Biblical Studies
The purpose of the Biblical Faculty is:
- To cultivate and promote, by means of scholarly research, the obtaining of "a more profound understanding and exposition of the meaning of Sacred Scripture." (Dei Verbum , §12)
- To offer to the students, by the teaching and practice of various disciplines, in particular the biblical languages, an adequate preparation both for scholarly research and for the teaching and spread of Sacred Scripture and of the disciplines connected with it.
- To work toward "a better understanding and explanation of the meaning of Sacred Scripture, so that through preparatory study the judgment of the Church may mature" (Dei Verbum, §12) and that Sacred Scripture may have an ever more active role in the study of theology, in pastoral ministry, in ecumenical dialogue, in the sacred liturgy and in the reading of the faithful.
Moderator
The director is chosen by the candidate from among the permanent professors of the Institute. However, the Academic Council can grant that the moderator is another teacher who has particular relations with the Institute.
Admission Requirements
For admission as an ordinary student to the year of preparation for the doctorate (= AD) it is required that the candidate has obtained the Licentiate in Scripture with the final average of at least 9.00 / 10 .
The candidate must also demonstrate an adequate knowledge of English and German .
Rome Residency
During the academic semesters of the AD, residency in Rome is mandatory.
After having agreed on the field of study with the Moderator, the candidate can make his formal registration in the Secretariat. Within three months of enrollment he must submit to the Secretariat, in triplicate, his program approved by the Moderator and the Dean.
Program Field
The program field can have a thematic orientation. The choice of field should be such as to require the study of about 20-30 chapters of biblical texts, depending on their difficulty.
The bibliography will take into account the main commentaries, monographs and articles on the chosen field, together with fundamental works on the methodology.
Linguistics
The linguistic improvement of the candidate for ancient languages will be determined by the Moderator, taking into account the orientation of the program and the linguistic studies already made. In any case, students are asked to attend at least one semester of an ancient language, with positive results.
Written Work
The candidate will elaborate a written work, on a theme agreed with the Moderator, within the chosen field. Since the purpose of the written work is to determine the candidate's ability to write a scientific text on a specific subject, it should be similar to a scientific journal article; its length must be at least 65,000 characters and not more than 81,000 characters (including spaces and excluding the bibliography).
Written work must be submitted within twelve months of program approval. After the candidate has delivered the final draft of his work to the Secretariat (3 hard copies plus one in PDF), the Dean will appoint two other professors who will be required to read the work and will be members of the commission of the final experiment.
This will take place within six weeks of submitting the written work, excluding the period from 1st June to 30th September.
Final Experiment
The final experiment consists of a discussion, open to the entire academic community of the Institute, on the candidate's written work. The discussion will begin with a short presentation of the candidate (15 minutes). The three professors who are members of the commission will then have 20 minutes each for discussion with the candidate.
The chairman of the commission and the order of the professors' interventions are decided in advance by drawing lots by the Dean and the Secretary.
At the end of the experiment, the members of the commission will decide on the suitability of the candidate. The decision will be exclusively of "candidatus ad doctoratum" or "non candidatus ad doctoratum".
Submit Your Application
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