PTS Catalogue - Princeton Theological Seminary

New Testament students will ordinarily choose one of the following corpora:
Synoptic Gospels and Acts
Johannine Writings
Paul and Pauline Traditions
Hebrews and Catholic Epistles
Apocalyptic Writings (including Old Testament)
4. Exegetical Competency Exam
This exam will ordinarily not cover material in a student’s area of specialization
(as the Book-and-Block Exam is designed to do). By the end of April, of the student’s
second year of residency, the department will assign faculty examiners who
will notify the student of the book from which the exam passage is to be taken.
Students are responsible for marshalling all necessary resources in advance of
the examination, which will normally be set for the week immediately following
the date of a student’s Book-and-Block exam in September, with the joint oral to
follow as soon thereafter as possible, though ordinarily no later than the end of
September of the student’s third year. The exam is to be open-book, for which
students are expected to use all the resources available to them to do advanced
exegetical work. Students will be given one week to study a set passage (usually a
difficult one); at the end of this week, students must be ready to discuss all aspects
of the text including, as relevant, language, philology, textual criticism, literary
issues, historical questions, and theology. The student is expected to demonstrate
independence in exegesis, an ability to use all relevant languages, and knowledge
of the relevant primary and secondary literature. At the end of the week of study,
students will turn in a copy of their working notes to the Office of Academic Affairs,
Ph.D. Studies. These will provide a partial basis for the ensuing oral examination.
5. Review Essay
This essay is to focus on the status of the question of a particular issue in the field,
normally a topic central to a student’s anticipated dissertation project. The essay
is to involve a thorough review and evaluation of the secondary literature on the
topic in question and is to show promise toward publication, either as an independent
essay or as a part of the dissertation (often the “history of scholarship”
chapter). Ordinarily, the essay is to be submitted to the Office of Academic Affairs,
Ph.D. Studies before the Christmas break of the third year in the program. Faculty
evaluations will be in writing and notification of pass or failure will be given by the
end of the following January.
Successful completion of these Comprehensive Examinations entitles a student to
move directly to the Dissertation Proposal and the Dissertation.
Dissertation Proposal
The dissertation proposal is to be brief (no more than ten pages) and should be
composed by the student in consultation with relevant faculty members. Normally,
it is to be submitted to area faculty for evaluation (via the student’s proposed
Dissertation Committee Chair) no later than March 1 following the successful
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