# Honorary Doctorates



## N. Eshelman (Dec 23, 2009)

What do you think of Christians receiving honorary doctorates for 'service' in the kingdom? To me they seem to be hokey and may be a violation of 'you shall not bear false witness'. The term 'doctor' implies that work has been done to earn the degree. 

What you think? Why?


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## Wayne (Dec 23, 2009)

Depends. Can be appropriate and even a due honor, but too often they are abused.

Are they even around all that much anymore? D.D. degrees were big in the 19th century, but it seems I don't see many these days.
Fran Schaeffer's doctorate was a D.D. conferred by Covenant College, I think. The latest one that I can remember was one conferred on W. Jack Williamson, ruling elder out of Montgomery, AL and an architect of the PCA's form of government. That one was awarded in the 1980's.

(needed one, maybe two more categories in your poll)


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## py3ak (Dec 23, 2009)

It was plainly perfectly appropriate to award Dame Joan Sutherland a D.Mus. She is a musician of tremendous stature, and her attainments and accomplishments merited the academic qualification, in spite of the fact that she had not made those attainments within academia.

So if someone wrote a book that demonstrated competence it would not be inappropriate to award them a degree for that.

But I always wonder how often John 5:44 gets forgotten in the awarding of honorary theological degrees, and if, for the awarding institution, it is attached to much more than an attempt to get another recruiter or commencement speaker at a low cost.


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## JonathanHunt (Dec 23, 2009)

I don't mind a minister being awarded a doctorate for contributing a helpful theological book or books to the body of Christ. I can't vote on the poll as I believe that some honorary doctorates should be left to one side, but some, awarded on the basis of substantive and tangible academic work, should quite fairly be used.


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## au5t1n (Dec 23, 2009)

I agree with others that they can be used well. Certainly they are more meaningful when coming from an institution that does not give them out willy-nilly.


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## Curt (Dec 23, 2009)

I don't have one.

However, I do see them as recognition of ministry well-done. I agree that giving them away like party favors is not worthwhile.


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## PresbyDane (Dec 23, 2009)

Give me one and I will tell you what I think of it


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## Grillsy (Dec 23, 2009)

Benny Hinn has one as does Ken Copeland. Oral Roberts had one too. They can certainly be abused. I think our society is not trained well enough in discernment for honorary doctorates to be of any benefit. 
But then I suppose we could ask ourselves who the doctorate serves--The person getting it as an award or is it a means to identify to the public someone worthy enough to listen to?


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## Wayne (Dec 23, 2009)

Somewhat surprisingly, often it serves the school making the award. It is a way of drawing in big names to speak at commencement exercises, for one.


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## Ivan (Dec 23, 2009)

They can be abused. They can be conferred on someone for a good reason. It depends.


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## Rich Koster (Dec 23, 2009)

Why do we have to be honored for service in the kingdom? The only thing we really need to hear is "well done.." from Jesus. I saw pastors acceptability and pay grades being determined by the letters following their name. It does not set well with me.


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## larryjf (Dec 23, 2009)

They can be appropriate if they are always referred to in the context of being "honorary"...and if it is made public who issued the degree.


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## KMK (Dec 23, 2009)

nleshelman said:


> To me they seem to be hokey and may be a violation of 'you shall not bear false witness'. The term 'doctor' implies that work has been done to earn the degree.



I wonder if it is disingenuous for a person with an honorary doctorate or an earned doctorate from an unaccredited institution to insist on being called 'doctor'. To the general public, the title 'Doctor' implies it is earned from an accredited institution. In fact, if a man with an honorary medical degree or a medical degree from an unaccredited institution pretends to be a 'Doctor', he can be put in jail!


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## larryjf (Dec 23, 2009)

KMK said:


> nleshelman said:
> 
> 
> > To me they seem to be hokey and may be a violation of 'you shall not bear false witness'. The term 'doctor' implies that work has been done to earn the degree.
> ...



Good point. I even wonder if Christians, even with earned accredited doctorates, should "insist" on being called a doctor.

There are certain contexts where i think it would be appropriate, such as when a teacher insists that his students call him "doctor"...but in most contexts i would think it rather inappropriate to insist on such titles.


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## Ivan (Dec 23, 2009)

The only title I insist upon is "Herr Pastor".


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## Curt (Dec 23, 2009)

Maybe only those who already have earned doctorates should be granted honorary ones.


