About me

  • I am a Doctor of Theology (Th.D.) student at Duke Divinity School. My areas of concentration are "The Practice of Leading Christian Communities and Institutions" and "New Testament."

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Th.D. / Ph.D.

October 09, 2007

Bonhoeffer / Emerging Church paper and AETE

[I have revised this post].

At the last minute I was asked to be ready to present my paper on Bonhoeffer and Emerging Church movement at the Academy for Evangelism in Theological Education meeting.  But as it turned out, they didn't need me as all four presenters showed up.  The AETE met this year in Ashland, Ohio at Ashland Seminary. 

The paper I was going to present was the one I wrote for my Duke Th.D. application.  It has been on my blog for six months and I have made the changes people suggested there.  I have attached both a Microsoft Word and PDF version below. 

Download bonhoeffer_and_emerging_church.doc

Download bonhoeffer_and_emerging_church.pdf

"Who is the Academy for Evangelism in Theological Education?", you might ask.  The professors on the board are United Methodist, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, evangelical Anglican and Southern Baptist.  The theme of this annual meeting was "engaging the emerging church." (Download AETE publicity.pdf).

The presenters this year were:

Bob Whitesel - who is a church consultant, author, adjunct professor at Indiana Wesleyan University, and is finishing his Ph.D. at the School for Intercultural Studies at Fuller Seminary.  Bob tried to describe the way organic / emerging / missional church leaders think.  He tries to help older church leaders understand this mindset.      

Paul Chilcote - who is a visiting professor of evangelism at Duke Divinity School shared a paper comparing various positive aspects of the emerging church movement to the work of John Wesley. 

Bryan Stone - who is a E. Stanley Jones Professor of Evangelism at the School of Theology at Boston University, pointed out that though the emerging church may appear at first glance disgusted by the institutional church, it is deeply focused on seeing people connected into community. 

Len Sweet - who is E. Stanley Jones Professor of Evangelism at Drew University also presented comments about the emerging church movement.

There were also a couple of papers presented by Southern Baptist pastors, Adam Greenway and William Henard.  Henard is an adjunct professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY and Greenway is a Ph.D. student.  They both have concerns with Brian McLaren's view of Scripture, doctrine, atonement, evangelism, and ethics. 

The United Methodist E. Stanley Jones Professors of Evangelism from various United Methodist seminaries sometimes attend this meeting and then meet afterward together.  The Foundation For Evangelism which funds the E. Stanley Jones professors of evangelism are also funding my doctoral program.

September 20, 2007

My first papers: Critical Reflections on Practical Theology texts

I thought I would post some initial papers I have been writing for one of my classes

I had the late Stanley Grenz for Pastoral Ethics and Systematic Theology C while I was at Regent College.  For Grenz's Systematic Theology C course, we needed to take a stand on a number of controversial issues.  We wrote papers on the role of the Holy Spirit for today, the marks of the church, and an aspect of eschatology.  He would say, "Turn your paper in on time.  This is not your final word for all time on the subject.  All of our writing is provisional.  What you turn in will be your opinion on that day based on the time you were able to put in toward looking at this issue."   

So here are my initial papers.  They are what they are.  They are three page papers which were the best I could do with the time that I had on the day they were due.  I have given you the amazon link to the book my paper critically reflects on and then a link to the pdf document of the paper I wrote. 

Th.D. Seminar: Explorations in Practical Theology with Mary McClintock Fulkerson and Richard Lischer.

Download at_this_time_in_this_place Amazon.com review and my notes.pdf

Download practicing_our_faith three page paper on forgiveness.pdf

Download Theologia paper about Th.D. program and Amazon.com Review.pdf

One of my collegues in the Th.D. program Sameer Yadav also blogged about this book. 

Download after_virtue_alasdair_macintyre_paper.pdf   

Download fundamental_practical_theology.pdf

 

September 09, 2007

My Courses This Fall and Birthday Update

I have thoroughly enjoyed my first two weeks in the Doctor of Theology (Th.D.) program at Duke Divinity School.  I am taking three classes and auditing one.  I have described a little about the classes below and then have written a little personal update.   At the end of that, I have placed links to the books we are reading this semester.   

