In a few short months I will be coming up on a year of seminary under my belt. My last Spring class will be completed at the end of June followed by two months off with the Fall term beginning in September. I started studying in September 2010 and began with what my advisor claimed would be an easy start: Biblical Hebrew. Personally I believe he was testing me by seeing how I would perform academically and so I threw myself into it and passed Hebrew 1 and 2 with great grades. It has been a fantastic experience and the effect it has had on me, both personally and professionally, has been inestimable. There are several things one needs to keep in mind though about seminary or higher theological education, so I have prepared a list of what I think are helpful pointers for anyone desiring to pursue a higher degree in any ecclesial function.
1) Identify your non-negotiables and stick with them.
Mike Petrow gave me that piece of advice and it has served me well this year. Seminary is a place where, depending on where you go, students can challenge, embrace, or wrestle with the implication of Church history, community, theology and practice of the past two thousand years and how it affects our own context. The Nicene Creed of 381 can be of great benefit here. What do you refuse to compromise on? Find those areas and hold tightly to them. The trick to this is identifying that which is most essential to the core of the Christian faith and not on what is peripheral. Do not make your non-negotiables the belief in a six thousand year old Earth or baptism by immersion. Make sure your non-negotiables are things like the deity of Christ and the resurrection.
2) Learn to deal with and think through tough content you may disagree with.
You will be assigned a variety of books and will need to read them all. Some of the content will not only challenge you but in some areas it may anger you. Last term I had to read a book by a controversial black theologian on black liberation theology. The author made the claim that white people could not accurately interpret scripture. Obviously that is a divisive and unhelpful comment. It angered me and many of my classmates but instead of holding on to that feeling of anger I decided to read deeper and see why it had that effect on me. The theologian made some very good comments on culture, oppression, and theology and if I did not push through my anger I would have been blind to the very helpful things the book discussed.
3) Stay grounded in the Scriptures.
This is probably the area I am weakest in and it is the area I am working towards improving. It is easy to read books about God and it is easy to be familiar with what others say about God, but one needs to be more familiar with Scripture then what John Calvin or Karl Barth says about Scripture. When dealing with theological issues know what Scripture says not how someone else would defend what it says. Dr. D.A. Carson gave a wonderful lecture called The Pastor as Scholar and hit on this topic. It is available online and I recommend that people in ministry and seminary listen to it.
4) Develop friendships with other students.
Make friends with your classmates. We all come from a variety of backgrounds and denominational affiliations and input from your peers is a great blessing. In certain classes I was the go to guy for questions on certain aspects of Pentecostalism due to my former involvement with an offshoot of Pentecostalism called Word of Faith. Interacting with my classmates and answering questions both in class and outside of class not only helped them get a better understanding of the topic but also helped me greatly in identifying what I actually believe on the subject and how I can see those beliefs reflected in the Scriptures. Conversations with them also will help sharpen you theologically so remain open to their input. Also the friendships I have made have helped keep me motivated in class and have aided in keeping me focused. (That and the friends I have made are great people to hang around with too so take a bow Cliff, Jason, Caleb, and Matt).
5) Seminary or higher theological education is not for everyone.
I don’t say this to be arrogant but higher education is not for everyone. Some people may be served better by studying Bible or theology at a Christian college. Seminary cranks that up to the next level. As a student I am continually challenged by the lectures and the readings to try and form theological underpinnings that will guide me through the rest of my life and ministry. Anything that challenges my non-negotiables is not rejected outright but analyzed because it good to know why I don’t hold to a certain view just as much as it is good to know why I do hold a certain view. Seminary is long and expensive, if you are looking to supplement your Bible knowledge or to learn more about God and church history then there are other great resources out there other then seminary. To go deeper in your faith you need to read. A lot. Seminary is not always the answer.
6) Work for a church or ministry while in seminary.
If you do go to seminary try to do so while working for a church or ministry. Seminary will give you a lot of tools, theory, and information. If you do not have a place to use those tools then it may not do you much good. There are students in some of my classes who are hurt and bitter with the church and I think that seminary may not be a good place for them because it can give them tools by which they can dissect the faith to such an extreme that it loses its power. We all have had bad experiences with the church because the people who serve in the church are just as much sinners saved by grace as those who attend the church.
That is all I can think of off the top of my head. My prayer is that it will be helpful and informative to some of you who may read it. Hopefully I will continue to keep these steps in mind as I begin to enter my second year as a seminary student. I am looking forward to the next set of courses and looking forward to interacting with new professors and making new friends. If anyone wants to discuss further anything I have talked about then feel free to email me or hit me up on Facebook. Soli Deo Gloria.
