I recently found myself looking, back through A.W. Tozer’s The Knowledge of the Holy and was reminded just how good of a book it is for seminarians to read every now and then. In a sermon preached by Tozer on God’s Holiness, he tells the...
Our daughter, Emery, was born on February 6th of this year. We’re finishing up our first year of seminary. Naturally my wife and I were the recipients of about as much advice as you can stomach. Everyone seemed to have their two cents, and if every...
We’ve talked before on this site about how seminary has changed. The days where all you need is a Bible, notebook, and a library card are over. There is a whole world of resources available, means to access them, ways to organize your time at...
By Rebecca Dobyns In seminary, Greek is always the subject everyone winces about. I have heard more “I’m sorry”s or “Have fun with that”s about taking Greek than about any other subject, except perhaps Hebrew. Granted, much of it is in jest, and...
Learning theology is one of the main purposes and joys of seminary. But through the course of your education there, you’re likely to have many of your proper theological convictions challenged, shaped, and changed. And yet, even as we’re going...
By Noah Myers Being out of college for three years before I started seminary it took me a bit before I could get back into the groove of schoolwork, online classes also proved a new challenge. All of that to say, I’ve learned a couple lessons...
The languages of the world are often represented in a family-tree diagram in which “parent” languages such as Proto-Slavic branch out into “child” languages such as Russian, Polish, and Croatian. Just as in real-life human lineages, the parents may...
I was somewhat surprised, after I posted about Jesus’ use of the diminutive κυνάριον in his delightful conversation with the Syrophoenician woman (Matt 15:26–27), to have several people make comments like this one: Was the historical Jesus really...
For our little family it is the inevitable season of attack, the month before moving our family of five across Country to Seminary. There are the weekends packed of visiting family, not living in our own home, my husband working in a separate state...
The newly updated New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis was updated because of the assiduous work of one man, Moisés Silva, whose work I have admired for a long time. Because of that admiration, I was both excited about...
I remember the first time I got a Hebrew lexicon. I was so eager to find the “real meaning” of important theological words. I quickly turned to ברך (barak) and קדשׁ (qadosh) only to find one-word glosses (“bless” and “holy,” respectively) that I had...
Most seminary degree programs have a required set of classes that the student must take in order to graduate. For instance, there is no way to get around that preaching class or Greek or Hebrew. However, many schools also allow students to customize...
I’m going to give you two sets of overlapping opinions on this issue, one set you should listen to and then my own set. This post is aiming mostly for the person who has no opinions on the issue, and was only dimly aware that opinions existed. You...
So you just finished your last Final and so begins your intersession break. Now it’s time for a vacation and relaxation right? Well, yes but not entirely. I’ve made the mistake in the past of utilizing my breaks as “detox” periods from school and a...
Plenty of Bible interpreters treat New Testament Greek the way my three-year-old girl treats my one-year-old boy: with well-meaning, blundering over-attention that ends up making him cry. Evangelical scholar and linguist Moisés Silva has a hilarious...
One of the things that really fascinated and even awed me after I asked for comments from readers of this Greek email list is that so many of you have taught yourselves Greek.Now, my experience is not universal, but I judge learning languages on...
We’ve all been there. You’re reading a book by some Christian author and they make a point in the course of their chapter. It’s a good point. You agree with it. It’s helpful. And yet, because this author prides themselves on being “biblical”, they...
I have a friend who began college as a religion major because he didn’t know what else to do, but who is now pursuing a PhD in English. He wasn’t much of a reader in high school, kind of a slacker, really—until one day in a freshman Old Testament...
Are you trying to pay for a seminary education? In today’s world, it can be difficult to afford paying for any form of high education. If God has called you to further prepare for ministry, then seminary is one of the best ways to prepare for it...
In just over a week I will be heading to Atlanta to attend ETS/SBL for the first time. One of the sessions I’m most excited about is A Dialogue with Francis Watson’s Gospel Writing: A Canonical Perspective in the Matthew section on the afternoon of...
Here’s a great question for you Greek students to ask, and a helpful (I hope) answer for you Greek teachers to give. J.H. writes: I am a second-year student in [a theological seminary] in Nigeria. I am presently taking Greek Grammar 1. My challenge...
When I first started seminary and teaching, I often fell into that temptation to try and mimic my heroes. Anyone that knows me well knows this. Especially in college, I always had some new author, preacher, teacher, or friend that I very much...
Most people who speak English know that Bobby, Billy, Betsy, and Benjy are all short for something else. Your little Suzy will likely one day outgrow her nickname and revert to the more adult “Susanna.” But nicknames sometimes go through a reverse...
What’s the best way to get the latest Logos resources at the best possible price? By participating in a program called Logos Pre-Publication (Pre-Pub). Here are five reasons to get started. 1. Pre-Pub gives you the best deal Using Pre-Pub means you...
The Bible is a wonderful gift, one that gives us the very words of God. It is entirely holy and can speak to you in ways that are utterly profound, yet entirely simple. At the same time, that very same wonderful gift can begin to look very much like...
Wake up. Study. Class. Read. Class. Study. Class. Write. Read. Read. (oh yeah, eat.) Sleep. Certain days at seminary may look like this. You may spend over 12 hours in one day working on a single paper (something I did about a week ago). It’s easy...
With the 500th anniversary of the Reformation just two years away, Fortress Press has published the first two-volumes in their projected six-volume series The Annotated Luther. To get a closer look at this unique project, I interviewed series editor...
Seminary can be an extremely busy time. Three papers to write over the weekend. A Greek test on Tuesday. Four books to read over the next week. Oh, and don’t forget that you are on the schedule for teaching at church this weekend! Busyness in...
Like perhaps the majority of Christians of my generation, my first Bible was an NIV. It was given to me when I became a Christian 10 years ago, but I very quickly abandoned it for an NASB. And not too long after that, I abandoned the NASB for the...
It is no secret that seminary is quite demanding academically but, add a job onto it and it feels impossible. However, there are a few ways to more easily balance (if there is such a thing) the two. As someone who goes to school full time, works...