  • Exegesis of Matthew Doctoral Seminar with Richard B. Hays. I am going to be doing a presentation later in the semester on Matthew 18 on "The Church in Matthew" and doing an exegesis paper on the "confrontation process" in Matthew 18.  There are two Ph.D. Duke University New Testament students, four Th.D. students, and a Th.M. student in that course.  Hays is also teaching an English exegesis of Matthew and Greek Exegesis of Matthew course this semester.  He has a book review called "Benedict and the Biblical Jesus" in First Things this month (August/September 2007) on Pope Benedict's new book Jesus of Nazareth.  (You can only read the article online if you have a First Things subscription).  It is not an entirely flattering review.  Hays didn't mention the review in class but I saw it at the library.   If you haven't heard of Hays, he is a well-known (though not to you), New Testament scholar who has written a lot about: the use of the Old Testament in Paul's letters, the Pauline phrase "faith in Christ Jesus vs. faith of Christ Jesus," the ethical teachings of the New Testament; and has written commentaries on Galatians and 1 Corinthians.  I was definitely drawn to Duke because of Hays.  Though an outstanding scholar, he has a heart for the church.   (See his books here at Amazon). 
  • Theology of Rowan Williams with L. Gregory Jones. We are reading basically all of Rowan Williams books.  Williams is the archbishop of Canterbury which means he is the head of the entire Anglican communion which is in a turmoil right now.  (See The Last Stand of Rowan Williams by Duke Divinity School student Jordan Hylden on the First Things blog for a great recent summary (August 30th)).  I am taking this course with two other students.  I also really wanted to study with Dean Jones (as they call him here at Duke Divinity School as the leader of the school) because of his interest in church ministry, theological education, leadership and theology.  (See Jones's books here and Williams's books here). 
  • Th.D. Seminar: Explorations in Practical Theology with Mary McClintock Fulkerson and Richard Lischer.  This is our one required course for the Th.D. program so the 7 of us first year Th.D. students are all in there together.  I am really enjoying this course as well.  I have read Open Secrets by Lischer (his memoir about being a young rural pastor) so it is great to get to have him for class.   Here are Fulkerson's books.
  • German Academic Research I with Derrick Miller. I have blogged about this class below in an update at the bottom of my How to Read Theological German post.  In short, I have taken the test for my German proficiency requirement but haven't heard if I have passed yet so I'm auditing this course.  It is good practice.

Personal update:

  1. Today is my birthday . . . that oh, so important 32.  We had the other Th.D. students over Friday night to celebrate and hang out. 
  2. I'm going to get new headphones for my birthday so I can listen to my MP3 player again. 
  3. We are still waiting for baby boy 2 to be born around September 26th.
  4. I am working as a research assistant for professor Randy Maddox ten hours per week tracking down references and preparing digital historical documents.
  5. I am going to the The Academy of Evangelism for Theological Education Annual Meeting October 4-6 at Ashland Seminary in Ashland, OH.  The Evangelism Professors and Fellows (like me) funded by the Foundation For Evangelism will meet after that conference on Saturday afternoon the 6th.
  6. Preview: I have just written something on Will Willimon but I am seeing if I can get it published somewhere else instead of just posting it here on the blog.
  7. In light of my old age, I have changed the blog from white font on black background to black font on white background.  Hope you like it.      

Here are the books we are reading this semester.  They are in order by first name of the author. 

Books I'm reading for Doctoral Program


August 13, 2007

How to Learn to Read Theological German

Today I finished my 30 day German program.  I wrote a review about the book I used on Amazon.com.  I have reworked the review a little and pasted it below. 

I started out with no German, worked through German Quickly: A Grammar for Reading German by April Wilson in 30 days, used no other resources, and can now read German with a dictionary.   

I have to learn to read German to pass my Duke Divinity School "Doctor of Theology" (Th.D.) reading exam.  (For more about my program, see my Ph.D. category page with all the posts about that).  For the test, you have two hours to translate two pages of a journal article with a dictionary.  (About 1/4 of Duke Divinity School's theological journals are in German).  I have not taken the test yet but I will update this post when I do.  [Update: See below.  I didn't pass my test the first time].  But I can say that I started out with zero German and can now translate the German journal articles I have tried to read (with a dictionary). 

I followed the 30 day schedule on page 265 of German Quickly.  It took me about 2-4 hours to do one day's work, plus another 1-2 hours studying vocabulary.  (I am trying to learn more vocabulary than just the * required words so I don't have to look up so many words while reading). [Update: I think I would have been better off learning the * required words perfectly]. 