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## larryjf (Dec 23, 2009)

Curt said:


> Maybe only those who already have earned doctorates should be granted honorary ones.



Or maybe we could call the honorary doctors something other than "doctor"...maybe "quasi-doctor" or something


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## Ivan (Dec 23, 2009)

larryjf said:


> Curt said:
> 
> 
> > Maybe only those who already have earned doctorates should be granted honorary ones.
> ...



That's kinda silly, Larry.


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## larryjf (Dec 24, 2009)

Ivan said:


> larryjf said:
> 
> 
> > Curt said:
> ...



Yes...it was a joke.


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## Ivan (Dec 24, 2009)

larryjf said:


> Ivan said:
> 
> 
> > larryjf said:
> ...



Then it's funny.


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## Skyler (Dec 24, 2009)

It depends entirely upon the giver of the doctorate. Honorary doctorates should, ideally, only be given when sufficient work has been done to warrant it--just like a "regular" doctorate given upon completion of an established curriculum.

A lot of times, I think, honorary doctorates are simply given because the person has become something of a celebrity and the institution wants to play off some of that popularity, and so gives the person a degree. Then their name is associated with that person's.

I don't think that's the way it should be. But if a person writes several solidly theological books and/or sets up an institution for the dissemination of said solid theology, a doctor's degree may well be warranted.


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## Turtle (Dec 24, 2009)

*Two lead balloons*



Rich Koster said:


> Why do we have to be honored for service in the kingdom? The only thing we really need to hear is "well done.." from Jesus. I saw pastors acceptability and pay grades being determined by the letters following their name. It does not set well with me.



I once attended a commencement ceremony at a Bible college that ended differently than most expected. The ceremony was packed and had family and friends that traveled from many states. The doctors, professors, and teachers all had on colorful robes, and beamed as their graduating students entered. The students all beamed back with a sense of accomplishment and eventually walked the stage to receive their diploma's. Then came the lead balloon.. The ceremony was coming to a close and an elderly pastor climbed the podium for the benediction. He had no smile. He lifted his voice to the microphone and prayed.. "Father, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Amen." People looked around the room in silent, uncomfortable disbelief.

The second lead balloon I heard occurred in the context of two pastors having a disagreement about the validity of insisting on being referred to by their titles of doctor. One said, "Jesus said, 'Don't you desire to be called doctor.' Did He mean it?" The other said, "Where does the Bible say that?" He responded, "Matt 23..they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers..." 

It seems to me that degrees are not in themselves something to shun.. after all they do help a pulpit search committee start somewhere. However, it does appear that seeking a degree for the purpose of the honor that it elicits is not well spoken of in Matt 23. 

Is it ironic that an "honorary doctorate" is called... well... honorary? Duh, thats why I want one!... ... 


Bryan
Tampa, FL


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## Ivan (Dec 24, 2009)

Much ado about nothing.


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## kevin.carroll (Dec 25, 2009)

nleshelman said:


> To me they seem to be hokey and may be a violation of 'you shall not bear false witness'.



Hokey and sinful are not the same thing are they? An institution decides whether or not it will grant an honorary degree. Honorary is a key word: they recognize individuals for something. That's one thing. Representing it as an academic degree is another.

Just curious: do you consider a DMin as a violation the Ninth Commandment too?


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## Webservant (Dec 25, 2009)

Well, when you go to school you are not awarded a doctorate until you write a thesis. I can see situations where someone's entire life or body of work is one long "thesis". I can see where this could be abused, but I could also see how some people might feel threatened by it. Count me as one who thinks it's just fine.


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## N. Eshelman (Dec 25, 2009)

kevin.carroll said:


> nleshelman said:
> 
> 
> > To me they seem to be hokey and may be a violation of 'you shall not bear false witness'.
> ...



I do not think that hokey and sinful are synonymous. One is in bad taste. The other is in violation of God's Law. I am not sure where I stand on honorary doctorates- I am not sure whether or not I would accept one, to be honest. 

As for D.Min- this is an actual degree that requires class time as well as the writing of a thesis. It is an advanced degree. As far as I know the D.Min requires an MDiv or equivalent (at least the programs that I have looked into). It may not be the same amount of work as a PhD; but just like an MD and DDS are both doctorates but take different amounts of work. They are still legitimate doctorates.


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