Seminary and Real Life

Seminary is an interesting experience for everyone involved—professors, students, and those who serve the church. Just like in other forms of education, there are many facets of seminary life. Theology, church, busyness, and work all make the situation more complex.

Seminary, however, does not always mimic real life. It is impossible for any seminary class, whether practical or doctrinal, to prepare students for all the situations and questions that will face them in real life. There are some circumstances and challenges for which no human training can adequately prepare a person. On the other hand, seminary requires some types of work that will never be necessary in ‘real life.’ Would you congregation care if you do not provide a proper bibliographical citation for a quote in a sermon? It seems unlikely that they would.

The point is that seminary does not perfectly address the situations that exist in real life.

So why bother? Why is seminary training extremely important (though not strictly necessary)?

I believe there are a number of reasons why seminary is important in spite of the fact that it does not mirror real life.

First, most of the curriculum does reflect real life. You will need theological training to be a pastor. You will need to learn to preach. You will need to learn to biblically counsel, and interpret the Bible, and disciple, and visit, and teach. These things are core pastoral duties, and whether you receive training at a seminary or somewhere else, these are necessary. Many seminary classes do prepare students for real situations.

Second, many of the specific class requirements also reflect real life. You may not need to provide academic citations for a quote from a sermon, but you will need to have integrity in your studies. It is possible that you will not write any theological treatises as a pastor, but you will need to think deeply and critically about theological issues. As a student, some reading feels unnecessary and unrelated to the topic of a class—but sometimes pastors have to sift through entire books to find the one piece of biblical analysis that answers a pressing question.

Third, if nothing else, seminary training can be considered training in diligence. Even the parts of seminary that do not reflect real circumstances will benefit the soul of a Christian student if he pursues them with faith, humility, zeal, and a desire to see God glorified. Sometimes young men (and older men, too) need to have their laziness revealed by hard work. Sometimes we need to have our commitment put to the test so that we will be driven to Christ. God’s work on a Christian is not always as clear as we would like—He uses means that cannot be anticipated—but all His work is done in love.

For all these reasons and more, seminary is worth your greatest efforts and zeal, even when it does not seem applicable to real life as you know it. If you are student, then, repent of any sluggishness and press forward to honor God as a student. Submit to your teachers—complete your work—expend yourself in study—because it is ultimately God who is teaching you.

May He grant us all grace to fulfill the roles that He has assigned. Praise Him!

--Dean of Admissions

Learning Greek and Hebrew

The question of whether or not a student should learn the biblical languages is sometimes posed in the seminary setting. In fact, this is a rather common decision that faces seminary students—how much time and energy should I invest in learning biblical Greek and Hebrew? Given the modern phenomenon of multiple, faithful translations of the Scriptures in the English language, why should we spend the large amount of time necessary to learn entire languages?

I think that these are good questions to ask and to consider but I would argue that every student of theology should strive to become as proficient as possible in both Greek and Hebrew, with one caveat. The caveat is that this study must not endanger other key ministry, functions, or roles in your life. Learning these languages takes consistent time that not everyone can afford at every phase of their life. Learning Greek and Hebrew does not automatically make you godlier or wiser, so compromising other aspects of your Christian walk for the sake of the languages would be foolish.

That being said, why should we labor to learn the languages? What is the benefit we can derive from a comprehensive knowledge of Greek and Hebrew? Why does every seminary worth it’s salt expect students to take at least several semesters of Greek and Hebrew?

There at least four reasons.

First, knowing Greek and Hebrew gives you access to the academic literature that will help you understand the Bible better. Even a basic knowledge of the grammar will help you decipher academic essays and books, but in this case more knowledge is better. While academic research is not necessary for Christian study, it is extremely helpful and anyone who eschews it is casting aside a helpful tool. Academicians have spent countess hours examining texts and distilling patterns but unless you can understand them, they will do you no good.

Second, and related to the issue above, knowing Greek and Hebrew will help you understand important issues like textual variants and textual criticism. Having access to the original languages will allow you to use textual commentaries and lexicons that contain a treasure trove of information about the Bible. If you know Greek and Hebrew, these issues will seem much less intimidating and will not absorb as great a portion of time. Ironically, initial time spent studying Greek and Hebrew can save you much more time later. Additionally, you will not have to rely on the work of others to help you explain these things.