I made flashcards on flashcardexchange.com for all of the vocabulary words.  If you get a $20 lifetime subscription at flashcardexchange.com you can download and print out flashcards for all of the words for free - my gift to you.  Or you can do online quizzing there for free without buying any subscription.  On that site, search the tag "quickly" for all of the German Quickly flashcards.  Or search for "German Quickly" with the title search

I emailed the author of the book, April Wilson, and she sent me a list of corrections and the complete answer key.  (About half of the answers are in the back of the book).  (Link to April Wilson's website).

This book is specifically designed for people learning to read German.  You will not learn to hear or speak it.  But I did not have time for that right now.  There are other CD ROM resources like TeLL me More German Premium - Complete Beginner, Beginner, Intermediate & Advanced ($265) for that.  But remember, if it takes you one hour to learn to read it, it will take you another hour to learn to speak it, and another hour to learn to hear it.  I didn't have time to learn to speak and hear it right now. 

I should also mention that it is easier to use a book like this if you have already learned another foreign language in the past because you will be more familiar with English grammar. But most graduate students will already have done so. 

Most major universities and seminaries do offer reading courses in German which, (like this book), just teach you to read German.  The author of this book, April Wilson, has for many years taught University of Chicago students to read German.  Obviously, if you have the choice, I would recommend taking a course because it is difficult to have the self-discipline to tackle learning a language by yourself.  But if you are like me and want to learn to read German during a time when no class is being offered, this is the book.  Or if you are a professor and looking for a textbook for your German reading course, I would highly recommend the book.   

There are other German grammars to consider: (1) Reading German: A Course Book and Reference Grammar, (2) German for Reading Knowledge, and (3) German for Reading; A Programmed Approach for Graduate and Undergraduate Reading Courses but it seems to me German Quickly is the best. 

While you are ordering, you might also want to order a German/English dictionary.  German Quickly has a chapter about the different dictionaries but if you want to order one now, I would recommend considering these two: Collins German Unabridged Dictionary, 7th Edition and Oxford-Duden German Dictionary: German-English / English-German.


April Wilson also sent me 10 theological reading passages on 9 pages with the answers.  I have done a tiny bit of work in Modern Theological German: A Reader and Dictionary by Helmut W. Ziefle - which has a variety of German theological readings.  But it does not give the correct translation which is annoying when you are studying by yourself.  It has a few multiple choice questions with which to quiz yourself.  You can only use this book after you have done April Wilson's book or you will be annoyed.  Others have used Introduction to Introduction to Theological German: A Beginner's Course for Theological Students by J. D. Manton.  But it hasn't been updated since 1971.

I should also say that many people have recommended going to Germany as a way to learn to read German.  I'm sure that's a great idea too!

Later note: In 2000, my Hebrew professor at Jerusalem University College and expert language professor Randall Buth who works now at the Biblical Language Center, recommended Learnables Basic Structures German Level 1 Set Book & CD.   See his comments here.  He warns that if you don't cement German in your subconscious with pictures and hear it, you will forget it.   Uh oh . . .  But Buth also believes that the best way to learn Biblical Hebrew is to learn to use it as a spoken language!  He is surely right that learning German as a spoken language is ideal.  But in order to read some German journal articles, this 30 day program is probably good enough. 

Update #1 of 2, September 8th:

I took the test September 7th.  We'll see how I did.  I did not get through all they gave me to translate.  I had to look up a lot of words.  I had an article from the journal Die Zeitschrift für Theologie und Kirche.

Download copy of German Exam.pdf

I had not reviewed my vocabulary very systematically since finishing German Quickly so that might be something I could work on to improve.  I have mostly been practicing translating.  I have also been auditing a German reading course at Duke called GERMAN 201: GERMAN ACADEMIC RESEARCH I.  We are using

German for Reading Knowledge

German for Reading Knowledge by Hubert Jannach and Richard Alan Korb.  We are working through two lessons per week.  There are 30 lessons in the book and so the class is two semesters long.  This is also the book that my friend used at Boston University last spring.  I would not recommend the book over German Quickly.  It has less explanation than German Quickly and you have to look up lots of words in the back of the book to do the exercises.  The exercises also do not systematically test what you learned in that lesson.  For example, there are lots of past tense verbs used in the practice sentences before we have covered that in the explanations. 

