It has been a while since I’ve been able to add to the V1 Blog. Since March 2023, I’ve been enrolled full-time at Midwestern Baptist Theolgical Seminary, taking classes in order to fulfill the requirements of a BA, Theology. The online courses are 8-weeks long, arranged neatly to fill most of the year, with one semester ending on the Thursday of the eighth week and the subsequent classes beginning on the following Monday. Needless to say, the classes are fast-moving, and each class has a remarkable amount of reading required–– 300-400 pages per class in eight weeks is plenty! Forgive me for not writing sooner; I’ve been busy!
I have been wanting to share some of the experiences and insights I’ve received over the past year, but have struggled to know exactly how much, or even what, to share. So far, I’ve taken classes on evangelism and discipleship, systematic and biblical theology (yes, there is a difference), philosophy and worldview, hermeneutics and history, and many others. I’ve had the opportunity to visit and observe an Islamic worship/prayer service, meet and learn from many mentors, made several important connections and relationships, and have had to take what I’ve learned into real-life, often uncomfortable, scenarios. It would be hard to put into words all the ways I’ve benefitted already.
One of the most ironic aspects of my journey at Midwestern thus far is the fact that I find myself in this position at all. I was raised in a Christian environment which did not look favorably towards theological education. In fact, many within the groups from which I sprang view this type of learning as an example of what Paul calls “philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men” (Col. 2:8; NASB). Growing up, I remember hearing that seminaries and Bible colleges were teaching “man’s wisdom.” Wisdom “from God” could only come by reading your Bible, praying, fasting, and by Holy Ghost preaching. Seminary was considered a poor and ineffective substitute for true spirituality, promoted “religion” rather than “relationship”, and was essentially a factory which produced arrogant academic elites that thought they knew more than everyone else.
I would be lying if I said that these preconceived notions of my upbringing did not influence my expectations upon entering seminary, at least to some extent. I was genuinely worried about being “brainwashed” by my professors. I wondered if my teachers would assign textbooks that would challenge my beliefs, press me to think more deeply on subjects I already felt strongly about, and might even make me question the Christian faith altogether. To be honest, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect.
Between 2020 and early 2023, I had several personal friends and spiritual mentors advise me to consider receiving some theological training and education, at least in some capacity. Whether it be full-fledged seminary or auditing individual classes, I was encouraged to afford myself the opportunity to learn from seasoned biblical scholars, teachers, and pastors, which would offer me perspective, insight, and a chance to grow in faith and understanding. I wrestled with the idea for a few years. In the meantime, I began gathering resources–– commentaries, theological works, church history texts, and other Bible study tools. These have proved invaluable during my time at Midwestern, and helped me tremendously during the years leading up to my eventual enrollment. The Bible is the only “textbook” God assigns His people, yet, in these resources, I discovered the value of another God-given prescription for the church–– teachers!
As I read Church Fathers like Augustine and Athanasius, Reformers like Calvin and Luther, and pastors of old like Spurgeon, Ryle, and Lloyd-Jones, I found myself feeling a sense of continuity, a connection to the past. I began to realize that Christ had actually kept His promise, namely, that He would “build [His] church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18; ESV). Through the centuries, God had used these faithful men (and thousands of other men and women) to build His Church, and by His grace, we can now learn more about God and His Kingdom through their writings and ministry.
Looking back, it is difficult for me to make sense of the mindset I had previously embraced–– the view that extrabiblical resources were of minor value if they had any at all. This skepticism towards theological material (particularly) and theology itself (in general) spawned from a good place. Those who warned me and others against “playing with fire” (ie. reading works of men rather than God’s Word alone) were usually pastors, primarily concerned with the spiritual health of their sheep. A pastor’s desire is to protect those whom God has placed under his care. The worry, for many, was that congergants would be “led away” from sound doctrine through these works or by other teachers, which is certainly a risk when one reads outside their own camp. The benefits far outweigh the risks, however, for both pastors and the laity.
When a pastor instructs his congregation to avoid studying other perspectives within the broad landscape of Christianity, he creates an atmosphere of exclusivity. He may call the members of his church to “stick to your Bible, and leave all that other garbage alone,” yet he doesn’t expect them to ignore everything he is teaching them every Sunday. Instead, what he means is something more like: “I will tell you what I believe this or that verse means, and then you can believe what the Bible says with me.” (Before I go any further, let me affirm wholeheartedly that the Scriptures alone are the sole, infallible rule of faith for Christians. The Scriptures alone are “God-breathed” [2 Tim. 3:16], and all our beliefs must be conformed to the Word of God. All other writings, while they may be beneficial for a right understanding and a proper interpretation of God’s Word, must be brought into subjection to that which is theopneustos). Returning to our subject, a minister who does not encourage others to attempt to understand the various perspectives within Christian history actually sets himself up for problems later on. When leaders isolate their congregations from other Christian perspectives, asking their members to only ever entertain “our” viewpoints on doctrine, they are building a ship by which their members will eventually board and set sail if one ever comes to a significant point of disagreement on a particular head of doctrine. They will immediately feel like an outsider who needs to find another theological camp to raise his tent. Let me give a brief example of this from my own background.
