My take on the "new" Baptist seminaries

I'm a McAfee grad. and I'm left of center in baptist life but around the middle of the mainstream Christian community.

McAfee draws conservative and liberal students, but few if any fundamentalists. Like all of the moderate seminaries, it is explicit about training men and women to be pastors.

I think the upcoming seminary in Louisville has already chosen a president and is selecting faculty.

Joshua

 

Jimmy,

When I was a student there inclusive language was required in the preaching classes. I assume that is still the case.

Joshua

 

I'm curious, Joshua, if you agree with MacAfee's requiring gender-inclusive language in the preaching classes? Wouldn't this be imposing their standards? The main reason I'm asking is that you took a position against Maranatha requiring certain things.

[ February 16, 2002: Message edited by: rlvaughn ]

 

RLV, I took a stand against what Maranatha required, not that they set standards.

A seminary-trained minister is a professional and should be capable of leading in worship in a manner that indicates that they understand the significance of every word spoken in that capacity.

Joshua

 

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Rev. Joshua Villines:
RLV, I took a stand against what Maranatha required, not that they set standards.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Yes, I realize that. I just wanted to see if you would take a stand against what McAfee required.
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>A seminary-trained minister is a professional and should be capable of leading in worship in a manner that indicates that they understand the significance of every word spoken in that capacity.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>So, is gender-inclusive language necessary to be professional? Would not using gender-inclusive language indicate an unprofessionalism and an inability to understand the significance of words? Although I do see a difference between what they are doing and what Maranatha is doing, ultimately it seems that McAfee is imposing their standards on their students. In fact, imposing standards of some fashion is a fairly common element of all seminaries.

 

Yes, well the difference is that I think that Maranatha's standards are silly and McAfee's are sensible. That's why I went to McAfee .

As a side note, when I hear a minister under 40 failing to use inclusive language from the pulpit I do wince and think less of their level of professional training. It's normative in all of the mainstream seminaries with which I am familiar.

Joshua

 

Glad I'm over 40!

I mostly just wanted to pester you, but I'm glad that you admitted that it is what one thinks of the standards that matters. Personally, I think McAfee's and Maranatha's are both silly. Last time I checked it is still correct English to use, for example, the masculine pronoun where the antecedent is not clearly female, or for both male & female, and that man still may mean both male & female, political correctness, feminism, and "mainstream" seminaries notwithstanding.

 

"When I hear ANY minister using gender-inclusive politically correct language I do not wince. I simply get up and leave."

Amen to that!

 

Bob,

I don't see my dismissal as based on cultural norms at all, but rather on biblical principles. Maranatha's obsessive legalism is a type of Pharisaic Christianity that Jesus clearly opposed. McAfee's inclusivism is consistent with Jesus' intentional inclusion of previously excluded/outcast people groups.

As for whether or not inclusive language is mainstream, that all depends on where you think the middle is.

Joshua

 

So, are you saying the middle is mainstream, or everything to the left of the middle??

 

I was at McAfee Fall '97. All of my professors were traditional moderates (and would actually be considered conservative by many denominations) except for one professor who was center-left. Most students were moderate to conservative that I met. But again, I was only there one semester.

 

David, how did we miss each other at McAfee? The only lawyer I remember (and he was only there for one semester I believe) was a Methodist.

Joshua

 

Jimmy,

Brandi was in the inaugural class with me and Devita married another inaugural classmate Mark Parnell.

Based on your comments on the Moderate movement on another thread, I'm not sure how comfortable you'd be at McAfee. The Associate Dean goes to Oakhurst, the baptist church in Decatur that (along with our church) was thrown out of the Georgia Baptist Convention for affirming homosexuality.

There are certainly conservative students there, but even the most conservative of them would be considered liberal by the standards of this board. There are two ordained women on faculty (a no-no within the context of the board) and an Episcopal priest teaching preaching for the next few years.

It's a wonderful place academically and spiritually, but the emphasis is on mainstream, ecumenical Christianity.

Joshua

[ February 19, 2002: Message edited by: Rev. Joshua Villines ]

 

Jimmy,

I'm not familiar with John Leland, but the other schools have good reputations. Beeson and Truett are probably going to be more conservative than the other CBF partner schools. I would imagine that some of their students still consider themselves "Southern Baptists," which is increasingly not the case at the other partner schools.

Joshua