Degree- worth the paper?

[ashleysdad]

As I've mentioned before I've seen the down side of seminary and Mk's who wanted to be missionaries or preachers also left the faith because of what they learned in seminary. For instants look at Bart Erhman. Great teacher Metzger, but he became agnostic.

I see your point, just going to seminary in no way guarantees a right walk with God. I don't think anyone here has said that. What has been said is that seminary gives the graduate more knowledge than the average Christian. How the use that knowledge is a matter of obedience. On the flip side to your points about Metzger and Erhman I believe that the opposite holds true as well. Look at Osteen, Hinn, and others. What type of Bible education do they have? Not only that but lets look at past false teachers like Charles Russel (JW founder). He had no formal training either. He attempted to teach himself greek and because of his limited knowledge of greek he taught his followers that Jesus is NOT God because he incorrectly translated John 1:1 among other passages.

 

[Thinkingstuff]

I see your point, just going to seminary in no way guarantees a right walk with God. I don't think anyone here has said that. What has been said is that seminary gives the graduate more knowledge than the average Christian. How the use that knowledge is a matter of obedience. On the flip side to your points about Metzger and Erhman I believe that the opposite holds true as well. Look at Osteen, Hinn, and others. What type of Bible education do they have? Not only that but lets look at past false teachers like Charles Russel (JW founder). He had no formal training either. He attempted to teach himself greek and because of his limited knowledge of greek he taught his followers that Jesus is NOT God because he incorrectly translated John 1:1 among other passages.

I have no problem with education. However, I don't think people are limited on their spirituality based on their level of formal education. Rather a right heart reading scriptures with out all the historical perspectives, Greek sylistic writings exegetes, etc... and that person may still gain insights and perspectives not readily acknowldege in academia. I don't believe a lack of education prohibits christian growth either. Certainly, there are other insites that may be gained by a more formal education. However, rigidity may also be gained which can be problematic for the maturing believer.

 

[Don]

If your time in seminary did not give you a superior knowledge of scripture to the average person in the pews then are you saying that the two fifteen year olds in my youth group who got saved six months ago have the same level of scriptural knowledge as you? What about the person (adult) that comes to church every week faithfully but has never really been faithful in Bible study, is your knowledge of scripture not superior to theirs? The fact is that for a person to be a qualified teacher or preacher they MUST have a superior knowledge of scripture. Otherwise they are not qualified to teach. How do you teach effectively if you don't know more?

And this is the problem with these distinctions. Are those two fifteen-year olds indicative of the "average" layman? Or is the adult who comes to church faithfully every week but not faithful in Bible study the definition of the average layman? Can you count new converts as average laymen, or only those that have been saved for at least a year? Where's the bell curve that identifies new converts who don't count, the "exception to the rules" that don't count, and the "all others in between" that do count?

Further, a teacher or preacher "MUST" have superior knowledge -- but do they stop learning once they receive their seminary degree? I'd hate to be the guy who says I've learned all I can about the Bible, and never get anything out of it again for the next thirty years....

Folks, this is a tiresome topic. Teachers/preachers should never place themselves above the laity, whether it was their intention to do so or not. Unfortunately, arguing that seminary students are better prepared often gives the impression, whether intended or not, that they're above the layman. Laity should never place themselves above the teachers/preachers, whether it was their intention or not. Teachers/preachers, whether you have a seminary degree or not, you're only in front of those laymen by the grace of God, and only for as long as He and/or they allow you to be. Laymen, whoever's up there doing the preaching or teaching, they've done some studying, so give them the respect they deserve -- but you also better be doing your homework to ensure they're teaching/preaching the Bible.