According to the SGB-generated, SAQA-registered BTh Honours (ID 49133), students who graduate from a BTh Hons should be able to do the following with an advanced measure of independence:

• Analyse and interpret primary Christian sources exegetically and theologically.

• Integrate and appropriate such sources in context.

• Analyse, understand and position oneself and one’s community within the scope of the history of Christianity.

• Critically evaluate and apply Christian theology and ethics personally and in community.

• Design, practise and monitor ministries in the church.

• Initiate and develop Christian ministry in the wider community.

• These descriptors fit well with the objectives of the South African Theological Seminary and the skills we would like to see developed in graduates from this programme.

Although Honours degrees are entrenched in South Africa’s higher education framework, they are little known in the rest of the world (except for Australia and New Zealand). An Honours degree is a complete qualification that lies between a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree. The B.Th. Honours is a fully accredited, fully online degree programme with courses covering the major fields of theological studies. It builds on knowledge and skills obtained through a B.Th., or a B.A. that includes substantial biblical and theological studies. It provides a platform for the Master’s programme, and also serves as an entry point for advanced theological study for students with primary qualifications in other fields of study. The articulation options relevant to the B.Th. Honours programme can be represented using the following diagram (see below):

The following diagram (see below) compares the South African framework with the American. In America, the Bachelor’s degree is four years, and the Master’s is one year. Therefore, our MTh corresponds closely to the American MA, while our BTh and BTh Hons together are approximately equivalent to their BA. (A key difference is that the South African degrees tend to be more narrowly specialised than their American counterparts.)

These illustrations are not an exact representation of reality, but they should give you a good idea of the role the BTh Hons plays in the South African framework.

The outcomes below are the exit-level outcomes suggested in the SGB-generated, SAQA-registered BTh Honours (ID 49133). In designing the curriculum, the Seminary has taken cognisance of these outcomes and purposely adapted them to fit the institution's objectives as embodied in the course-level outcomes.

• Identify, distinguish and evaluate more advanced concepts and theories with regard to theology as a human and social science.

• Integrate and apply the range of theological concepts and disciplines.

• Critically compare and use theological and other sources at a more advanced level to explore faith questions and proclaim Christian faith in context.

• Identify and develop their personal faith in critical interaction with their context and people with differing views and exhibit a more advanced degree of critical self-awareness.

• Engage in and articulate critical and creative theological thinking at a more advanced level.

• Play a moral and constructive role by developing and applying core human and Christian values to contexts and being critical of all value systems.

• Develop and evaluate insights arising from the various theological disciplines that may contribute to the development of Christian ministry and life.

• Use varying theological disciplines to develop critical thinking concerning issues of power and leadership in church and society.

• Be aware of, and be able to interact constructively with, multicultural and multi-faith communities, from a theological perspective.

• Apply the insights of one or more disciplines to identify and critique issues of church and society.