Master's degree in Catholic Theology or Catholic Philosophy?

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phil19034

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Hello all,

Please forgive me if this isn’t the best place for this post…

I’m considering pursing a Master’s degree in Catholic thought, but I’m not sure if I should pursue an MA in Philosophy (from a college like Holy Apostles College) or a Masters in Theology.

Regardless of the degree, I would pursue it online.

But I can’t decide which I would be better off pursuing. In an ideal world, I would like to teach college (even if just as an adjunct). Any thoughts / advice?

Thank you and God bless
  • Masters in Theology
  • Masters in Philosophy
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Pursue a double.

John E. Smith, PhD, ThD just sounds awesome.

Then aim to become John E. Smith, PhD, ThD, M.D.

Once achieving the coveted triple doctorate, go for two - aim at becoming John E. Smith, PhD, ThD, M.D., J.D., LitD

Then you will achieve Buddhahood.
 
Serious answer, and its totally because of personal bias, go for the theology instead of philosophy.

I dunno what it is but I can’t stand studying philosophy for much more than a half hour or so - whereas I can easily study theology for several hours without tiring.

Theology and philosophy, when practiced and comprehended cohesively and correctly, like science and theology, should always tend toward confirming each other, not contradicting. If your philosophy is not marrying up to your theology, something is wrong with your view of one or the other. Ditto for science and theology.
 
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Quite frankly, teaching college full time in theology/philosophy is a pipe dream—it’s like playing for the NBA. The prospect for college professors in the future is pretty bleak, too. And adjuncts do not make enough to live off of.

I would seriously encourage you to re-examine your priorities before embarking on this venture. You would be better off finding a job first and then getting your requirments as they see fit.
 
I’ve been looking at Holy Apostles for a year now. I need to just do it already.

What are you looking to do with your degree? (Nvm, I saw it!)
 
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Xanthippe_Voorhees said:
Quite frankly, teaching college full time in theology/philosophy is a pipe dream—it’s like playing for the NBA. The prospect for college professors in the future is pretty bleak, too. And adjuncts do not make enough to live off of.

I would seriously encourage you to re-examine your priorities before embarking on this venture. You would be better off finding a job first and then getting your requirments as they see fit.
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Thank you, but I already have a job that pays a six figure salary, in a career that I’ve already spent 17 years in. I’m looking for my next career or a retirement career. 🤓
 
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Have you taken any/many courses in either field? Do you have the opportunity to take classes on some kind of extension basis? Are there classes that you would need if you pursued either field? Do you know any teachers in either of the fields?
 
phil19034 said:
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Xanthippe_Voorhees:
Quite frankly, teaching college full time in theology/philosophy is a pipe dream—it’s like playing for the NBA. The prospect for college professors in the future is pretty bleak, too. And adjuncts do not make enough to live off of.

I would seriously encourage you to re-examine your priorities before embarking on this venture. You would be better off finding a job first and then getting your requirments as they see fit.
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Thank you, but I already have a job that pays a six figure salary, in a career that I’ve already spent 17 years in. I’m looking for my next career or a retirement career. 🤓
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Then do what you’d enjoy more. If you’re ready for a retirement job/career scope out the places you’d like to be teaching. Connect with faculty, talk to staff. Find the sort of environment that you want to be in.

Philosophy has a wider scope and more “hireability” and you’d likely be teaching lower level classes–especially as an adjunct but Theology has more of a focus and you’re more likely to teach fewer students but more intense (both in subject matter and in grading) classes.
 
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I think Xanthippe is right that there are more college level opportunities with philosophy, though probably not above the community college level with a master’s degree. A master’s in theology would qualify you to teach high school theology if you are interested in that level. It’s not going to be the kind of thing you get rich at either way, but if it’s an area you enjoy studying I say go for it. I have a master’s in theology and it makes me a very well qualified volunteer.
 
SuscipeMeDomine said:
I think Xanthippe is right that there are more college level opportunities with philosophy, though probably not above the community college level with a master’s degree. A master’s in theology would qualify you to teach high school theology if you are interested in that level. It’s not going to be the kind of thing you get rich at either way, but if it’s an area you enjoy studying I say go for it. I have a master’s in theology and it makes me a very well qualified volunteer.
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Actually, a Master’s degree in anything qualifies most professionals to teach at the adjunct college level. The pay is abysmal, however, between 2-3k for a semester-long class. That might seem like a lot, but you’d have to teach 12-20 classes a year and have hundreds of students at the college level to have any sort of a livable income. (and most schools only have 3 semesters, maybe a 4th “break term” at CC’s) However, if you were retired or could live off of a spouse, adjunct teaching a class or two a semester one can make some decent wages. You have 3 teaching hours a week, plus office hours/availability (usually about 1hr per week per class) and atleast that much in prep, plus grading…so each class is going to represent a 15-20 hour work week depending on the size and level of what you’re teaching.