 

Update #2 of 2, October 2nd:

I didn't pass my test the first time around.  I have a couple of alternatives: (1) Keep going with the course I am auditing at Duke.  (2) Get a CD Rom software program like TeLL me More German Premium - Complete Beginner, Beginner, Intermediate & Advanced ($265) and try to ingest more deeply the German language.  At this point, I'm going to continue with #1 but I am not thrilled with the book. 

July 21, 2007

Moving, Summer Schedule and New Email Address

June 3, 2007 (See updates to this post farther down in the post). 

Dear All,

Sorry for not blogging much recently but we are busy preparing to move from Upland, Indiana to Duke, North Carolina.  I am going to be doing my Doctor of Theology (Th.D.) at Duke Divinity School.   The full update about that is at my post Starting Doctor of Theology (Th.D) at Duke Divinity School in the fall

Schedule

Here is our upcoming schedule if you want to keep track of us or meet up with us. 

  • June 5-7 Wheaton, Illinois. Visiting my parents
  • June 13 Upland, Indiana. Packing the PODS moving container.
  • June 14-17 Traverse City, Michigan. Wedding for Deepak Prabhaker and Corinne Fosdick.  I am giving homily.  Deepak is a high school friend of mine. 
  • June 17 Grandville, Michigan.  Amy and I are attending church at Rob Bell's Mars Hill Bible Church on Sunday at 11:00. 
  • June 18 Drive to Durham, North Carolina. 
  • June 19-21.  Paint inside of house. 
  • June 23.  Move stuff in to house. 
  • July-August.  Teach myself to read German to pass language exam in the fall if possible.  I haven't been able to find anyone yet to study with me. 

New email address

I have also updated my email address.  My primary address will be andy.rowell@ gmail.com (There is no space).  I don't plan on ever posting that one on the web in its entirety to try to keep away the spam.  I have another one listed on this website rowell.andy@ gmail.com.  That one will be forwarded to the main account.      

I also have a Duke email address but since it is limited to 100 MB and gmail gives you 2860 MB I am just going to go with the gmail one.  If you are curious, it is andy.rowell@ duke.edu (there is no space) - that will also be forwarded to the main account.  Perhaps if I am writing any serious proposals, I will use the duke address but the practical aspects of the gmail one are strong!

I can send you a gmail invitation so you can get gmail if you email me and ask. LATER NOTE: Anyone can now sign up for gmail.  No invitations are needed. 

My wife Amy's new email address is rowell.amy@ gmail.com (no spaces).

I used How to Import Archived Outlook Email Into GMail Using GML - wikiHow to import our Taylor University email messages into gmail.

I will blog again soon.  Until then, there are lots of other good things to read and listen to.  See my:

The Best Blogs for Church Leaders to Read

Best Podcasts for Church Leaders

I have also been reading Christianity Today's new LiveBlog

Grace and peace, 

andy

Update July 9, 2007:

We have arrived in Durham and are getting settled.  The photo below was taken July 1st in front of Duke Chapel. 

Dscn3310

Update July 19, 2007

German

I have finished 10 of the 30 days of German Quickly: A Grammar for Reading German by April Wilson.  I have made and used German Quickly flashcards on Flashcard Exchange.  (You can use them online for free or pay $20 for a lifetime membership for access to printing them.  I used this site when I studied for the GRE last year.  See my post about the GRE here).   

July 21, 2007

Email update

I send out an email yesterday to friends and family with our new phone numbers and address.  If I didn't email you and you are a friend, I don't have your email address!

Here is the quick update I sent to people:
  • I am starting my Doctor of Theology (Th.D.) degree this fall at Duke Divinity School. 
  • We thoroughly enjoyed serving as professors of Christian ministry at Taylor University the last two years.
  • We have purchased our first home and have moved to Durham, NC.   
  • Amy is due to have Baby #2 September 27th.  It's a boy. 
  • Ryan turned 2 in April and is doing well. 
  • It will probably take me about five years to finish the program. 
  • Amy is hoping eventually to work part-time in pastoral ministry at a church.

April 05, 2007

Starting Doctor of Theology (Th.D) at Duke Divinity School in the fall

Lots of news: This fall I am starting Duke Divinity School's Doctor of Theology (Th.D.) program.  We bought a house today in Durham, NC.  And we are having baby 2 in September!    Duke

Below I have answered the basic questions. 