As a former oneness-apostolic, I felt as though I was “in the truth”, an adherent of the right perspective, and was among those who believed what the Bible actually taught instead of what men taught. Do not misunderstand what I am saying; now, as a Reformed Baptist, I still believe my theology is correct (though I acknowledge the possibility that there could be a great many things I am currently wrong about); I hope to always grow in faith, knowledge, and wisdom as I seek God’s face in Christ through His Word. Before, however, I was warned against reading Christian literature outside of the Holy Scriptures. I do not wish to overstate this warning, as if it was a command to be obeyed at the cost of membership or something like that. Rather, it was an exhortation to stick close to the Word, depend on the Holy Spirit–– who would help us glean the right understanding thereof, and to not waste too much time reading what other men thought the Bible taught or said. In truth, this is actually good, godly, wise counsel. This is not, however, all that a Christian does or should do.
Paul writes to the Ephesians that Christ gave to His church “some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:11-13, emphasis added). Christ knew His disciples would need instruction and training, so He gave to His church gifted men who would lead and teach. Therefore, Christians need more than “Jesus and their Bibles”; we also need to be taught and led, so that we may learn, grow, and mature in our faith. These are aspects of the Christian life in which pastoral ministry is designed to facilitate and enable, and many godly influences from my early life helped me, and many others throughout the years, to do just those things.
The problem with a pastor encouraging his congregation to not read theological literature outside of the Scriptures is a subtle one. He leaves the members of his church in quite the perdicament: on the one hand, they need to be taught biblical doctrine and proper biblical interpretation, yet, on the other, he’s cut off every avenue of learning for them other than himself. The members, then, are being asked to believe whatever their Bible teaches, and then, if they are unsure of a particular passage or concept in the text, the pastor is the only source who can provide the proper understanding. The point here is not that pastors should not provide insight and experience when answering questions; it is that pastors ought not set themselves up as the only source of understanding by which church members should draw.
For years, as I wrestled through the Scriptures, striving to understand what the Bible taught about the nature of God and the person of Christ, I repeatedly brought passages of Scripture to others that I struggled to reconcile with the “oneness” view of the Godhead. Since I had been taught to be skeptical of other resources, I refused to consult commentaries or theological treatises on the subject, choosing instead to continue studying, asking questions, and trusting that eventually I’d be able to see the truth of the oneness position. At some point, however, the texts began to pile up, and I eventually developed an important internal inquiry: What if I am trying to see something that isn’t there? Or, worse still, am I trying to force this belief upon the text of Scripture rather than accepting what the Bible actually teaches? These questions troubled me greatly, and I resolved myself in prayer to God that I would follow the teaching of Scripture, even if it meant I would no longer be a non-Trinitarian.
The problem at that time was, of course, that I had nowhere to turn to in order that I may be instructed in “the way of God more accurately” (Acts 18:26). I decided to read a highly esteemed book on the doctrine of the Trinity in the hope that I would, if nothing else, understand what exactly I was denying. I had been given a copy of James White’s The Forgotten Trinity, and, with the desire to read and refute what I was about to venture upon, I began reading. I still remember my immediate thoughts after finishing it: James’ words added nothing to me, but the verses he shared and the exegesis of them, I could not withstand. I still marvel at the discovery of Philippians 2:5-11. It is not as though I hadn’t read that passage a few dozen times already, but, in the context of a specific study on the nature and person of Christ, I finally saw the glories of Jesus that Paul expounds there.
A few things happened in that event. First, I began to finally read the Scriptures without the oneness lenses on. In other words, I took the texts as they were, without feeling the pressures of squeezing them into the oneness paradigm. Second, I realized that I had been misinterpreting a whole host of other passages as I sought to maintain my belief in oneness theology. Finally, and most importantly to this blog entry, I suddenly realized that I was being encouraged to avoid material that might have actually helped me come to a more accurate, biblical view of God much sooner. To clearly state the fact once more, there is not a doubt in my mind that the primary desire of the mentors in my life for me to avoid extrabiblical reading was a sincere, pastoral concern, and was not one motivated by control or deception. Nevertheless, afterwards, I did feel that I had been unintentionally misled by the counsel.
What does that story have to do with seminary or theological education? Much in every way! Reading Christian theology texts (especially the good ones) is much like receiving education from a Christian seminary, only significantly cheaper! During my time at Midwestern, I have had the privilege of reading works by some of the greatest Christian scholars, theologians, and pastors throughout Church History. Furthermore, I’ve been guided by faithful, God-fearing, Baptist professors, who have helped my classmates and me work through the material, evaluate those author’s conclusions in light of Scripture, and compare their thoughts with others who thought differently. We are not necessarily taught what to think, but how to think through theological conundrums, various perspectives, and biblical concepts. Above all, we are continually reminded that theological training of any kind is ultimately a gift from God, and ought to be used to glorify God and build up His Kingdom and His Church.
