John Mark YeatsIf we are honest, theological education has a persistent PR problem. Some pastors may even discourage a potential seminarian from attending a school because of their own difficult journey. But there’s a reason seminary has long been a standard...
George HillmanGrowing up, my family had a weekend farm just north of the town where we lived. As a kid, it was a great place to explore nature and learn many life skills. It was on that farm, for example, where I learned how to drive a manual transmission even...
Daniel ZachariasYou, like me, may have taught biblical studies, hermeneutics, and foundational Greek courses for many years. You, like me, may have become deeply familiar with the text, the stories, the methods, the paradigms. But such familiarity can actually tank...
Jeanette PiferI have the privilege of teaching Greek. It’s one of my favorite classes to teach. But for many of my students, it is one of the hardest classes they take for their degree. Thus, one of my primary pedagogical goals is to instill a conviction in my...
John D. HarveyDuring my ten years in our seminary dean’s office, one of my responsibilities was observing faculty members in the classroom. It was an encouraging activity, because I was visiting classes in different disciplines and was observing excellent...
Douglas EstesTeaching is a form of research, observes William A. Dyrness, senior professor of theology and culture at Fuller Theological Seminary. To teach students well, we must always discover what they know and where they come from. Dyrness is the author of...
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...
Adam J. HowellGraded 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...
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...
Timothy GabrielsonThere 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...
Anthony Oladayo FáwọléA 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...
David McKayWhen 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...
Tavis BohlingerThe 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...
Karen EngleSeminary 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...
Jennifer GrishamHave 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...
Dr. Geoff ChangSince 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...
Guest AuthorPart 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...
Logos StaffIntroduction 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...
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...
"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...
Scot Miller reviews Emma Wasserman’s Apocalypse as Holy War: Divine Politics and Polemics in the Letters of Paul Emma Wasserman, Yale University Press, 2018. 352 pp. This present era of binary perspectives and hyperbolic representations of...
by Chris Porter Coming to biblical studies from prior research in the social sciences I am often asked what makes for good interdisciplinary research. While a valid question, I think the more interesting question is what makes a good...
Book Review Paula Gooder, IVP Academic, 2018. 316 pp. Review by Reta Finger. I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church at Cenchreae, so that you my welcome her in the Lord as is fitting for the saints, and help her in whatever she...
Tom Holland, Tom Wright and the Search for Truth: A Theological Evaluation (London: Apiary Publishing), 2017. Pp. 495. by Don Garlington This full-sized volume consists of thirteen chapters: (1) “Probing the Contours of Recent Research;” (2)...
Esau McCaulleyWhen I was invited to contribute to the series, What makes a good Biblical Scholar or Theologian?, I decided to do something a bit different. While I have my opinions on exegetical method, there are a multitude of scholars who can provide more...
Editor’s note: Crispin Fletcher-Louis has disrupted our normal series on “What makes a good Biblica Scholar or Theologian?” with a title of his own making. We’ll let it slide, because his advice is just that good. Enjoy the...
Book Review David B. Capes, Rodney Reeves, and E. Randolph Richards, editors, IVP Academic, 2017. According to the Introduction, the work is intended as a student textbook that covers, in a manageable size, several aspects of Paul: his background...