What is the Th.D.? 
The Th.D. stands for Doctor of Theology.  It is the equivalent to the Ph.D.  Duke University's Graduate Program in Religion has offered an outstanding Ph.D. program for many years.  The Th.D. will be headquartered in Duke Divinity School.  This is only the second year that the Th.D. degree has been offered by Duke Divinity School.  Like Duke, Harvard University has a Ph.D. and Harvard Divinity School has a Th.D.  I will be able to take courses at Duke University. 
This degree differs from the Doctor of Ministry or D.Min. which is offered by many seminaries.  The D.Min. is a degree which can be done by pastors while they are in full-time ministry.  The D.Min. takes about three years and pastors spend a couple of weeks a year on campus at the seminary.  It is loosely equivalent to another masters degree.  The Ph.D. or Th.D. are 4-7 year full-time academic degrees that prepare people for work as professors.
 
What do you hope to do with the Th.D.?
I hope to serve as professor of Christian ministry at a Christian college or seminary.  I also hope to continue in church leadership. 

What are you going to study?
My area of concentration is ""Scripture and the Practice of Leading Christian Communities and Institutions."  I'm hoping to do qualitative research on a few innovative churches and effective church leaders and analyze them through the foci presented by Duke professor Richard Hays in his book Moral Vision of the New Testament.  The foci are cross, community and new creation.  Duke has an outstanding faculty and I hope to learn from many of them. 
 
How long is the program?
The first two years I take three courses per semester.  I'm trying to decide what to take next year.  Here is the list of courses.  The third year I prepare for comprehensive exams and nail down my dissertation proposal.  The fourth year I crank out that dissertation.  However, most people in the Duke University Ph.D. in Religion take 5-7 years so we'll see. 

When are you moving to North Carolina?
We bought a house today in Durham and the closing is June 15 so we will move from Upland, IN around then.  We were in Durham last week for a Th.D. orientation day and house-hunting.

What will Amy be doing?
 
My wife Amy is going to be having Baby Rowell #2 around September 26th.  We're excited.  Hopefully she won't have this one two months early like last time.  We're very excited about baby 2. 
We are also really praying that she will find a pastoral position in a church.  She is interested in the areas of adult discipleship, preaching, women's ministry, small groups and pastoral care.  Amy is currently serving as a professor of Christian Ministry at Taylor University where she teaches courses such as Personal Foundations for Ministry and Ministry by Women in the Contemporary Context.  She has her MDiv from Regent College and won the preaching award there.  She has served on the pastoral staff at a number of churches.  Thanks for praying that she will find a position where she can use her gifts.

Do you have any advice about applying for Ph.D. programs in church leadership?
I wrote blog posts about my Ph.D. application process and my advice about the GRE and my CV.   

December 23, 2006

Would love your feedback: Sample Ph.D. Application Paper - Bonhoeffer and the Emerging Church

Update January 31, 2007.
I have posted below the revised paper.
Update December 31, 2006
I have posted below the revised paper.You are still welcome to give me feedback for later deadlines though the immediate deadline is passed.
Original post December 23, 2006
It is crunch time now and I'm getting my application materials ready for Princeton, Luther, Fuller and Emory in about a week.  EmergingchurchDuke is a month later.  See my quick update about the Ph.D. here.
I would love it if any of you wanted to read my paper and give it some feedback.   
The paper is about Bonhoeffer and the Emerging Church movement.  I think it is worthwhile stuff but I would appreciate your advice about things to change.  Not academic enough?  Work on the writing? Focus more? 
I have attached it below. 

Download bonhoeffer_and_emerging_church_sample_paper.pdf

Thanks so much.  Thanks for your prayers.  I hope you are well.  Merry Christmas.
andy

December 02, 2006

Ph.D. Application Update

I am applying to Ph.D. programs in Practical Theology for next fall.  Most applications are due December 31st. 

I'm applying at the following schools (in no particular order):

  • Duke Divinity School (Th.D. - Practice of Leading Religious Communities and Institutions, Ethics, New Testament)
  • Princeton Theological Seminary (Ph.D. Practical Theology - Christian Education)
  • Fuller Theological Seminary (Ph.D. School of Theology, Practical Theology - Missional Leadership)
  • Luther Theological Seminary (Ph.D. Congregational Mission and Leadership)
  • Emory University (Ph.D. Person, Community, and Religious Life)

Each program is excellent and I am excited about them for different reasons.  In my area only 1-3 students is accepted per year at each school.  Anything can happen in the admissions process.  It is very competitive.  In the broader pool, you are competing with all of the church history, systematic theology, ethics, New Testament, and Old Testament applicants.  Some of them have never left the library and done a practical thing in their life and therefore look pretty darn good on paper. In this pool about 20 are accepted for 150 spots.  That is about average for these schools.  And even fewer get funding.  Did I mention that it is competitive? 

