I'll admit it: academic credentials impress me a little. It took some blood, sweat and tears for me to earn my degrees, and I feel a certain camaraderie with people who've felt my pain.
So, when I heard about Jamal-Harrison Bryant, an up-and-coming thirtysomething preacher from Baltimore who was said to have have earned a Ph.D. in theology from Oxford, I took note. A brief search revealed that his church Website and various colleges for which he's given commencement addresses made the same claim--although sometimes referring to it as a doctorate in ministry or a Ph.D. in religion. I was further intrigued. What raised my eyebrows, though, was when I heard his preaching--an odd mishmash of health-wealth, allegory, new-age hooey and liberation theology. I'm not suggesting that Oxford is a bastion of conservative theological scholarship, but Bryant was saying things that would make an Oxford don tear his robe--whether liberal or conservative.
However, I had no real proof ... Until now: Interestingly, The Graduate Theological Foundation in South Bend, Indiana, has a document on its site that lists a Jamal-Harrison Bryant in their 2005 graduating class as having earned a Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.). If you visit the link and then do a word search for "jamal," you'll see the class of '05. Of course, this is not Oxford, but a look at the foundation's Website will indicate that students at GTF can visit Oxford for a summer seminar, after which they get a certificate and a lapel pin.
Did he go to Oxford? Maybe for a few weeks in the summer during his D.Min. studies. But he wasn't given a degree by Oxford. Does he have a Ph.D.? No, he has a doctor of ministry from an unaccredited online school. Big difference. Just a bit too greasy for my palate ...
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