Third, knowing Greek and Hebrew will enhance your exegesis of a text. For the Bible student or the preacher, this is invaluable. A thorough understanding of the original languages will remove several huge obstacles to exposition. If you know the languages well enough, you may not need to constantly consult language resources, but you can spend your time in meditation, prayer, and other preparation. If you have to look up every other work in a lexicon, reading is going to be very difficult and very slow, and your exegesis will most likely suffer for it.

Finally, the ultimate goal of learning the original languages is to read the Bible easily in Greek and Hebrew. If this is accomplished, your knowledge of the Word of God will grow and one major layer of interpretation between you and the Bible will be removed. Unfortunately, as good as any translation can be, it still involves linguistic decisions on the part of the translators that interpret the meaning of the text. The bias of the translators will show through, however subtle it may be. If you can read the text in the original on your own, that shell of interpretation will be peeled back, and you can know the meaning without having to rely on the interpretation of another.

For these four reasons, I believe it is worthwhile to achieve some understanding of Biblical Greek and Hebrew. This requires a significant time commitment and a great amount of diligence, but the rewards cannot be measured by any earthly standard. May God grant us all the grace to know Him better through knowing His Word better!

--Dean of Admissions

When to Read a Bad Book

Without taking exception to what I have written before, I do believe there is a time and place for reading a bad book or two. Please understand me very carefully—I mean something very specific by that.

There are lots of categories of bad books and I would not encourage reading just any type of bad book. Obviously some books are hateful, or smutty, or full of lies, and I do not encourage you to read these. Do not read what is trashy and futile.

Nevertheless, you should occasionally read a bad book. What I mean is that there are some books which are deficient in overall content or message which are still worth reading. There are at least three categories of bad books that can be read profitably for the Christian student.

First, it is sometimes worthwhile to read bad books that are books of importance. These books can be important to the culture around us or to they can be influential in the church life of our era. Whether they are deceitful and lead people away from biblical faithfulness by misrepresenting Christ (heterodoxy) or they are well-intended but contrary to biblical teaching (hetero-praxy), it can be important to read these books on occasion to know from where the assault is coming. If we know, for example, that biblical models of church government are under attack today, we can shore up our biblical understanding in that area.

Second, there are some bad books that are nevertheless seminal works in some way. These books arrive on the scene like bombshells, changing the cultural or theological landscape as we recognize it. The ideas contained therein take the culture and academy by storm. As a general rule, books of this nature arrive only once or twice a generation if even that often. It can be profitable to read this kind of book to recognize presuppositions and worldview issues that will distinguish the church from the unbelieving world. Reading these books makes us aware of the issues to be vigilant of in our own churches. This kind of bad book is the least common of the three I am describing today.

Finally, there are bad books that are well-reasoned and well-written. Paul does not deny that some erroneous systems of thought can be plausible or persuasive (Col. 2:4). False teachers can write compelling statements with a pleasing literary style—but what they write is still false. The challenge in reading these books is filtering out the truth from the error. This is a good exercise in biblical thinking, testing the words of a man against the infallible Words of God. These books sometimes offer good biblical insights that orthodox scholars have not noted. Nevertheless, they are bad books because the overall messages of these books are false.  Reading these books is mental exercise, sharpening and challenging our theological understanding because it drives us deeply to examine the teaching of Scripture. These types of books challenge our preconceived notions and force us to examine our arguments. For that reason, it can be profitable to read them.

We definitely do not need to read any bad books whatsoever. Certainly we should not read every bad book in the three categories above—that would be a waste of time. All I am saying is that it is occasionally—and only occasionally—profitable to read a bad book or two. Even then our eyes should be fixed on God as He is revealed in His Word so that we can come to know Him better and better. May He grant us that grace.

--Dean of Admissions

The Point of . . . Ruth

Discussing the purpose of specific books of the Bible is a dangerous endeavor for several reasons. First, there are multitudinous opinions about the meaning or purpose of individual books. Second, there is a lack of consistent agreement about the meaning of these books even among like-minded camps of people. Finally, and in explanation of the first two reasons, it is extremely easy to be man-centered in our approach to the Bible. We tend to think our own thoughts after ourselves instead of thinking God’s thoughts after Him.

