Should Preachers Go to Bible College and/or Seminary?

[John of Japan]

I came out of Pentecostal circles, and just seemed that many were suspect of knowing Hebrew and greek, almost as if just needed the "learning of the Holy Ghost"

That's ignorance.

My Dad planted a church in Kansas in the 1940's. The good people were against him having a sermon outline, saying that he was not obeying the Holy Spirit if he preached from an outline. Then one day the wind came in through an open window and blew Dad's outline away. Dad was so well prepared he kept right on preaching without his notes. The people were dumbfounded, and decided notes were okay for a preacher!

 

[Reynolds]

Should a doctor be well trained? Yes, for he takes care of your body.
Should a dentist be well trained? Of course, for he takes care of your teeth.
Should a teacher be well trained? Indeed, for he takes care of your brain.
Should an insurance agent be well trained? Indubitably, for he takes care of your car and house.
Should a mechanic be well trained? By all means, for he takes care of your vehicle.
Should a tax consultant be well trained? Naturally, for he takes care of your money.
Should a preacher be well trained? Nah, he only cares for your eternal soul and spirit.

Problem I have observed is that more training leads to less caring.

 

[John of Japan]

And basically used none of it. His formal training drove him to kill Christians. He had to be re-trained.

Oh, come now. It wasn't his training that drove him to kill Christians, and you have no Scripture to prove it was. What caused him to persecute Christians (there is no evidence he personally killed them) was his prejudice and sinful heart, not his education.

Paul even referenced his theological education at the feet of Gamaliel in a positive way in Acts 22:3: "I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day."

 

[John of Japan]

A theological education should be (but is not always) the pursuit and acquisition of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge. I call this the trilogy of the mind, and we are commanded over and over in the Bible, especially Proverbs, to get all of these. And very often we are to gain these three from wise people who can impart them.

Wisdom occurs in 54 verses in Proverbs. Understanding occurs in 53 verses. Knowledge occurs in 41 verses. All of these are positive references. And in many cases they reference gaining one of these three from others. This to me is the very definition of a good Bible education: gaining wisdom, understanding and knowledge from elders in the church, older men who have "been there, done that," and can teach the eager student how to serve Christ.

According to Proverbs 1:22, only fools hate knowledge: "How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?"

Concerning understanding, "A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels" (Prov. 1:5). At our Bible college we provide "learning" of the Scriptures, so a preacher can have understanding.

Concerning wisdom, the Bible says, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction" (Prov. 1:7). Did you get that? "Instruction." That's a Bible college: "instruction," occurring in 26 verses in Proverbs.

So God is in favor of learning and instruction in order to get knowledge, understanding and wisdom--exactly what we do our best to impart at our Bible college. Anyone who opposes learning and instruction opposes the Bible's clear teaching in Proverbs. Opposing training by experienced, wise professors for a preacher is simply foolishness.

 

[Marooncat79]

Proper training also reenforces very large amounts of scripture memorization and learning or ar least it should

 

[John of Japan]

Problem I have observed is that more training leads to less caring.

That's simply an opinion, with no proof. My opinion is the opposite. Some of the most caring preachers I've ever known have been well educated. My father (preached for 60 years), my grandfather, John R. Rice (who wept for sinners all the time), my pastor (M.A. in Bible, very caring); my mentor, Dr. Monroe Parker (PhD), a very caring mission board director who got up in the middle of the night to pray for missionaries all around the world.

I recently had an evangelist tell me about an encounter with John R. Rice, who was well educated. Dr. Rice had the young preacher stand in front of him, had a pianist play the gospel song he wrote, "So Little Time," then sang the song directly to the young preacher, weeping all the time. This changed the young preacher's life. Here are the words of a very caring, very educated evangelist:

So little time! The harvest will be over, our reaping done, we reapers taken home.
Report our work to Jesus, Lord of harvest, and hope He'll smile, and that He'll say "Well done."
Chorus:
Today we reap, or miss our golden harvest!
Today is given us lost souls to win.
Oh then to save some dear ones from the burning,
Today we'll go to bring some sinner in.

Here is my very caring mother (3rd from left) and five aunts, the six daughters of John R. Rice (all with BA degrees, several with MA degrees) singing this:

 

[atpollard]

and you learn all of this, and much, much more in the bosom of a thriving, Biblical church. Our college is not independent of the church of Jesus Christ, but under the authority of our local church. So, where's the apostasy? Anyone???

... sometimes it is the "and much more" taught at some colleges that causes concern among the Laity.

Without colleges we get individuals preaching KJVO legalism, and with the wrong college we get the ordination of lesbian pastors to keep the Church relevant to society. Choose your poison.

 

[atpollard]

Um, the Galilean fishermen knew both Hebrew and Greek.

Then why do they seem to have quoted from the Septuagint rather than directly from Hebrew OT manuscripts?

