much of the theology is done by lay theologians who act as consultors to the bishops and the synods. There is a strong tradition of lay theologians, a very real and different perspective from that of the Latin church.

Blessings.

I appreciate the above, informative post. I was unaware as to the practice of the latin Church in the Middle Ages mentioned. It might be of interest to soem Latin Catholics that how our Eastern tradition of married priests fits into the above situtation. In some eastern jurisdictions, married priests were limited to celebrating the Liturgy and could not preach. Only celibate priests preached. In other Eastern jurisdictions, this distinction was more informal, but basically only celibate priests received formal education. The introduction of formal education for married priests might be called a "latinism"; certainly it was introduced to our community at the suggestion of the Vatican.

K.