For example, consider the book of Ruth. Ruth is a challenging book to interpret because, in one sense, there is not much interpretation to do in theological terms compared to, say, Isaiah. Ruth is comprised of straightforward historical facts presented as a narrative account rather than prophetic or apocalyptic literature. As a book, Ruth seems simple and unified. It is also short.

Nevertheless, there is a great deal of difficulty in interpreting these few, short chapters of historical narrative. Interpreters get lost in a host of issues upon which the meaning or purpose of the book does not ultimately hinge, significant though they may be.

Almost everyone places Ruth in relation to other books of the Bible because of the significant place that David is given at the end of the book. It seems clear that this book is included in the canon because it details the ancestral background of David. Even conservative scholars then conclude that the essential purpose of the book is something like this: ‘to commend David by recalling the honorable forefathers in his lineage.’ If that is the final conclusion of our study of Ruth, I believe we have grandly missed the point.

The book of Ruth is not ultimately about Ruth, Naomi, Boaz, Obed, Jesse, or even David. It is about the God whom these people served and who, in fact, served them as the Sovereign Lord. Graciously He provided food, shelter, and descendants to these people in spite of their deep personal flaws and sin. More than that, God would provide—He did provide—the Descendant that would usher in the true, full Kingdom of God and would return men and women to right relationship with God. The point of Ruth is not David—it is God the Trinity.

Ruth fits into the larger canon because in it God shows us who He is as the merciful Redeemer and Provider. He provided David to rule and He provided David’s Greater Son, who was also David’s Lord. God mercifully and graciously brought a Moabite girl into the lineage of David AND JESUS (!) to reveal His own character, and to ‘tip His cards,’ as it were, regarding His plan for the gracious acceptance of the Gentiles in Christ. The point of the book is God in His greatness as it was worked out in the particulars of these peoples’ lives.

Let me encourage you, then, not to get caught up in man-centered interpretation. The point of the Bible is that it reveals to us who God is. God used particular people, events, and institutions to reveal Himself to us, but those things were not intended to be the final focus of Scripture. God in His glory should be our focus in Ruth and in every chapter and verse. May He grant us eyes of faith to see Himself!

--Dean of Admissions

The Importance of Biblical Counseling

Biblical counseling is a foundational aspect of ministry in the church. There are many good reasons why we offer five biblical counseling classes at Christ Seminary. Here are three of those reasons.

First, biblical counseling is an essential part of every pastor’s ministry. This may surprise some people, who assume that pastors mostly just preach and visit the sick. Even these two very important aspects of pastoral ministry, however, should be completed in light of the doctrines of biblical counseling. When a pastor preaches, he should preach about the dangers and vileness of sin, about obedience and righteousness, and most of all about the glory of God in the gospel. Preaching in its truest form includes biblical exhortation and correction, as well as teaching about the real nature of God as He is seen in the gospel of Christ. All of these things are intimately related to biblical counseling.

Pastors will counsel biblically in both formal and informal settings. Formally, they will meet with people in crisis. In these situations they will apply biblical doctrines with a loving spirit, addressing issues of sin and idolatry and directing people to repentance and deeper faith in Christ. Informally, however, there are many ways that pastors accomplish the same thing outside of scheduled meetings. Preaching, as I said, could be considered corporate biblical counseling, though it is much more than that as well. Discipleship ministries are probably the most common form of biblical counseling in churches that pursue a regular strategy of discipleship. In these meetings, sin is addressed, encouragement is given, and wise counsel is administered. This is biblical counseling.

Second, biblical counseling is an essential part of each church member’s ministry. What should members be doing in one another’s lives, except applying the teachings of Scripture? Member to member ministry is a fundamental part of church life, without which the church is not functioning as a body. Members can biblically counsel in both formal and informal settings as well.

Members can formally counsel one another in a parallel way to pastors (Rom. 15:14), though it should always be done in submission to the pastors and with their knowledge. Nevertheless, members have the ability to seek training in biblical counseling and can be equipped to minister in this way. Informal biblical counseling should be even more common among members. When two believers meet together, the topics of discussion should center on Christ, regardless of what they are discussing. Issues of sin should be lovingly confronted (Matt. 18:15, Gal. 6:1-2), encouragement should be given from the gospel (Heb. 3:13), and biblical advice should be brought forth (Col. 3:16). This is one type of biblical counseling.

