One of the most difficult decisions facing anyone who has begun to develop an interest in the academic vocation faces is whether they should go “all in” and actually apply for a doctoral program. It’s a huge commitment in time, money, and energy, one that will shape your life for years to come. How do you go about discerning if you have it in you to make that kind of a leap?

There are no easy answers to a question like that. But for this week’s Saturday Is for Academics, here is some advice from Dan Treier, one of the supervisors for the PhD in Biblical and Theological Studies at Wheaton College. This won’t make the decision easy, but it will help you understand the range of issues you need to consider.

7 Factors in Discerning Whether to Apply

1. Time & Money

A PhD takes several years, requiring money in hand and/or debt. Make sure your family is supportive, with the stability and infrastructure to handle this. Do not be naive about how much money you’ll make with the degree. You’ll probably start out making $50,000 per year if you’re fortunate. Depending on the cost of living where you land, that doesn’t leave a lot for paying off loans. (b) Do not be naive about how much money you’ll have during the degree. Relatively few schools provide stipends for students in biblical and theological studies; by no means do all schools even provide free tuition. Often these schools lie in expensive metropolitan areas. Students who want to “start a family” at the same time face additional, not just financial, pressures. (This poses particular challenges for women, which unfortunately the academy still far too often accommodates only partially and grudgingly. However, that problem makes it all the more important for strong women candidates to apply!) It is naive to think you’ll live comfortably in a nice-sized house during or even after the degree.

A majority of evangelical pastors consider Islam to be “spiritually evil,” according to one just-released poll, but on Friday (Oct. 23) an evangelical pastor and an imam took turns talking about their friendship and mutual respect.

Texas Pastor Bob Roberts and Virginia Imam Mohamed Magid joined dozens of other religious leaders in prayer at the Washington National Cathedral before signing a pledge to denounce religious bigotry and asking elected officials and presidential candidates to join them.

“I love Muslims as much as I love Christians,” said Pastor Bob Roberts, of Northwood Church in Keller, Texas, before leading a prayer at the “Beyond Tolerance” event. “Jesus, when you get hold of us, there’s nobody we don’t love.”

Although mainline Christians have joined together for years on interfaith initiatives, work of evangelicals and Muslims is a newer dimension in efforts to foster interreligious understanding.

“I would like each one of us today to spread the news, using evangelical terminology, or to share what we have learned here today,” said Magid, president emeritus of the Islamic Society of North America, as he issued a call to action.

The pledge comes as presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ben Carson have questioned each other’s devotion to faith and Carson has said he didn’t think a devout Muslim could be president.

The pledge reads: “I pledge and commit to the American people that I will uphold and defend the freedom of conscience and religion of all individuals; and reject and speak out, without reservation, against bigotry, discrimination, harassment, and violence based on religion or belief.”

Many believe Halloween originated as a Celtic pagan festival when the souls of the dead roamed their old homes and evil spirits played tricks on the living. But most Americans, including Christians, now see Halloween as a harmless holiday for kids to play dress-up and consume candy by the fistful.

According to a survey by LifeWay Research, 59 percent of Americans think the dark day is “all in good fun.” An additional 14 percent will celebrate but “try to avoid the pagan elements.” Christians’ perspectives aren’t that much different than the non-religious, with 54 percent saying Halloween is “all in good fun.” But this doesn’t mean that every American is on board with the spooky traditions of October 31.

When they consider the holiday’s pagan roots, only 21 percent of Americans and 23 percent of Christians “try to avoid Halloween completely.”

“As popular and pervasive as Halloween has become, there is still a sizeable minority that avoids at least some elements,” says Scott McConnell, vice president of Nashville-based LifeWay Research.

For some sects of conservative Christianity, this survey may show a shift in attitudes.

Christian conferences are great places to get spiritually recharged, glean some valuable insight from well-known leaders and, of course, meet a lot of interesting new people.

But, as anyone who has ever attended one of these gatherings knows, along with van-loads of pastors and enthusiastic believers, Christian conferences attract a few, very specific types of attendees.

Whether it’s a Charismatic worship gathering, a youth rally, a leadership conference or a Christian social justice meeting, it’s not uncommon to find these individuals throughout the crowd.

Here are 10 types of people you may bump into at your next Christian conference.

The Rogue Shofar Player

No one asked this individual to bring a traditional shofar ram’s horn (typically reserved for Jewish religious celebrations) to the event—most likely a Charismatic leaning worship conference—and blow it at random times. However, it’s likely been happening for thousands of years at Christian gatherings, so you're just going to have to deal with it.

Bart Campolo’s name, at least his last name, may be familiar to you. He’s the son of famous evangelical leader, Tony Campolo, and for many years, he followed in his father’s footsteps, writing books for evangelical publishers and speaking in evangelical churches and conferences. But Campolo began to have doubts about Christian beliefs, and those doubts eventually turned into open disbelief.

About five years ago he left Christianity all together, and a year ago he turned up as the first humanist chaplain at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. I met Campolo in his office on campus, where we had this conversation.

What is a humanist chaplain? A humanist chaplain is not unlike what most of your listeners would associate [with] a Southern Baptist chaplain. When I first came here … I was talking to the dean of religious life about moving to Los Angeles and trying to establish some kind of a community for people who wanted to pursue goodness but didn’t believe in God. He said, “Man, if you want to start a community like that, you should come here. USC is the most religiously diverse campus in the country. We have 90 ministries on this campus. We’ve got Buddhist, we’ve got Muslim, Hindu, Baha’i, Jain, Jewish. We have 50 different Christian groups alone—every flavor of Christian. A significant proportion of our student body, like half the students here, don’t believe in God at all, and there’s nobody looking after their spiritual lives.”