5 Reasons I Appreciated Seminary
I know that not going to seminary is coming back into fashion with many Christians, while others are arguing for their own seminary-esque training. I thought it might be helpful to share with you 5 things I got out of my time at seminary.
Knowledge of Theology
Of course a major part of getting a masters degree in theology will be to study and
learn about theology. As many people would assume, I came out of my time at seminary with a much deeper understanding of the Bible and Theology.
Knowledge of History
What you might not realize is that seminary also requires a number of church history classes. Understanding the history of the church is a very important part of being a pastor. As Anthony Bradley recently noted over in World Magazine, the protestant church is in large part detached from its history, and that is causing alot of problems. We have to relearn that the Christian faith is an old faith, and there are countless events which have shaped our faith at the beginning of this century. Faith that is detached from its history is going to suffer.
Examples of Older Pastors
A prerequisite to become a professor at my seminary (RPTS) was that you had to have previously served as a pastor in a local church. This meant that for three years I was surrounded by some really good examples of older and wiser pastors. Of course there were things that I disagreed with, and of course not every professor was equally gifted at being a pastor, but it was a great time of learning by example.
A Safe Place to Ask Hard Questions
One of the things I appreciated more than anything else was that in seminary I never felt liked there were topics that we couldn’t talk about, or questions that we couldn’t ask. I came out of seminary with a much deeper and nuanced understanding of my faith. This has allowed me to help other people with questions they have about their faith. I’ve realized you can’t help people who are wrestling with their faith if you have never wrestled with your own.
Tools to Learn
There is no way that I could learn everything necessary to be a pastor in my three short years of seminary. But I did learn how to learn. In those three years I became equipped at using the tools necessary to be a pastor. I know how to study and apply God’s word in a variety of situations and I’ve learned where to go when new questions arise.
I have not attended, but have not necessarily gotten the impression from others that RPTS is a “safe place to ask hard questions.” This is in no way meant to be argumentative, it is a very sincere question.
I would find this to be refreshing. What are/aren’t hard questions and how have you seen them encountered @ RPTS (my denomination’s seminary for those interested)? Would there be questions that are “out of bounds”?
When I said this I was refering to questions in and out of class. I remember alot of discussion with people where we challenged alot of the basic assumptions of our traditions.
It could be that the questions I wrestled with were not as hard as some others, but especially when it came to textual criticism in the NT with Selvaggio we really wrestled through some stuff.
From a academic perspective, there were people from some pretty variant traditions, and in most circumstances I don’t think the profs ever forced certain assumptions on people. I think the challenge is that some of the guys were at the same time candidates for ministry in conservative presbyterian denominations like the PCA OPC and RPCNA. So I think it put professors in the position of being denominational spokesmen.
I’m guessing that in the grand scheme I could imagine that rpts would be less open to asking hard questions.
I just hate that alot of these no seminary guys really haven’t wrestled with the Bible, they assume we can name every author and equally explain every text, and thats just not the truth, even at a conservative seminary.
I think there are some profs that are better at this than others.
I find this truly refreshing to hear! Thanks for taking the time to more fully explain it.