But before one decides to avoid the alleged “ivory tower” of seminary, before one decides not to fight the battle of uprooting one’s self or family, we should count the costs. One of the benefits of in-person seminary education is that it . . . Continue reading →
Theological Education
And Now For The Rest Of The Story
Christianity Today Online has published a piece touting the virtues of online seminary education.1 I expected there to be, somewhere in the story, someone to present the other side opposing online seminary education, but I did not see it. Perhaps I missed it? . . . Continue reading →
Education True And False (Part 2)
In the previous part, we looked at the first mark of a true school: genuine learning. We continue here with a discussion of the second mark: what makes a proper faculty. A second objective mark of the quality of a faculty is . . . Continue reading →
Education True and False (Part 1)
Americans are busy people who continue to conquer a big place which has, since the eighteenth century, offered wealth and great influence to those who work hard and who produce a product or service valued by others. Education, per se, has not . . . Continue reading →
Who Should Not Go To Seminary?
Last time we answered the question: who should go to seminary? The answer was that anyone may go to seminary, but not everyone should go to seminary. Today we will focus on the second part of the answer: who should not go . . . Continue reading →
Who Should Go to Seminary?
I was once asked a good and important question: who should go to seminary? The answer to this question is in two parts: anyone, but not everyone. First, anyone may go to seminary. Since I teach at a seminary (Westminster Seminary California), . . . Continue reading →
Why Does Theology Matter?
Resources How To Subscribe To Heidelmedia All The Episodes of Office Hours How to support Heidelmedia: use the donate button below The HB Resource Page The Importance of Being More Than Earnest What Must A Christian Believe? Discovering The Reformed Confession
Students Do Better To Take Notes By Hand
When people type their notes, they have this tendency to try to take verbatim notes and write down as much of the lecture as they can,” [Pam] Mueller tells NPR’s Rachel Martin. “The students who were taking longhand notes in our studies . . . Continue reading →
Taking Notes By Hand Works Best
Pop quizzes, of course, are not the best measure of learning, which is an iterative and reflective process. Recent Princeton University and University of California studies took this into account while investigating the differences between note-taking on a laptop and note-taking by . . . Continue reading →
What Is A Seminary?
The question arose on a discussion board as to how a theological seminary relates to C. S. Lewis’ distinction between “education” and “vocational training.” The premise of the question was that one had to choose between the two, relative to a university I . . . Continue reading →
Online Classes: Just Because They’re Hip and Convenient Doesn’t Mean They Educate
One of the primary purposes for the HB is to but there are limits to what can be done online. The limits of online education/distance ed is has been a frequent topic here and here on the HB. The maxim is this: . . . Continue reading →
Resources for Those Thinking About Seminary
Prospective seminary students frequently ask whether it’s advisable to try to save money by getting a degree by distance or by attending a non-accredited school. Here’s a resource page: Why Pastors Need A Seminary Education And Now for the Rest of the . . . Continue reading →
Who Should Go to Seminary? (2)
Part 1. Anyone may go to seminary but not every one should go to seminary. The second part of the answer is who should not go to seminary. Before I continue let me say, for the sake of our current students, that I . . . Continue reading →
Who Should Go to Seminary? (1)
Dan writes to ask this question. It’s a good and important question and the answer is in two parts: anyone but not everyone. First, anyone may go to seminary. Since I teach at a seminary and I know how we operate, I’ll . . . Continue reading →
Saturdays Are for Seminary
With apologies to Scot McKnight (Fridays are for Friends – but what good is the web if I can’t blatantly rip off a good idea and pretend it’s mine?) I thought perhaps I could bring some order to the chaos that has . . . Continue reading →
How Not to Train Pastors (3)
Part 2 Well, the discussion over at the PB is still going. Here some responses from that discussion and elsewhere. To Jerrold’s objection I answer (expanding on what wrote originally): In the interests of time, I would like to focus on one . . . Continue reading →
How Not to Train Pastors (2)
Part 1 There has been considerable discussion about this post over at The Puritanboard The PB thread was started my my friend Jerrold Lewis. I haven’t read his blog post, so I’m only responding to the discussion on the PB. I see . . . Continue reading →
How Not to Train Pastors (1)
I wrote this near the very beginning of the Heidelblog, in 2007. As high-speed internet service was becoming more widespread, online education was beginning to catch on and all many seminaries were beginning to adopt it. The world has changed since then. . . . Continue reading →
How Not to Train Pastors (3)
Well, the discussion over at the PB is still going. Here some responses from that discussion and elsewhere. To Jerrold’s objection I answer (expanding on what wrote originally): In the interests of time, I would like to focus on one question of . . . Continue reading →