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Great post. Because if all you do is speak in your little echo chamber, it's very easy to become convinced of how right you are. When, in truth, you may be off base in your beliefs.
An uneducated pastor is an ineffective pastor. It may be easy to handle the issues presented by less educated persons, who are less likely to question any word of the Bible or to bring up complex questions regarding it. The only way to keep highly educated persons in a church is to have a pastor who has an understanding of such topics as science, history, languages (Greek, Latin, Hebrew, more if possible) so that they're A) not making seemingly ignorant statements that will drive people away and B) can tackle tough questions. The Bible is not a simple book to read and understand in reality. It's deceptively simple in appearance and complex at a second look. It was written over several centuries in multiple languages in different historical contexts. You can't understand it truly if you don't understand what was going on in the author's world at the time. You have to understand we're reading translations made from copies of copies of copies of manuscripts. You can take multiple ancient scrolls of the same work and find variations between them in the original language. And those original words can change the meaning of it significantly. Some words in Greek or Hebrew translate poorly thus we have rather cumbersome, inadequate translations into our modern languages which one must be cautious about drawing conclusions from. The Bible itself as a compiled book of many books only came about because of certain historical events which influenced the choice of books to include in it. Later events led to some books being removed by some sects. If I didn't have encounters with educated pastors and theologians years ago I'd likely be an atheist today. My education in science and history led to many doubts about religious beliefs and a less educated pastor couldn't tackle that. I don't need a pastor telling me I'm going to burn in hell if I don't repent, I need (or rather needed) one explaining why I should believe any of it in the first place. I think many people are in that same category today as the general education level rises and knowledge of science increases. Just my two cents on this topic.
One thing I thought of with respect to a minister's education is the type of education people receive. I know Assembly of God ministers who attend an AoG seminary/theological school which teaches them everything that fits nicely into the AoG way of thinking. Opposite this is my education.
The theological college I attended was made up of 8-10 different seminaries/individual schools. They ranged from pre-Vatican II Roman Catholic's to Jesuits, Anglicans (conservative and liberal), Presbyterians, United Church, Lutheran etc. A requirement placed upon every student was to take a minimum of 25% of your classes at other schools/seminaries. If not, then you were not granted your M.Div. degree. Nothing like taking Christology with folks on the other end of the spectrum from you, or history from conservative Anglicans. It certainly broadened our minds and forced us to think outside the tight little theological box our own denomination outlined for us.
It was annoying at the time, but in retrospect it was a great learning experience.
I could see that. I'm not unlike you in my educational background. Of course, I'm not an AoG pastor, but I do have a wide range of education from varying sources.
And I agree--if all we do is look at one set of teachings, we can miss the other points of view.
One thing I thought of with respect to a minister's education is the type of education people receive. I know Assembly of God ministers who attend an AoG seminary/theological school which teaches them everything that fits nicely into the AoG way of thinking. Opposite this is my education.
The theological college I attended was made up of 8-10 different seminaries/individual schools. They ranged from pre-Vatican II Roman Catholic's to Jesuits, Anglicans (conservative and liberal), Presbyterians, United Church, Lutheran etc. A requirement placed upon every student was to take a minimum of 25% of your classes at other schools/seminaries. If not, then you were not granted your M.Div. degree. Nothing like taking Christology with folks on the other end of the spectrum from you, or history from conservative Anglicans. It certainly broadened our minds and forced us to think outside the tight little theological box our own denomination outlined for us.
It was annoying at the time, but in retrospect it was a great learning experience.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cpg35223
Great post. Because if all you do is speak in your little echo chamber, it's very easy to become convinced of how right you are. When, in truth, you may be off base in your beliefs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vizio
I could see that. I'm not unlike you in my educational background. Of course, I'm not an AoG pastor, but I do have a wide range of education from varying sources.
And I agree--if all we do is look at one set of teachings, we can miss the other points of view.
So how many times have you told us it is our Christian duty to correct our brother? That it is not love to fail in that?
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