Guest AuthorPaul Overland (PhD, Brandeis University) is Professor of Old Testament and Semitic Languages at Ashland Theological Seminary. There is a huge problem in the way that biblical Hebrew is currently taught: it doesn’t stick. Polytetrafluoroethylene, or...
Mark WardI’ve come to realize that in order to know the Bible there is no replacement for reading the entire thing. I’m going to give three reasons why you need to aim to read even the portions of the Bible you somehow rarely get around to—and why I myself...
Daniel MotleyThe Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) is a beloved translation used by hundreds of thousands of Christians throughout the English-speaking world. Recently, Broadman & Holman have brought together some of the top biblical scholars to produce...
It’s near the end of the eighteenth century, and a German theology student is in distress. He had recently graduated from the University of Halle and moved to Berlin to become a chaplain at a local hospital. His readings at the university in...
Samuel LamersonDid Jesus have a sense of humor? Explore the possibility in this article by Dr. Samuel Lemerson, professor of New Testament and president of Knox Theological Seminary in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The following is a guest post by Paul Nitz, who teaches at the Lutheran Bible Institute, Lilongwe, Malawi. From Seminary to Africa I took the requisite four years of New Testament Greek at a ministerial college. After some more Greek at seminary, I...
Miles CustisA Jewish proverb says, “Reading the Bible in translation is like kissing your bride through a veil.” You can still get the message, but there is something missing—you are more removed from the text. Learning Hebrew gets you closer to the text. It...
Jake Mailhot“How can God be three and one? How can God take on a human nature? If God planned everything, how can I be responsible? Do my prayers make any difference in God’s plan? Will we finally know everything when we get to heaven? “These are questions that...
Jesse MyersEternal. Infinite. Omnipotent. Omniscient. Holy. We describe God in these abstract, maximalist terms, but how fully do we feel their weight? Each of these terms reaches as far as it can to describe our infinite God, but ultimately none can fully...
My wife regularly works domestic miracles. Case in point: she actually reads her Bible first thing in the morning. She’s a mother with young children and a lot of responsibility. We never know how much sleep Mommy will get on any given night, and...
Crossway recently released the English Standard Version in a 2016 “Permanent Text” edition (the updated text will be free for Logos users who own the ESV). The ESV, it was announced, would remain “unchanged forever, in perpetuity.” As Christianity...
Grant OsborneI have the greatest job in the world. No, I actually have one of the greatest, if not the greatest, jobs in all of human history (apart from Christ’s, that is). My point is this: there is a God, and he raised Jesus from the dead, brought salvation...
I have written seminary-level exegesis papers, and I have graded them—dozens of them. And I’m going to tell you a few secrets I don’t think your teachers will mind me telling their students. They’ve already told you what you really need to know...
Ryan BurnsMost of what we learn in life is determined by the questions we bring to it. As a young seminarian, fresh out of college, I don’t have significant pastoral experience. In my classrooms are older men and women, several of them in their sixties...
When I first arrived at seminary, they sat us all down and gave us lecture after lecture about all the rules and guidelines for graduating with our degrees. They told us the required courses, the available concentrations, and gave us tips on...
I do not enjoy details. I do not enjoy rigidly structured environments. I do not enjoy tedium. And as a child, I loved the open window more than I loved the chalkboard. So why then, do I enjoy taking biblical Greek? Going into my first Greek class...
Imagine a very little boy sitting on his father’s lap, watching a basketball game. The father talks with the boy about the game as they watch, telling him all sorts of things about the players and the rules and things like that. Most of these things...
Is it worth it? The time? The money? The sacrifices? Those were just a few of the questions running through my head and heart as I stood over the washing machine a number of years ago moving a load into the dryer. It was not a good season in many...
Learning the biblical languages can be very discouraging and frustrating. Studies and experience have shown that this is the most difficult aspect of theological training for students over the centuries. Many theologians have come to believe that a...
Seana ScottIn the beginning of seminary, I felt like more of a distraction than a priority. If I needed to talk to my sem hub (seminary husband) about something, I tried to wait until his mind was not occupied with his work, but found those moments few and far...
During seminary, you’ll develop a unique set of skills. You’ll be able to parse every Greek verb in the New Testament, list the minor prophets in canonical and chronological order, create Turabian or APA style footnotes in a flash, and...
The Osborne New Testament Commentaries are written by respected biblical scholar Grant R. Osborne. As a culmination of his life’s ministry, he’s bringing his academic acumen to an accessible, application-focused commentary. Osborne highlights...
Seminary doesn’t pay for itself, nor does the rent. But, what jobs are best to balance the study load and the budget? After talking with some seminarians, here are six ideas to get you started finding a job to help support your study habits. 1...
I read a book called Out of Context by Richard Schultz last semester for a seminary class. The author goes through common exegetical and interpretive mistakes in teaching the Bible, including those that famous preachers or authors have made, and...
Joseph SiacuncoIf you are like me, then the thought of preaching or even speaking in public has been a life-long fear. Maybe you feel called to attend seminary but are worried about the class called “Homiletics.” Maybe you’ve even said to yourself, “How can I get...
Denise J. Murphy“See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;” Hebrews 12:15 I have been alive long enough to have a good share of life experiences. Many that...
“By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” — John 13:35 Some say that they don’t go to church because Christians are hypocrites. We could easily respond and say that we are all hypocrites to one...
When interpreting Scripture, it’s all too easy to impose our own ideas onto the text, rather than drawing out what the biblical author and the Holy Spirit intended to convey. Sound biblical exegesis is all about getting back to the original...
Going to Seminary is an obvious step towards our calling. Being part of God’s harvest and furthering His Kingdom on earth is such a privilege to be part of and the workers are few. Going to Seminary is a unique calling on one’s life. We leave in two...
Paul BurkhartFor my seminary Internship, each semester we have a different spiritual practice to engage in for the semester. The goal is to expose different people to different ways of engaging God in a deep way so that as they step out in ministry, they have...