How rigorous should a Christian Minister's seminary education be ?

[jojoju1998]

In a world that's more secularized, where people are more " educated ", relying on the bible to teach, and preach isn't enough anymore, you have to have rigor in philosophy, science, liberal arts overall. And be able to defend whatever you believe to anyone who asks.

Now I know the mainline protestants typically require a masters degree; as as well as the Orthodox, but Christianity in America is culturally dominated by two groups, the evangelical protestants and the catholics.

From my point of view; it seems as if the evangelical protestants and their schools seem to lack a bit in their theological training. I don't know why though; and perhaps because I'm biased, but I looked up a random catholic seminary in Oregon, and they have classes in ecumenism, philosophy, moral theology, Systematic theology in addition to the bible. And they do it all in a accreditated masters of divinity program.

I'm just saying maybe it's good to have some intellectualism in Christianity again in addition to the pastoral.

[jojoju1998]

I think it's necessary, and definitely keep that requirement for the denominations that already require it.

But intellect and book smarts aren't what make great priests or pastors, honestly. Their main job, when it comes down to it, is to spread the Gospel. Nowadays that means you need to convince people that they should listen, and once they start convince them why it is Right and Good.

That requires skills that you can't easily teach, and aren't always taught in seminaries or graduate programs.

A good seminary however, should have pastoral, spirtual, and intellectual formation as well.

A good balance of three.

Many christian seminaries however lack in intellectual formation, and I don't know if that's a good thing.

[jojoju1998]

I think it's necessary, and definitely keep that requirement for the denominations that already require it.

But intellect and book smarts aren't what make great priests or pastors, honestly. Their main job, when it comes down to it, is to spread the Gospel. Nowadays that means you need to convince people that they should listen, and once they start convince them why it is Right and Good.

That requires skills that you can't easily teach, and aren't always taught in seminaries or graduate programs.

A good seminary however, should have pastoral, spiritual, and intellectual formation as well.

A good balance of three.

Many Christian seminaries however lack in intellectual formation, and I don't know if that's a good thing.

You're definitely true.

My experiences with seminaries is through the Episcopal Church, which are probably a lot more intellectually focused than seminaries in other denominations. So my opinion is skewed to that lenses

In the catholic system; it takes around 7-8 years to become a priest.


Typically :at least two years of philosophy studies ( because in the catholic world, philosophy and theology are connected ), and then 5 years for graduate studies in theology, including a pastoral year.

Theology studies include : Moral theology, Liturgy, Trinity, Christ,

[jojoju1998]

Seems like a lot of this depends on your experience. My mom goes to a community church where there are not formally-educated pastors. The lack of any credentialed expertise barrier between who is preaching and who is listening makes an interesting sort of equality. For a small church without denominational affiliation where most of them probably went to college, it kind of works.

But maybe something suffers for it. In particular, these evangelical sorts are very focused on the actual text of the Bible, and a working knowledge of biblical languages can give preachers a chance to tell you something you don't know. And trust me, I like to hear intellectual people give their perspectives on things, but I tend to think theology is the study of something that's not substantial and real, and haven't heard anything from those who are highly educated on it that actually convinces me otherwise.

The Bible needs the theology however.

It was the great christian theologians like Augustine, the early church fathers who helped develop christian teaching on Original Sin, Grace.

Where did the Trinity come from ? Who was God ?

Martin Luther kickstarted the Protestant Reformation in part because he was so concerned at the state of educated clergy in the Catholic Church.

[jojoju1998]

Listening to Bishop Barron's sermons shows how big a difference high-quality formal theological training makes compared to your average sermon.

Bishop Barron has a Masters in Philosophy and a Doctorate in Theology.

[jojoju1998]

Latin ? Greek ? Moral Ethics ? Theology ? Biblical studies ?