Rethinking theological education

[missmuffet]

43 minutes ago, RustyAngeL said:

Maybe, but not necessary.  I have seen pastors that have been to seminaries and are ten miles out of line when it comes to Scripture. If they are not led by the Holy Spirit then it is all for nothing.  

What makes a Pastor who can preach the true Word of God to his congregation? How should this pastor be educated?

[RustyAngeL]

9 hours ago, missmuffet said:

What makes a Pastor who can preach the true Word of God to his congregation? How should this pastor be educated?

I know how to share the word of God and I have never been to seminary.  However I see what you are saying.

[missmuffet]

1 hour ago, RustyAngeL said:

I know how to share the word of God and I have never been to seminary.  However I see what you are saying.

I was wondering if you thought a high school education or a GED and then get your degree online? Or perhaps another way of getting your certification or education to become a Pastor of a Church. I am wondering why men want to take a short cut. I respect a Pastor who is going to give his all to teach the Word of God to his congregation such as a bachelors, Seminary and or Bible College and maybe even a Masters. If God really wants that person to teach His Word He will bless them financially.

[OneLight]

42 minutes ago, missmuffet said:

I was wondering if you thought a high school education or a GED and then get your degree online? Or perhaps another way of getting your certification or education to become a Pastor of a Church. I am wondering why men want to take a short cut. I respect a Pastor who is going to give his all to teach the Word of God to his congregation such as a bachelors, Seminary and or Bible College and maybe even a Masters. If God really wants that person to teach His Word He will bless them financially.

You just disqualified every Apostle in the bible, sparing Paul, who was educated in the ways of the Pharisees.  I think God would rather have His people in the field, learning from those who are before him.  Realize that there is a huge difference between formal education and practical education through hands on.

[Omegaman 3.0]

On 10/30/2016 at 3:14 PM, ricky said:

Churches could potentially be missing out on many good young men because of this.  

I believe that theological education could come from church based groups to prepare people for ministry. Does anyone else have ideas how to solve this problem? I personally an mot against seminary, and do not want this to turn into an anti seminary/institutional church thread. If this happens I will ask the mod to close the thread.   

Yes, this is certainly true. It is not limited to Christian ministry, there are all sort of vocations, where qualified people lack the proper certifications, licenses, diplomas etc. Someone once said:

" never let college get in the way of a good education  "

I think that same principle could be said of seminary. By and large, semenaries do good work, but you are correct, they are expensive, and the "masters" aspect of it, is a hinderance. I likely would have considered vocational ministry, if not for the problems you mentioned Ricky.

However, there are churches, were people have taken it upon themselves to just start a church, without any formal training. There are some churches, where denominations, take it upon themselves, to train pastors from withing their own ranks, recognizing that withing their congregation, who have the right heart, the riht character, and sufficient theological knowledge to serve in formal ministry. 

Personally, I would rather have a person who is qualified, over one who is certified. Each church (I mean the location and the congregation) can choose for itself, who does what and in which capacity).

That being said, there is always a risk of a small group of people gathering together and supporting each other and forming the next cult, and formal ordination might go a long way toward preventing that. At the same time, there are plenty of teachers in the pulpit, who are seminary taught, and end up teaching heresy or at least errant theology.

The bottom line is, that it is done both ways already, and that there are successes and failures both ways. That is just the nature of a situation, were we depend on people to be the pastors/teachers etc. All people are sinners, have a fallen nature, and until that is resolved, we will have some problems.

[missmuffet]

43 minutes ago, OneLight said:

You just disqualified every Apostle in the bible, sparing Paul, who was educated in the ways of the Pharisees.  I think God would rather have His people in the field, learning from those who are before him.  Realize that there is a huge difference between formal education and practical education through hands on.

I do not believe that there were seminaries or Bible Colleges then. Our world has changed and there are different requirements. The Apostles were taught by Jesus Himself. That would be good enough for me. I think it is wise to get a formal education and hands on.

[OneLight]

2 minutes ago, missmuffet said:

I do not believe that there were seminaries or Bible Colleges then. Our world has changed and there are different requirements. The Apostles were taught by Jesus Himself. That would be good enough for me. I think it is wise to get a formal education and hands on.

What requirement have changed since God never changes?  Are you talking about mans requirements?  If so, that is a sad thing to place mans requirements above Gods.

[missmuffet]

3 minutes ago, OneLight said:

What requirement have changed since God never changes?  Are you talking about mans requirements?  If so, that is a sad thing to place mans requirements above Gods.

It is an individual choice. Some people are very happy to be taught God's Word by someone who got there education on-line. Or maybe not even that.

[SavedOnebyGrace]

I have more confidence in someone formally educated with a good Bible-based education than someone coming up to me saying that God them a word for me in a dream. 

[OneLight]

God uses whom He will, educated or not.