 

[Marooncat79]

... sometimes it is the "and much more" taught at some colleges that causes concern among the Laity.

Without colleges we get individuals preaching KJVO legalism, and with the wrong college we get the ordination of lesbian pastors to keep the Church relevant to society. Choose your poison.

You point out the 2 extremes

 

[Marooncat79]

Then why do they seem to have quoted from the Septuagint rather than directly from Hebrew OT manuscripts?

Exactly why we need education. Right there

 

[atpollard]

You point out the 2 extremes

Because the question was why are some people concerned.

No one is concerned if God raises up an uneducated Pastor and fills him with spiritual truth from reading the Bible for himself.
No one is concerned if God raises up a Biblical Scholar that learns truth at the highest academic level and feeds God's people from his knowledge.

The fear is the uneducated Preacher that teaches error to many and the man of letters that has knowledge without faith and truth.

 

[atpollard]

Exactly why we need education. Right there

Please explain your answer a little more.
It can be taken as a personal attack due to its brevity and non-specificity.

 

[John of Japan]

Then why do they seem to have quoted from the Septuagint rather than directly from Hebrew OT manuscripts?

Well, they do quote from the LXX because they wrote in Greek. But sometimes they did not quote from the LXX. They instead do a new, non-LXX rendering from (wait for it) the Hebrew!

What the Jewis in the Gospels spoke was actually Aramaic, a close dialect to Hebrew. There is plenty of Biblical evidence of this: Abba; Talitha cumi; Eli, Eli, lama sabacthani.

 

[Marooncat79]

People in 1st century Palastine spoke 3 languages

Hebrew from the OT
Aramaic around the house
Greek was the language of trade in the marketplace due to Hellenization

 

[Marooncat79]

Please explain your answer a little more.
It can be taken as a personal attack due to its brevity and non-specificity.

Not meant to be an attack but a statement of truth

We live 2000 yrs apart from the 1st century. I have sat through countless hours of sermons where a man who proclaimed himself a Minister of the Gospel

Here are a few illustrations for many of these men

1. Truly did not know the Gospel
2. Knew the Gospel but could not articulate it
3. Did not understand the text they were preaching sometimes even preaching exactly opposite what the text meant
4. Did not understand how to interpret the Bible sorta like #3. Think more application here
5. Think that their thoughts are more important than the text

Men like that innocently embarass themselves and the churches that they pastor

 

[atpollard]

Exactly why we need education. Right there

Well, they do quote from the LXX because they wrote in Greek. But sometimes they did not quote from the LXX. They instead do a new, non-LXX rendering from (wait for it) the Hebrew!

I am bowing out at this point for three reasons:
1. I am not opposed to education for professional clergy.
2. The OP seems more interested in the opinions on religious education from those with a religious education.
3. The tone of the conversation has grown unacceptable to me.

I will offer one general observation as a non-seminary member of the Body of Christ to all of the seminary educated members of the Body ... you would have had a far more difficult time maintaining your condescending attitude without your formal seminary education.

"knowledge puffs up while love builds up." [1 Corinthians 8:1]

 

[Marooncat79]

I hope I did not offend you

That was never the point

 

[Marooncat79]

The while purpose of education is to help not hurt the people of the church

 

[John of Japan]

I am bowing out at this point for three reasons:
1. I am not opposed to education for professional clergy.
2. The OP seems more interested in the opinions on religious education from those with a religious education.
3. The tone of the conversation has grown unacceptable to me.

I will offer one general observation as a non-seminary member of the Body of Christ to all of the seminary educated members of the Body ... you would have had a far more difficult time maintaining your condescending attitude without your formal seminary education.

I'm sorry you took our responses as "condescending." I've never been called that here on the BB that I recall, and did not intend to be condescending. Anyway, sorry if you were offended. And by the way, one certainly does not need education to be condescending.

Frankly, I thought some of the other side's (not yours) was insulting, along the lines of, "You can't be spiritual if you are educated."

"knowledge puffs up while love builds up." [1 Corinthians 8:1]

This means specifically knowledge about idols in the context. You did not quote the whole verse, which says, "Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth." So it should not be used to oppose a Christian education, since it is specifically about knowledge of idols. That certainly does make one puffed up, as I can attest from serving Christ for 33 years in an idolatrous country.

This verse cannot mean that knowledge of God's Word, or of God Himself, makes a person proud, or the many, many verses in the Bible (esp. Prov.) that put forth knowledge as a good thing would be contradictory.

Prov. 1 says, "1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;
2 To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;
3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;
4 To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion."

 

[Yeshua1]

Think about it

Jesus was at least Tri-lingual

Hebrew
Greek
Aramaic
Maybe Early 17th Century English? Just for the KJO crowd

You mean the Messiah did not even know the language of God, Koran Arabic?