Everyone asks me what my top choice is.  I would like to be accepted to all five programs and then have the happy problem of having to choose where do go based on what they offer me and a zillion other factors . . . but did I mention that they are competitive and that therefore this is unlikely?

These programs all weigh heavily your GRE score (which I take December 15), your foreign languages, your references, your grades, where you went to school, your personal statement, and your writing sample.   See my comments on taking the GRE here

Perhaps some of you didn't know that I don't have a Ph.D. I'm 31 years old and I have only have my MDiv.  Amy and I are teaching at Taylor University in our second year of 1 year contracts.  We were able to slip in without the typical Ph.D. because there was a one year position that needed to be filled.  Surprisingly, another one year gap presented itself this year.  We are enjoying teaching.  Amy and I share 26 credits.  (One full-time load is 24 credits).  We teach different courses and share the parenting load.  It is great. 

I'm very excited about doing my Ph.D. in order to deepen and learn and prepare myself for further leading, teaching, writing and ministry.  I look forward to continuing to serve the church by equipping pastors and young people in the seminary and university. 

Amy and I also have a deep love for the local church.  It would not be surprising if we ended up spending more time in leadership of a local church.  Amy misses church leadership greatly.  She would likely serve as an associate pastor part-time while I worked on my Ph.D and we would continue to coparent.

My interests in studying include:

  • Ecclesiology
  • How young adults in their 20's are integrated into church leadership structures
  • How emerging church values are affecting megachurches
  • Dietrich Bonhoeffer
  • Pauline ecclesiology
  • New Testament ethics
  • Bridging theology and practice
  • Practical theology
  • The use of Scripture by church leaders to explain church strategies
  • How contemporary business models affect models of church

I would appreciate your prayers in the next month as I contact references, finish my sample paper, and take the GRE.  (And grade papers, teach classes, get transcripts . . . You'll also hopefully understand if the blog gets neglected a little. 

Grace and peace to you.

andy

Update:

Give me feedback on my Ph.D. sample paper here.   


See also

T Brookins on
Getting Accepted to the Ph.D: Preface
Saturday, March 29, 2008

Sean Michael Lucas, Chief Academic Officer and Associate Professor of Church History at Covenant Theological Seminary, has written a post about the phenomenon of seminarians getting sick of the church and falling in love with their professors and becoming infatuated with getting their Ph.D.  He tries to set them straight:Ministerial Students, Calling, and PhD Studies

There is a sober and comprehensive description of the New Testament Ph.D. process by Nijay Gupta, a Ph.D. student at Durham University: Interested in a NT PhD?

How to Study for the GRE

The GRE is a standarized test like the SAT or ACT you took in high school.  You take it on a computer.  You can basically take it anytime you want as long as there are spots at the test center near you (universities, etc.).  It is wise to sign up a month ahead of time to make sure you don't have a problem getting in.    

You have to take it to get in to most Ph.D. programs in the United States.  It is usually not required in the UK.  You may also take it to get into competitive masters programs.  (Seminaries don't require it for Master degrees or DMin programs).  Of course, anyone may read this but I am specifically writing for those like me and my friends who went to seminary and then decided to apply to Ph.D. programs in Religion (like Systematic Theology, Old Testament, New Testament, Church History, Practical Theology and Philosophy).   See my category Ph.D. for my full Ph.D. journey.

Here is my advice regarding studying for the GRE.  You should read the official info about the test at the ETS website.   

I took it last December and am taking it again December 15. 

You can find the Duke Department of Religion scores here.

My friends who got into Ph.D. programs in Religion (at Harvard University, Baylor University and University of Chicago) had both Math and Verbal scores over 700.  (Perfect is 800 and 800).  They had writing scores of 5.5 (out of a perfect 6.0). 

This test is not all about intelligence.  It is a lot about how much you study. 

If you are not trying to get in to some prestigious program, don't stress about this test. 