Seminary professors do not replace the office and function of the local church pastor. Every professor I have had thus far would be vehemently opposed to the very notion! Instead, professors (as do good Christian Bible study resources and theological materials) serve as an additional source of knowledge, experience, and wisdom for students alongside pastors, teachers, and other mentors within the local church as we all strive to grow in our understanding of God’s Word and prepare for the ministry God has called us to. To Timothy, Paul writes, “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2). The call is to pass on the faith. Pastors and seminaries strive to do this very thing. Both seek to prepare faithful men for the work of ministry and the faithful preaching of God’s Word.
Does this mean everyone needs a seminary education? Of course not. Not everyone is called to pastoral ministry, just like not everyone is called to be an overseas missionary or to music ministry. There are many classes at Midwestern that would do me very little good in my particular calling. Nevertheless, we are all called to witness to lost souls. We are all expected to properly interpret God’s Word. What is more, we are all called to grow in our knowledge and understanding of Christ. Even if seminary is not a route for you in your current circumstances, there are great resources in all of these fields that you would benefit greatly from. When you read a book, you are gaining insight (whether good or bad) from that author. His or her expertise can provide the reader with a perspective that they may not currently have, granting them more knowledge and wisdom on a particular topic. Get them, read them, and when you find faithful men and women who help you grow in your faith, read more of them!
My seminary professors have yet to assign a textbook that I couldn’t have simply ordered on Amazon for myself, read myself, and learned without their assistance. That being said, of all the books I have had to acquire for my classes, none of them were already on my shelf nor were they on any of my online wishlists. Many of the books I’ve had to get for my classes, I had never heard of. Fortunately for my classmates and me, the professors and course designers at Midwestern combine their years of experience and insight as they choose which texts to utilize that will complement and enhance the lessons intended to be taught in each class. One of my favorite takeaways from this past year in seminary has been learning how to effectively use biblical research and study tools. It is one thing to have these books; knowing how to use them is a whole other thing!
One last note in conclusion: there persists a fairly common notion that theological education produces “Christian snobs.” While the temptation toward a prideful attitude may exist in students early in their academic pursuits (which is true in every sphere of higher education, not just seminary), these attitutdes are destroyed very quickly. You are immediately placed under a microscope, where teachers and students alike examine your work, offer critical feedback, and help you to see that there is more than one way to approach any particular theological dilemma. In the context of a church, members generally endeavor to remain non-confrotational, and with a desire to keep the peace and build unity, differences are often minimized and shared convictions reign supreme; in the classroom, on the other hand, discussion is encouraged. It is not as if there is a great desire to overemphasize diversity, but students can share their thoughts on an issue, and those views will be tested. This forces each student to carefully think through their own position while also considering carefully the conclusions drawn by other classmates and professors. Having our perspectives challenged in a classroom setting can be very beneficial in promoting careful observation, thorough examination, and providing proper defense for a theological position.
We must remember, too, that theological education differs from secular or worldly learning. Studying the liberal arts, the sciences, and other subjects do make the learner feel more advanced than their contemporaries. A certain level of sophistication is attained once one feels that they know more than the common, uneducated population. Graduates of Harvard or Yale may view their education as a distinguishing mark setting them apart from everyone else, since, afterall, they are the enlightened, progressive, upper class, the “educated elites”.
Christian education, alternatively, emboldens a completely different attitude. The Christian faith in general elevates virtue over vice, knowledge of God over knowledge of the things of this life, and humility over social advancement and status. Good seminaries do not seek to operate in ways contrary to these Christian distinctives; rather, they strive to promote Christian education in theologically-sound, God-honoring ways. In short, seminaries desire to produce faithful, mature, and humble ministers who will go on to serve the Kingdom of God all over the world. Midwestern’s motto tells the story: “For the Church”. The goal for all that is done in a faithful seminary is not to produce haughty men and women who think they know more about God and the Bible than everyone else. The goal is to train men and women for the work of ministry, service, and assistance within the context of the local church.
Furthermore, students of Scripture (whether trained in any higher educational institutions or not) learn real quick how ignorant we truly are. The more you learn, the more you realize how little you actually know. You learn to appreciate faithful witnesses from the past who have defended orthodoxy, held fast to the faith amidst the onslaught of non-Christian opponents, and devoted their lives to the advance of the Christian movement around the globe. You promptly discover how small you actually are in the vast history of Christianity, but you also realize how individual voices, despite their minimal recognition and relatively simple acts of faithfulness, can make a major, long-lasting impact on the lives of those God places around them.
So, should everyone become a seminary student? Are Christians who attend a Bible college better than those who do not? Do you have to have a degree to become an effective minister of the gospel? Will only seminarians be saved!? Of course not. Nevertheless, Christian education benefits the whole church, in ways big and small. If you do not have the opportunity to enroll in a faithful Christian training center of some sort, read a good book! Learn from faithful men and women in Christ’s Church, both past and present. Mature in the faith, grow in knowledge and wisdom, and strive to know the ways of God more fully– not for personal gain or recognition, but for the Church of the Living God.
“You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard lest you, having been carried away by the error of unprincipled men, fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”
— 2 Peter 3:17-18
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