Finally, biblical counseling is an essential part of each Christian’s ministry to his or her own soul. Informally, we will always be examining ourselves to see if we are in the faith (2 Cor. 13:5, 2 Peter 1:10) and we should be working out our salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12-13). This requires that we biblically counsel ourselves just as we do to others—fighting sin (Rom. 8:12-13) while pursuing righteousness (1 Tim. 6:11), and focusing on Christ in all things (Col. 3:1-3). There are even people who biblically counsel themselves formally, giving themselves homework to address both sin and personal weaknesses and rigorously keeping themselves accountable. Some people keep records or journals to track the health of their soul, others make covenants with themselves to fight sin (Job 31:1). Certainly this is a sign of spiritual health.

In these three areas, then, biblical counseling is seen to be crucially important. Let me encourage you all to pursue God’s glory by pursuing training in some kind of biblical counseling. May God grant you wisdom and knowledge as one who counsels from His Word!

--Dean of Admissions

Biblical Sobriety

“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” –1 Peter 5:8

Peter commanded all Christians to be sober. The reasoning that he gave for this command was that as a body we have a common adversary, an opponent who seeks to do us great harm. Our adversary is the devil, the serpent of old, who was a liar and a murderer from the beginning.

We live in an era when many who identify with the church are living as outright pagans, who must therefore be headed to eternal punishment (cf. 1 Cor. 6:9-10, Eph. 5:5-6). This helps us see that many are not living their lives with sobriety, examining themselves and their church in the light of the Word of God. Very few are living with an alert eye to the teaching of the Word of God, to understand what God declares to be true about sin, grace, and salvation.

May I beg you, then—if you call yourself a Christian—be sober! Awaken to the danger of the world around you! Peter wrote to those in the churches, to warn them that an enemy was prowling about the camp in order to destroy souls. Our enemy is subtle and deceitful, and would as happily lull you into false confidence of salvation as he would have you blatantly apostatize. If he can not get your soul, he will at least aim to destroy your joy in the Lord.

In any case, be sober! This applies to every Christian and it applies in special ways to theological students. Students of theology are in a position to gain knowledge that may merely puff up their self-estimation—the very truth that should humble them may instead make them proud of their erudition. In everything, then, examine the Bible to understand the character of God and examine your response in light of the Bible. Be sober! Be alert!

--Dean of Admissions

Every Book of the Bible

As Christians, we should always strive to be students of the Bible. This can either be in a formal way such as at Christ Seminary or in an informal way such as reading daily from the Word. Some combination of both informal, personal study and formal, academic study can broaden our understanding of the Word of the Lord.

In any case, we ought to make sure that our study of God’s Word takes us through the whole Bible, even the less popular and more difficult parts. There are many parts of the Scriptures that have been unjustly neglected by teachers, preachers, and students—the reason for which is always the neglectful sinner, not any deficiency in the text.

All Scripture matters because all of Scripture was designed to fit together into a single storyline, a single masterpiece. Each book of the Bible plays an essential role in the revelation of God through His redemptive plan, and particularly through revealing God’s intended Messiah. Without a grasp of the content of every single book, it is easy to miss the fabric of the story as it progresses from Old Testament to New.

The gospel accounts provide a helpful example of the importance of all Scripture. If you examine the first few chapters of each gospel account, you will find scattered Old Testament references that place the incarnation of Jesus within the plotline of the mighty acts of God. Where do you expect the bulk of these quotations and allusions to come from? More popular books such as Psalms? Maybe from the ‘major’ prophets?

Here is a list of references:

Matt: Is. 7:14, Micah 5:2/4, Hos. 11:1, Jer. 31:15

Mark: Mal. 3:1, Is. 40:3

Luke: Ex. 13:2/12, Lev. 12:8, Is. 40:3-4

John: Gen. 28:12, Ps. 69:9

This list shows that without a thorough knowledge of all of the sections of Scripture we would not be able to understand the significant themes of the Old Testament as it leads us to Jesus the Messiah! We may be most familiar with Psalms and Isaiah, but I sadly doubt that we have had proportional exposure to Micah, Hosea, and Malachi.

This ought not be—but thankfully you can correct this grievous situation. Study the Word broadly and deeply, then, covering each book of the Bible as if it contained the very wisdom of God that leads you to salvation—because it does (2 Tim. 3:15).

--Dean of Admissions