A Conversation with Thomas R. Schreiner Respect for our students and for our schools is what undergirds a meaningful calling to teach, observes Thomas R. Schreiner, the James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation and associate...
Graded Implementation for Using Digital Tools in Original-Language Courses The speed with which digital technology has swept through our society has certainly made an impact on original-language learning. Whereas it was previously unthinkable to...
I remember well my first semester as a full-time professor of Bible at Biola University. Every minute had a purpose and there was no time to be idle. “Give it five years,” I was told by my more experienced colleagues. “You’ll start to find a rhythm...
There I was, standing in front of a classroom filled with a wide mixture of generations. Most were training for ministry of some kind, though some were seasoned pastors. Ages ranged from early twenties to late sixties. I was still a seminary student...
There might seem to be little need to explain the genre of epistle in the New Testament. The adjustments between modern expectations and ancient conventions appear minor, requiring little more than moving the sender’s name from the end to the...
A seminary is simply defined in this article as an institution established primarily for the training of ministers for the church and other church-related or church-allied or parachurch ministries and organizations. Missionary societies, chaplaincy...
When I was at theological college, it was a great privilege to learn Greek and Hebrew. It was hard work, especially the Hebrew, but I took all the classes Kenmore Christian College would let me take during my four years there. Afterwards, I did my...
The hardest lesson for me to learn in my nine-year academic journey was patience. My goal in this article is to prepare you, the budding Bible academic, for an endurance race of mind and spirit. Hold this thought: academia is hard, but it is harder...
Seminary will challenge you beyond what you might imagine—spiritually, intellectually, and even physically. For me, going to seminary was the hardest and most wonderful experience of my life. Whether you are already going to seminary or plan to...
Have you heard people say, “I didn’t learn that in seminary”? Sure, there can be gaps between what you learn in seminary and how you plan to use your studies. (As wide as the gap between translating James from Greek and teaching it to seventh...
Writing a paper on the theology of a biblical book is one of the best ways to internalize that book’s message. Not only will it require familiarizing yourself with the entire book, but you’ll also synthesize how the parts relate to the whole...
Writing research papers is an excellent way to learn because it trains you to gather information, interpret it, and persuasively present an informed opinion. The process teaches you a great deal, but it also equips you to contribute to ongoing...
Since the early days of his pastorate, C.H. Spurgeon tutored and trained up gifted young men for the ministry. Over the first seven years of his ministry, Spurgeon would send out seven ministers, and yet more men were approaching him for training...
Soulcraft. It’s a word Eugene Peterson thought he’d coined. It was the intended title for the book which became Practice Resurrection: A Conversation on Growing Up in Christ. Little did he know Soulcraft would become the name of a Colorado...
Part 1: Academic Teaching with Support Raising One of the closest parallels to a traditional academic job is teaching in a position that requires raising financial support. These positions are generally available in schools outside North America...
Introduction Research papers are one of the best ways to learn in seminary—which is why so many teachers assign them. A research paper trains you in how to gather information, interpret it, and present an informed opinion persuasively. And yet...
Exegesis is the most comprehensive form of Bible study. It gathers together nearly every Bible study task—word studies, translation comparison, research, and more—for a thorough examination of a biblical passage. While there is no singular process...
by Ryan Lytton Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or turn away from them. Proverbs 4:5. Wisdom and understanding are everywhere available but are nevertheless ostensibly rarely found. A student of the Word must be diligent in...
"TBAC has three main distinctives. First, as already mentioned, it is substantially longer and more in-depth. Second, it is explicitly Christocentric in its entire structure and orientation. And third, it follows a different sequence that is...
Whether you’re writing a paper for a class, gathering resources for your doctoral thesis, or compiling a list of resources to share with a small group, building a clear, easy-to-read bibliography is mandatory. But what information do you need to...
"Education needs to recenter around the idea that every human’s primary calling is to put God on display and that our workplaces are simply one of many contexts for doing so."
A recent article detailed what higher education might look like after COVID-19. I agree with most of the observations in that article, if the goal is simply to return to the pre-pandemic status quo. But what if we took this disruption as an...
Until a few weeks ago, COVID-19 was a distant problem that many discounted as superfluous to their life; it is a global catastrophe. No one today questions the relevancy of COVID-19 to their local community. The surge of articles, blogs, and news...
"Don’t be shy about being your type of mentor. It’s your motive that counts, not the method or formula you use to mentor."
"Bernard’s brilliance is not his use of so-called critical methods but in the fact that, as a monk, he had prayed, read and studied the Sacred Scriptures so intently that his vocabulary is literally a biblical vocabulary."
One of my warmest memories with Professor Hurtado occurred in 2014 at SBL in San Diego over a meal. We went to lunch at a French café and before we began eating, he paused and said: “Let’s pray over our meal.” He thanked God for the meal, closing...
Teaching is often thankless and can be exhausting. Yet every day teachers impact society by the lives they touch. Since today is World Teachers’ Day, we at Faithlife want to say “thank you” to all teachers for the work you do. Here are five unique...
An Example of Co-Teaching as a Means of Modeling Interdisciplinary Dialogue Eric J. Tully | Trinity Evangelical Divinity School One of the challenges in Christian higher education is navigating the tension between various fields of study. Christian...
Strive to be a professor who is concerned about heart application as much as theological information.