A full-time professor is going to teach 3-4 classes per semester, usually at least 2 of which he could do in his sleep and be expected to produce journal or other industry writing/research. Adjuncts rarely get to teach the same class twice in a row, often being assigned at the last minute to fill in the gaps the tenured don’t feel like—or if a section was added…so they often must revisit and revise class plans…unlike tenured who can simply coast on lectures they’ve done for years.
 
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Xanthippe_Voorhees said:
Actually, a Master’s degree in anything qualifies most professionals to teach at the adjunct college level.
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These days, an MA really doesn’t get you into a college or university adjunct pool unless you know someone. There are SO many PhDs looking for jobs and willing to take what they can get. It’s a difficult way to launch a career after so many years of study, but it’s the way of things today.
 
ComplineSanFran said:
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Xanthippe_Voorhees:
Actually, a Master’s degree in anything qualifies most professionals to teach at the adjunct college level.
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These days, an MA really doesn’t get you into a college or university adjunct pool unless you know someone. There are SO many PhDs looking for jobs and willing to take what they can get. It’s a difficult way to launch a career after so many years of study, but it’s the way of things today.
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Well, that depends. In the English/history/philo side that is true…which is what the OP is looking for. CC’s are pretty hard up for truly flexiable adjuncts…and they can get you “in the know” if you follow the right leads. It would be better if the OP was in STEM. Even notable universities are so desperate for low-level Math teachers they are begging local public school teachers to take on a class.

You also need to consider that more and more universities are going to “adjunct pools.” They really, really like the guys and gals who don’t care to be tenure-track and only want to teach a class or two a semester because they are cheap—they don’t need an office, they don’t get benefits and they often can’t join a union because they are below 50% FTE.

Competition is pretty high, but the OP has 17 years of work experience. If he’s in any sort of business and gets pulled for an ethics class, today that would make him a top pick above someone who has a PHD but no experience in real life.

More and more colleges are pushing the “adjuncts have real-world experience” (and thus, do not want to teach full time) to get around the ethical issues of adjunct teaching.
 
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Yeah, here I have to agree with ComplineSF. The newly minted PhDs from my institution – especially in the humanities – face a very competitive job market. While adjunct positions may not pay much, you take it if it’s all you can get. And for a lot of them, that’s all they can get.
 
I hope someday I’m able to have one of those retirement career PhD thingies. At this point I spent so many years in school to get the pre-retirement careers that it’s very hard for me to picture going back, even though there are a couple of majors I might enjoy studying (none of them are -ologies though).

If I had to pick Theology or Philosophy, it would be theology all the way. Philosophy has always driven me nuts and, in its modern incarnation (as opposed to back in previous eras when it seemed to focus more on developing some set of moral principles for guiding society instead of weird logic problems or “ethical dilemmas”), seems like the most useless subject in the world. I’m currently trying to understand just what St. Edith Stein saw in it.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
Philosophy has always driven me nuts and, in its modern incarnation (as opposed to back in previous eras when it seemed to focus more on developing some set of moral principles for guiding society instead of weird logic problems or “ethical dilemmas”), seems like the most useless subject in the world. I’m currently trying to understand just what St. Edith Stein saw in it.
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I agree that most modern philosophy is garbage. We need a return to more Scholastic & Thomist Philosophy, which is what many Catholic colleges try to teach, but we need more of them there.

So that’s one reason I’m thinking about Philosophy, because I could do good teaching at a community college … teaching Catholic Philosophy at a secular school would not be a bad gig.

But theology is very interesting and fascinating to me. Who knows, perhaps I will do both one day.

One of things I’ve considered is that if I one day become a Deacon, I would most likely earn a Theology degree in the process. But I don’t know if that’s in the cards or not.

I appreciate everyone’s (name removed by moderator)ut, please keep them coming. 🙂

God Bless
 
Questions to ask are

What units are included in each course
What units do you want to study
Is the degree by coursework or research
How well regarded is the course you favour.

And what area specifically, do you wish to specilize in? Post Graduate leads to narrower specialisation with greater focus on fewer themes.
 
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Think about hospital chaplaincy, you need masters in theology and Clinical Pastoral Education.

it is practical application, spiritual work of mercy and will change your life.
 
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