Paul BurkhartWhen it comes to the “theological education” aspect of seminaries, there are several different philosophies. One school of thought says that you go to a school that shares your convictions (or is close enough) and you learn that particular...
As part of my two-year Internship process for my seminary, each semester there is a particular Christian Spirituality practice we are to do regularly. We have done the Ignatian Examen and the Daily Office. This semester, we are doing an ancient...
Ryan BurnsBefore I came to Seminary I was a big fish in a little pond. In my hometown I was spiritual for my age, and I was already working at the church. I had no problem in any theological debate, and really, there weren’t many to be had in my small...
There are around 100 new students this year at my seminary who are seeking a Master’s Degree in Divinity. Many of them have concentrations in theology, leadership, apologetics, chaplaincy. So many in fact, that I am the only new M-Div student this...
Perhaps you have heard repeatedly about the importance of having a mentor during seminary. Perhaps you are at a seminary that requires it. Or perhaps you believe that mentorship is overrated and really isn’t beneficial. Regardless of where you stand...
In reading the title of this article you may be thinking that I have the perfect marriage and have maintained a well-balanced life during seminary. Well the truth is that hasn’t been always case and oftentimes struggled with balancing life and...
My mom, an avid reader who often is in the middle of four books at the same time, once passed on some counsel to me: Don’t read good books, only great ones. The advice is both challenging and inherently futile; for how can you know if a book is...
Dating while you are in seminary can be a challenge. It looks different for each couple no doubt, with two people involved there is an endless amount of factors to what your relationship looks like while you are in seminary. Are you both in school...
I’ve written before of my love of the note-taking app Evernote. Today, I want to show some of the slightly deeper highlights to using this app in a seminary or ministry context. Note-Taking (Together?) This may seem obvious, but the best thing...
I’m terrible at organizing. Well, that’s not quite right. I can come up with brilliant systems of organization, but just never implement them. This has followed me throughout my life. It was easier when school consisted of clearly laid-out...
John Calvin famously opened up his Institutes with a profound set of lines about the close intimacy between knowledge of God and knowledge of ourselves. He did not start with Scripture or hermeneutics, but anthropology. In the Protestant focus on...
I do these weekly Study Guides for our church home group leaders. I read a bunch of commentaries on the sermon text, and condense the scholarly thoughts into a 2 page verse-by-verse commentary our leaders can use to help answer people questions if...
I recently found myself looking, back through A.W. Tozer’s The Knowledge of the Holy and was reminded just how good of a book it is for seminarians to read every now and then. In a sermon preached by Tozer on God’s Holiness, he tells the...
Our daughter, Emery, was born on February 6th of this year. We’re finishing up our first year of seminary. Naturally my wife and I were the recipients of about as much advice as you can stomach. Everyone seemed to have their two cents, and if every...
We’ve talked before on this site about how seminary has changed. The days where all you need is a Bible, notebook, and a library card are over. There is a whole world of resources available, means to access them, ways to organize your time at...
By Rebecca Dobyns In seminary, Greek is always the subject everyone winces about. I have heard more “I’m sorry”s or “Have fun with that”s about taking Greek than about any other subject, except perhaps Hebrew. Granted, much of it is in jest, and...
Learning theology is one of the main purposes and joys of seminary. But through the course of your education there, you’re likely to have many of your proper theological convictions challenged, shaped, and changed. And yet, even as we’re going...
By Noah Myers Being out of college for three years before I started seminary it took me a bit before I could get back into the groove of schoolwork, online classes also proved a new challenge. All of that to say, I’ve learned a couple lessons...
For our little family it is the inevitable season of attack, the month before moving our family of five across Country to Seminary. There are the weekends packed of visiting family, not living in our own home, my husband working in a separate state...
Most seminary degree programs have a required set of classes that the student must take in order to graduate. For instance, there is no way to get around that preaching class or Greek or Hebrew. However, many schools also allow students to customize...
So you just finished your last Final and so begins your intersession break. Now it’s time for a vacation and relaxation right? Well, yes but not entirely. I’ve made the mistake in the past of utilizing my breaks as “detox” periods from school and a...
We’ve all been there. You’re reading a book by some Christian author and they make a point in the course of their chapter. It’s a good point. You agree with it. It’s helpful. And yet, because this author prides themselves on being “biblical”, they...
Are you trying to pay for a seminary education? In today’s world, it can be difficult to afford paying for any form of high education. If God has called you to further prepare for ministry, then seminary is one of the best ways to prepare for it...
When I first started seminary and teaching, I often fell into that temptation to try and mimic my heroes. Anyone that knows me well knows this. Especially in college, I always had some new author, preacher, teacher, or friend that I very much...
The Bible is a wonderful gift, one that gives us the very words of God. It is entirely holy and can speak to you in ways that are utterly profound, yet entirely simple. At the same time, that very same wonderful gift can begin to look very much like...
Wake up. Study. Class. Read. Class. Study. Class. Write. Read. Read. (oh yeah, eat.) Sleep. Certain days at seminary may look like this. You may spend over 12 hours in one day working on a single paper (something I did about a week ago). It’s easy...
Seminary can be an extremely busy time. Three papers to write over the weekend. A Greek test on Tuesday. Four books to read over the next week. Oh, and don’t forget that you are on the schedule for teaching at church this weekend! Busyness in...
It is no secret that seminary is quite demanding academically but, add a job onto it and it feels impossible. However, there are a few ways to more easily balance (if there is such a thing) the two. As someone who goes to school full time, works...
By Simon Villeneuve. What’s in your seminary toolbox? Do you have the right study tools to help you succeed? What’s your chance of making it through? When you dig into scripture but don’t feel like you have the right study tools, it can be...
If there is one category of seminary courses that is most maligned, it is probably the Practical Theology courses. If I can be honest for a second, they are seen as the “vegetables” of seminary, whereas the “real” theology classes are seen as the...