Nazarene Theological Seminary 4.72

Nazarene Theological Seminary is a service of the Church of the Nazarene, theologically grounded in the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition.

The Church of the Nazarene is a Protestant Christian church in the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition, tracing its roots to an anniversary date of 1908. It was founded to spread the message of scriptural holiness. Today the Church of the Nazarene can be found in more than 150 world areas.

The Church of the Nazarene is a GREAT COMMISSION CHURCH. Our mission is to make Christlike disciples in the nations. We believe that God offers to everyone forgiveness, peace, joy, purpose, love, meaning in life, and the promise of heaven when life is over by entering and experiencing a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. We are called to take this message to people everywhere.

The Church of the Nazarene is also a HOLINESS CHURCH . We believe that Christians can experience a deeper level of life in which there is victory over sin, power to witness and serve, and a richer fellowship with God, all through the infilling of the Holy Spirit.


Nazarene Theological Seminary seeks to prepare women and men for ministry in the various manifestations of Christ’s Church, in faithfulness to its roots in Wesleyanism. As a Christian educational community, we are guided by the following Statement of Belief which succinctly expresses the doctrinal core of the Wesleyan perspective and the Church of the Nazarene:

We believe:

In one God - The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
That the Old and New Testament Scriptures, given by plenary inspiration, contain all truth necessary to faith and Christian living.
That persons are born with a fallen nature, and are, therefore, inclined to evil, and that continually.
That the finally impenitent are hopelessly and eternally lost.
That the atonement through Jesus Christ is for the whole human race; and that whosoever repents and believes on the Lord Jesus Christ is justified and regenerated and saved from the dominion of sin.
That believers are to be sanctified wholly, subsequent to regeneration, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
That the Holy Spirit bears witness to the new birth, and also to the entire sanctification of believers.
That our Lord will return, the dead will be raised, and the final judgment will take place.

Purpose:

Theologically, the Seminary is rooted in the historic Christian faith as expressed in the Church of the Nazarene. Affirming the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition with its emphasis upon entire sanctification, we seek to explore and develop this tradition in contemporary contexts.

Spiritually, the Seminary seeks to nurture a living faith through spiritual formation. In community we desire to know and love the Lord, walk with the Lord, and speak of the Lord, increasing our commitment to Christ and his service.

Academically, the Seminary is committed to grounding students in the classical and applied theological disciplines for the practice of ministry. We affirm Holy Scripture as the primary, final and decisive norm of teaching, while making full use of tradition, experience and reason as tools in biblical interpretation and theological formulation.

Professionally, the Seminary purposes to equip students for the practice of ministry throughout the world, across the entire range of contemporary societies, using every means consistent with the message of the Gospel. Called to serve a global church, the Seminary seeks to reflect diversity in its life and work and to equip ministers to serve in multicultural contexts. Consistent with the Gospel and its Wesleyan-Holiness heritage, the Seminary seeks to nourish in students passion for evangelism, compassion toward the needy, and a desire to strive for social and economic justice, and an understanding of the formation of a missional Christian community.

All of these elements, properly integrated in a campus community of worship and learning, are designed to prepare graduates committed to the commission entrusted to the Church by its risen Lord to preach the Gospel to everyone, to administer the sacraments, to build up the believers in the Body of Christ, and to equip them for service in the world.

As a post-baccalaureate educational institution, the Seminary’s principal academic focus is the curriculum that leads to the Master of Divinity degree. It also recognizes the importance of specialized forms of Christian ministry in Christian education, missiology, compassionate ministry, and academic teaching. Degree programs leading to the Master of Arts in Christian Formation and Discipleship, the Master of Arts in Intercultural Studies, and the Master of Arts (Theological Studies) provide special preparation for such ministries. In addition, the Seminary offers instruction in biblical languages, Christian discipleship, church planting, evangelism, missional leadership and discipleship, pastoral counseling, and spiritual formation, along with chaplaincy, compassionate, cross-cultural, lay, urban, urban youth, and age-level ministries. The Seminary also acknowledges the importance of post-Master’s level study for professional clergy, and therefore offers the Doctor of Ministry degree. Recognizing the need for life-long learning, the Seminary provides appropriate continuing education for clergy and laity.