Doctor of Divinity
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Doctor of Divinity (D.D., Divinitatis Doctor in Latin) is an academic degree in divinity. Historically, it identified one who had been licensed by a university to teach Christian theology or related religious subjects.
In the United Kingdom, D.D. has traditionally been the highest doctorate granted by universities, usually conferred upon a religious scholar of standing and distinction. In descending order of seniority, the D.D. degree is followed by LL.D. (or D.C.L.) for law, M.D. (or D.M.) for medicine, Litt.D. (or D.Litt.) for letters, and D.Sc. (or Sc.D.) for science. The high status of the D.D. qualification in British universities owed to their traditional affiliation with the Christian church. As universities became increasingly secular in the 20th century, the D.D. degree lost much of its preeminence in practice, though officially it is still the most senior qualification at the English universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Durham, as well as at the Scottish universities of St Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Edinburgh.
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[edit] Contemporary usage
Today, a D.D. degree is usually granted as an honorary doctorate upon a distinguished individual whose work has been connected with religion. In most English-speaking universities, a graduate student who has completed a doctoral course of study and research in religion will usually receive a Ph.D. or a Th.D, rather than a D.D. However, a number of universities still confer the D.D., upon supplication, in recognition of the scholarly contributions to theology made by a person's published work.
[edit] In literature
A well-known piece of humorous doggerel runs
- A young theologian named Fiddle
- refused to accept his degree
- "It's bad enough being named Fiddle,
- Without being Fiddle, D.D."
In another instance of D.D. being used in literature for humorous purposes, Kurt Vonnegut's novel Mother Night features the character of a deranged neo-Nazi dentist, the Rev. Dr. Lionel Jones, D.D.S., D.D. In William Faulkner's novel Light in August, the Rev. Hightower's designation as a "D.D." is said by the townspeople to mean "done damned".
An additional famous occurrence is in Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera Pirates of Penzance, nearing the end of Act I, where Major-General Stanley's daughters are captured by the clumsy corsairs:
- Here's a first-rate opportunity
- To get married with impunity
- And indulge in the felicity
- Of unbounded domesticity
- You shall quickly be parsonified
- Conjugally matrimonified
- By a Doctor of Divinity
- Who resides in this vicinity
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- The Rise and Fall of the Earned Doctorate of Divinity in the Presbyterian Church in Canada..., a PDF paper by Dan Shute, retrieved July 30, 2006.