If you are, do pay attention.  If you do well, you get paid to do your graduate work.  If you don't, you may not get in to that prestigious program that awards fellowships (grants, scholarships, $).  You don't have to believe me.  But ask other students, professors you are interested in studying with, Ph.D. studies offices, and see how your prospective school weighs your GRE score.  Sadly, many weigh it highly.  They also seriously take into account your grades, references, personal essay, personal visit, writing sample and foreign languages.      

It is not unreasonable to start studying for the GRE 9 months in advance.  But if you have two weeks, you will only have time to familiarize yourself with the test and take a couple practice tests.  Definitely do that. 

There are computer practice tests that you can take from ETS for free with your GRE registration.  The Kaplan and Barron's books also provide them.   

1. Vocabulary. 

Get Barron's How to Prepare for the GRE.

From my experience, it is the best prep book.  Kaplan's GRE Premier Program is good too and perhaps more accessible.  But Barron's is more comprehensive. 

Study the words for as many months as you can.  Figure out a system of going through them. 

Make flashcards of the ones you don't know.  I don't think you can buy flashcards of the whole Barron's list right now.  The Kaplan GRE Exam Vocabulary Flashcards Flip-o-matic is a Flipbook not flashcards and is not as helpful as real flashcards.  There are many online free vocab games.  There are also some you can download for free to do on your computer.  But I like to walk around and study words and not be tied to my computer. 

I used http://www.flashcardexchange.com/ It was ok.  There is no way to rate how good the lists are which is a huge problem.  At flashcardexchange, I recommend the 20 part Barron's list from 2004 that someone took the trouble to type in.  You can use flashcardexchange for free if you just want to do online quizzing (but that is a waste because there are better sites).  It costs $20 for a lifetime membership of printing and using the site to its fullest. 

Believe it or not, I printed off the Barron's list.  Lots of flashcards.  24 point for words ("questions") and 18 point font for definitions ("answers").  It worked ok.  It was a place to start and better than doing it myself.  It took some serious paper and ink cartridges though.   

The Barron's list has about 3,500 words.  You will know 75% of them probably already.  I did 90 words a day six days a week.  I should have done 100 words a day 5 days a week and then reviewed on Saturdays.  Take Sunday off.   

Use Google News to search for the ways a word is used today in news.  (I just searched news in the United States by picking that in Advanced New Search).  This will help you remember it.  I also searched at nytimes.com how words were used. 

I also liked looking up words at dictionary.com. At dictionary.com, my favorite dictionary was WordNet and Word of the Day.

I wrote hints from this info on the back of cards I had printed out (by the definitions). 

Whew.  We'll see how I do.  I have a lot of reviewing to do in the next two weeks.   

You also need to learn to read fast.  But this is tough to teach I think.  I have been listening to Nature and Scientific American podcasts to help get me thinking like a scientist.  (Some of the readings are from science journals that I never typically read).

You need to practice the specific kind of questions on the test.   

2. Math

Get a tutor.  I hired a sophomore secondary education Math major and met three times a week.  I paid her $10 an hour. 

Use the Barron's book. 

Do lots of problems.

Use a pencil and blank paper in practice.  No automatic pencils.  Before last year's test day, I hadn't held a #2 pencil in five years.   

Princeton Theological Seminary has told me they don't care about your math score.  But all the other schools apologize that it matters to them but they still admit that it does.

You will have to learn to do questions quickly or skip them. 

A lot of engineers take this test and get perfect 800. 

3. Writing

Practice. 

You can see all the possible topics. "View the entire pool of Issue topics and Argument topics."  But I didn't read through all of them.  I didn't have time. 

You can pay $10 to get your essays graded to see how you are doing. "ScoreItNow! Online Writing Practice"   

I was only able to get 5.0 on these ScoreItNow! tests in three tries but it was excellent practice. 

I hope this has been helpful.

Update:

I did my GRE December 15th.   

690 Verbal, 96% scored below
700 Quantitative, 70% scored below
5.5 on writing, 87% scored below

I knew every single vocabulary word which was great but many of the analogies were still difficult and I took too much time on them.  What killed me was one particularly brutal reading comprehension section with like 5 questions on something scientific.  Therefore, I barely improved after all of my efforts studying for the verbal.  I was bummed to miss 700 by 1 notch but 96% below is still pretty good.

The quantitative is a bit humorous.  I tried to work out as many questions as possible (about the first 20) and the last 8 I guessed in the last 30 seconds.

No regrets on the writing.