Masters of Arts in Intellectual Leadership

The M.A. in Intellectual Leadership is designed for ministry leaders who already have the skill set to "succeed" in ministry, but who long for more depth and theological savvy and purity in their relationship with God. The M.A. in Intellectual Leadership is an academic degree that has a spiritual foundation that infuses it with truth from God. No Christian needs to be an academic. But every Christian ought to be an intellectual leader who knows the underlying Truth of all truth. Jesus said, "I am the Truth" (John 14:6).

“Pure thinking will do more to educate a [person] than any other activity
he [or she] can engage in. Thinking is a kind of living.”

— A.W. Tozer

The M.A. in Intellectual Leadership is designed for ministry professions, including:

  • Pastors and church staff
  • Life coaches and consultants
  • Christian writers
  • Christian counselors
  • Teachers in Christian schools
  • Professors in Christian colleges and universities
  • Community-based ministry leaders
  • Librarians of Christian collections

Important Information

Program Overview

Touchstone Courses   6 units
     
Intellectual Leadership Core   15 units
     
Biblical and Theological Foundation   18 units
     
Concentration   12 units
     
Capstone Course   3 units
     
TOTAL   54 units

 

Intellectual Leadership Curriculum

Touchstone Courses (6 units)

  • BI 6005 Biblical Interpretation (3)
  • TH 6040 God, Revelation, and Humanity (3)

Intellectual Leadership Core (15 units)

  • GS 6000 Lifelong Learning for Ministry Leadership (3)
  • GS 6015 Personal Health of the Leader (3)
  • ML 6050 Catalytic Leadership (3)
  • CO 6110 Rhetoric in Christian Leadership (3)
  • TH 6180 Intellectual Leadership: Developing a Christian Mind (3)

Biblical and Theological Foundations (18 units)

  • TH 6005: The Authority of Scripture and Epistemology (3)
  • TH 6015: Events in Church History (3)
  • BI 6090: Pursuing Wisdom (3)
  • NT 6211: NT: Gospels and Johannine Literature (3)
  • OT 6211: OT: Pentateuch (3)
  • TH 6300: Church and Society (3)

Concentration Courses (12 units)

Electives from any discipline offered at A.W. Tozer Theological Seminary (e.g., Writing for Publication, Suffering and Healing, Greek, Apologetics, Exploring Science and Scripture, Theology of Money, etc. See below in the section called "Seminary Courses.").

AND/OR

Any accredited master's level courses that pertain to the student's interests and expertise.


Capstone Course (3 units)

  • IM 6500: Leadership Strategies for Cultural Transformation (3)

TOTAL (54 units)

Graduation Requirements for M.A. in Intellectual Leadership

The following are required to receive the M.A. in Intellectual Leadership:

  • Achieve candidacy after earning 27 units.
  • Completion of 54 acceptable units.
  • Cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher
  • Completion of the requirements within five years

Learning Outcomes for the M.A. in Intellectual Leadership

Upon completion of the Master of Arts in Intellectual Leadership, successful students will be able to:

  1. Interpret Scripture, honoring its authority in light of logic, church tradition, and experience.
  2. Explain the basic tenets of orthodox Christianity, emphasizing what it means to have a Christian worldview.
  3. Demonstrate sound theological thinking by generating fresh ideas, discerning theological errors, and echoing orthodox Christianity in the parlance of contemporary language.
  4. Demonstrate in conversation and writing an ability to think theologically about other disciplines of study such as science, finance, business, leadership, education, art, or medicine.
  5. Identify various philosophical starting points in public documents.
  6. Analyze ideas from a Christian perspective.
  7. Generate constructive comments about the national and global situation, articulating a Christian response to the opportunities and challenges that currently confront society.
  8. Draft a realistic plan for transforming culture such that the gospel becomes more credible.


At A.W. Tozer Theological Seminary, intellectual leadership means something far more than mastering the thoughts of scholars and theologians or generating ideas of one's own. Intellectual leadership means leading other people to think Christianly, so they can be like Christ. Jesus was not an academic; He was a humble learner who became the greatest Teacher in the world (Luke 2:40, 52). Jesus is the greatest intellectual in history.

The best intellectual leadership is courageous Christian leadership. It takes intellectual leadership to remind society (and also the church) of what the word intellectual means. The church needs countless intellectual leaders who have the courage and conviction to know (not just believe) the things of God. Christianity is not a mindless religion. Christianity is based on Reality, the reality of God Himself. How can a person be educated truly without knowing how to think about God?

It takes deep theological savvy and confidence in Christ to be a leader who proclaims the truth of God—and perseveres. In order to endure, every Christian needs a framework, a theological framework, by which to interpret the world and all its pain. At Tozer we believe that the Spirit of God is raising up a generation of intellectual Christian leaders who have the wherewithal and faith to exercise the mind of Christ (I Corinthians 2:16).

The M.A. in Intellectual Leadership is designed to train students to serve as leading thinkers in the culture. The purpose of the M.A. in Intellectual Leadership is to send out mission-minded graduates who can minister Christ in every discipline and area of life.



“We cannot know God by thinking, but we must do a lot of thinking if we would know Him well.
Our thoughts are the product of our thinking, and since these are of such vast importance to us,
it is imperative that we learn how to think rightly.”

— A.W. Tozer