For the moment there is a pause in the saga at our sister school in Philadelphia (WTS/Phila). As you probably know, the board voted to suspend Peter Enns, and they will consider how and whether to proceed further. One element of the . . . Continue reading →
seminary
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 →
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 →
Why Pastors Need A Seminary Education
Over the years many things have changed at Westminster Seminary California (WSC). In the most important ways, however, the seminary has not changed. We still believe the Bible to be the inspired, infallible, inerrant Word of God. We still believe the historic . . . Continue reading →
Office Hours: The Class of 2010
UPDATE 3 June 2010 A few listeners have reported problems listening to Office Hours in Google Chrome (the browser). If you’re using Chrome and having difficulty hearing the program (or hearing all of it) try using Safari or Firefox. The best thing . . . Continue reading →
Updated Resource Page: For Students Considering Seminary
In my never-ending quest to serve our “one-click” world I’ve compiled a great lot of resources (video, audio, and text) into a resource page (there’s a list of them on the left side of the home page of the HB) for students . . . Continue reading →
The Perils of Self Promotion: Wisdom for Ministers and Ministerial Candidates
Wisdom from Escondido URC pastor Chris Gordon: The peril of self-promotion in the Christian ministry is nothing new. Jesus himself had to deal with this problem on numerous occasions in his own disciples. The Son of God became a servant to seek . . . Continue reading →
Text Criticism and Good Hermeneutics is Practical
Walter Slonopas seems to read the Bible the way lots of American evangelicals and others do so. They read the most symbolic book in Scripture as if it belonged to some other genre, as if it may be read correctly, the first . . . Continue reading →
We Just Do Surgery
The other day I was talking with a student at a local coffeehouse in beautiful downtown Escondido. He was telling me about his experience in seminary. He said he began at another seminary, even though his pastor recommended WSC, because he was . . . Continue reading →
“Did God Leave Me When I Went To Seminary?”
Ryan at Sola Gratia raises a question that many first-semester seminary students ask. In essence the question is this: Before I came to seminary I had an active devotional life and a vital, immediate, experience of God and now things have changed. . . . Continue reading →
Who Should Go To Seminary?
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 →
How Not To Train Pastors
I see that someone is starting an(other?) online seminary. The whole business of online/distance seminary education is troubling. Because the confessional Reformed churches (i.e., NAPARC) are conservative and theologically oriented, we tend to attract ideologically committed folks. That’s okay but it means . . . Continue reading →
Office Hours: Enforcing Law And Preaching Grace
The primary mission of Westminster Seminary California is to prepare men for pastoral ministry. That’s what they have been doing since 1980. They have more than 1100 graduates serving the Lord across the globe and here in the USA, most of whom . . . Continue reading →
Why “Distributed” Pastoral Education Is Not The Solution
There are problems with the traditional model for preparing pastors but some of the proposed alternatives are worse. One of those is “Distributed Education” model. The traditional model is that you have 20 professors on campus and all the students have to . . . Continue reading →
Resources On Pastoral Education
The internet has created a new world of possibilities for education. Seminaries and theological colleges have seized upon the potential of the internet by offering online courses and online degrees. For older non-traditional students, for those who already have families and other . . . Continue reading →
How Not to Train Pastors (Part 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 many seminaries were beginning to adopt it. The world has changed since then. The . . . Continue reading →
How Not To Train Pastors (Part 3)
I wrote this and “How Not To Train Pastors (Part 1)” and “How Not To Train Pastors (Part 2)” near the very beginning of the Heidelblog in 2007. This portion of the essay began as a response to a correspondent on the . . . 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 →
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 →
Why Pastors Need A Seminary Education
Over the years many things have changed at Westminster Seminary California (WSC). In the most important ways, however, the seminary has not changed. We still believe the Bible to be the inspired, infallible, inerrant Word of God. We still believe the historic . . . Continue reading →