paul-burkhartJohn Calvin famously opened up his Institutes with a profound set of lines about the close intimacy between knowledge of God and knowledge of ourselves. He did not start with Scripture or hermeneutics, but anthropology. In the Protestant focus on...
I do these weekly Study Guides for our church home group leaders. I read a bunch of commentaries on the sermon text, and condense the scholarly thoughts into a 2 page verse-by-verse commentary our leaders can use to help answer people questions if...
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...
Denise J. MurphyFor 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...
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...
Ryan BurnsWake 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...
If there is one category of seminary courses that is most maligned, it is probably the Practical Theology courses. If I can be honest for a second, they are seen as the “vegetables” of seminary, whereas the “real” theology classes are seen as the...
In seminaries, the most hit-or-miss class might be the occasional course on Preaching. I’ve had the unique experience of taking two different preaching courses at two very different seminaries. One course was incredibly dry, unhelpful, and boring...
Seminaries are weird creatures. In the beginning, most everyone is new and has to do the awkward dance of forming relationships while at the same time trying to find a flow for school to survive. It takes a unique person to really be a part of both...
We live in a health-crazed world. With the help of the latest technology we are able to track information about our health with the simple push of an app on our smartphones. Even without the use of smartphones, we have access to an incredible amount...
“Surely that can’t be right.” I leaned closer to the computer screen, willing away the obvious. However, it was hard to deny the pull of reality, and the next few minutes were spent coming to grips with the fact that in my first...
The hardest class I have taken in seminary is Greek Exegesis of James. This was the capstone class for the Biblical Greek classes and includes creating narrative flows, taking weekly quizzes, a Final exam, and writing the “notorious” exegesis paper...
One of my teachers in the Seminary once remarked that theology has the tendency of making theological students and teachers become complacent and lukewarm about spiritual things. At first, I joined others in criticizing the teacher’s statement on...
Developing a prayer life is important as you go through seminary life. It is important because of the busyness of your schedule, to prepare you for future ministry, and to equip you lead your family. One of the reasons why you want to develop a...
A while back, I attended a performance of Rebirth of a Nation, a film created by Paul Miller (aka DJ Spooky) that seeks to deconstruct and remix the 1915, W.D. Griffith film, Birth of a Nation, a highly acclaimed cinematic venture and one of the...
It’s May, which for most schools is graduation season. Men and women who have invested countless hours in classrooms and libraries are now preparing for the ceremony that will mark the end of a sometimes long and often very difficult journey...
When I was interviewing for my first associate pastor role, the senior pastor said something to my wife and me that I would soon learn was almost a mantra: “If you come to Cold Springs Church, you will experience spiritual warfare.”...
Seana ScottSo, you think God called you to seminary so you can better serve God in the world? Awesome. Your seminary time will be sure to teach you many things about God and his Word. In order to exit seminary as passionate as you are about ministry now, you...
My last post on this site, years ago, was a fiery little piece called “Realizing Seminary’s Not For You“. At the time, God had powerfully and clearly led me to a place of realizing that seminary was not the place He had for me at...
Lauren VisserToday’s guest post is from Evan Duncan. He is pursuing his MDiv at Baylor’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary, and he currently serves as media and communications director at First Baptist Church in Temple, Texas. Originally from Slippery...
Logos StaffMy job allows me to chat with distinguished seminary professors every week. During one such conversation, I asked the professor what advice he would give to a young student trying to balance school, work, ministry, and family—i.e., me. His response...
When I was accepted into seminary, I was filled with wonderful ideas about how soul-enriching my studies would be. After all, I’d be studying the Bible all day and learning about God and his character in every class. How could this not lead to...
I remember Wednesday nights, cooking dinner, then packing Thursday’s sack lunch, Thursday’s sack dinner, and Friday’s sack lunch. Friday night’s dinner would have to wait until late that night, when we’d finally arrive home from our weekly seminary...
Today’s post is by guest writer Elliot Ritzema: Elliot is an editor at Logos Bible Software. He is the editor of 300 Quotations for Preachers and 400 Prayers for Preachers, a major contributor to the Faithlife Study Bible, and a regular...
I’d like to propose a fundamental question about your experience at seminary. Why are you at seminary? What do you hope to get out of it? Are you there to earn a degree so that you can get hired to do ministry full-time? Are you there just...
Weekly chapel is an exciting rite of passage in the first weeks of seminary. I can still remember many sermons where a pastor would talk about his own chapel experiences way back in the day. This past year it was my turn. My wife even came to the...
It has been four months since we began this journey to and through seminary together. Thank you to those who have read, commented, encouraged and helped me along the way. There is one resounding question in my mind that continually drives me to my...
In my mind, the primary reason we attend seminary is so that we can learn how to handle God’s Word appropriately. Of course there are many other benefits to seminary that go beyond that, but I believe that this is what makes seminary unique...
Have you ever taken a trip? Did it go just like you had planned? Chances are, if you’ve traveled much at all, at some point you’ve found yourself dealing with unexpected delays, detail changes or maybe even a complete cancellation of...
Life is full of surprises. A tired, cliche phrase, I know. But the phrase speaks the truth. With friends and family, we share stories that surprised us. We remember them vividly because the stories are pivotal in shaping our lives. Seminary life, on...