Theology school

[Cappadocious]

Like you could do prayer experiments. Have one group pray and see how long it takes for God to answer, another group pray but in a slightly different way, and then a control group that doesnt pray at all.

Awesome.

 

[Greg J.]

I notice there aren't any papers on healing, miracles, which is a big part of ministry. I guess its something you can't actually study.

There's plenty to study. There's lots of books (too many, actually: get recommendations) and ministries for the equipping of this kind of saint. This is not a part of regular teaching because it is not a regular part of people's experience. Discussing the supernatural as real and present puts the ministry (and its teachers and students) at risk of being discredited by people without the right kind of faith (i.e., nearly everybody).

(Slightly off topic) People close enough to God to be experiencing the supernatural should be seeking God himself for what to do about it. One should see a psychiatrist if the supernatural is hurting them. (Coming to supernatural gifts and also having mental illness at the same time is a big, painful mess that lasts a long time.) I do strongly urge people to glue themselves to their Bible and also not try to deal with the spiritual side of it by themselves. The foremost thing people need to do until receiving training and mentorship is to beat their understanding of their experiences into submission to the Word. And remind yourself God is a loving, faithful person, not a machine that does certain things whenever you do certain things.

Like you could do prayer experiments. Have one group pray and see how long it takes for God to answer, another group pray but in a slightly different way, and then a control group that doesnt pray at all.

This wouldn't accomplish anything unless the Lord had already chosen to reveal something in this way. Because we are not to test the Lord, personally, I would only do this if God prompted me to do so. A close alternative would be to study people's testimonies (of prayer results in this case).

 

[ChristsSoldier115]

Interesting, what are some of the questions or essay topics you had to write? Just as a sample.
And I suppose you have exams. Maybe thats what I wouldnt like...exams and assesments. Although, we have memory verses in bible school so, maybe its just that but at a higher level. Maybe you have memory chapters where you can recite chapters off by heart?

I took like 3 theology classes for my AA in religion. luckily I am done with theology. the highest level of theology [for that AA] was such a brain buster I decided to change my major from religious theology- global studies focus to just global studies with a minor in welding.

First week of the class? I had to write an essay on why bad things happen to good people. FIRST WEEK! that was enough for me. lol

 

[ChristsSoldier115]

Oh I am attending Liberty University, btw. The college isn't as conservative as I thought it was going to be. Walking around you can't tell the difference between it and another other college.

 

[High Fidelity]

I took like 3 theology classes for my AA in religion. luckily I am done with theology. the highest level of theology [for that AA] was such a brain buster I decided to change my major from religious theology- global studies focus to just global studies with a minor in welding.

First week of the class? I had to write an essay on why bad things happen to good people. FIRST WEEK! that was enough for me. lol

Yeah a lot of the material you need to read is really heavy reading, too.

Stuff like Van Til isn't really something you read a bit before bed. It's sat at your desk with a pad and paper kind of reading

 

[BadHabit]

This thread has been interesting to read through. I'm contemplating trying for a M.Div or Dr. Div. after I've gotten my PhD wrapped up. Just for the challenge. I'm doing a couple of online Bible study classes right now and they are proving to be challenging, which I like, but it give me pause whether or not I have the rigor required to see a Theology/Divinity degree through to completion.

 

[ChristsSoldier115]

Yeah a lot of the material you need to read is really heavy reading, too.

Stuff like Van Til isn't really something you read a bit before bed. It's sat at your desk with a pad and paper kind of reading

Yeah most theology books are the size of phone books...well I don't know if people remember phones books.. ok dictionaries... wait... er... hmm big thick books[?]

 

[Goodbook]

Well the prayer experiment was kinda mocking the type of thesis psychology/science majors write. Since I studied psychology as a minor, and it was all about the experiments and you had to get ethic committee approval and all that.

With theology I imagine you would just ask the Lord what He wants you to write and study, and if He wants you to explain some certain point of doctrine more fully like apollos did (or Luther) maybe He'll give you that approval. Weren't theses orginally stuck to the wittenberg door anyway? 95 of them?

 

[Goodbook]

I took like 3 theology classes for my AA in religion. luckily I am done with theology. the highest level of theology [for that AA] was such a brain buster I decided to change my major from religious theology- global studies focus to just global studies with a minor in welding.

First week of the class? I had to write an essay on why bad things happen to good people. FIRST WEEK! that was enough for me. lol

oh dear. Can you give a summary of what you concluded? Or Just the abstract.
Seems like the type of essay question they'd spring on a new christian as a test of faith. Surely the devil can't be in theology school testing these poor students already. I thought studying showed that you were approved!

 

[ChristsSoldier115]

oh dear. Can you give a summary of what you concluded? Or Just the abstract.
Seems like the type of essay question they'd spring on a new christian as a test of faith. Surely the devil can't be in theology school testing these poor students already. I thought studying showed that you were approved!

It was a 800 word way of saying "I don't really know. God is mysterious, and is always good. So maybe the bad isn't so bad as we perceive it to be, because we don't have the unlimited view of time and everything as God does."

 

[Greg J.]

If the first assignment in a class was to write an essay on why bad things happen to good people, presumably it was a relevant question for that class' content. However, since it is such a difficult question, asking it first can only have been an effort by the instructor to gauge where each student was in their studies (or hopefully, their walk with Christ). Even apart from the quality of the answer, how the student chose to answer would tell the instructor something about their past studies (not to mention their ability to think logically, be thorough, and write). All this seems good to me. What would be disturbing is if the essay counted much toward a student's final grade (unless a degree of understanding was a prerequisite for the class).

 

[ChristsSoldier115]

Theology is a lot like philosophy.. unless you're completely insane you cannot fail the class, because it it your perspective on something. If your theology isn't completely ridiculous and has some sound explanation as to why, you won't get a bad grade.

 

[Goodbook]

Could you just answer in one sentence or would that fail you...it HAD to be 800 words?

 

[Goodbook]

Theology is a lot like philosophy.. unless you're completely insane you cannot fail the class, because it it your perspective on something. If your theology isn't completely ridiculous and has some sound explanation as to why, you won't get a bad grade.

But philosophy WAS insane. I did philosophy and logic in my first year. It was all funny symbols and descartes i think therefore I am rot.

 

[Goodbook]

Im sure I didnt learn anything but how much I hated philosophy and fall asleep in class.
But then I was only 17 then. Im sure real philosophers were older and had beards and looked wise and sagely, but to spring that on 17 year olds who's brains hadnt fully developed...

 

[Paidiske]

I was good at theology but lousy at philosophy. Philosophy makes my head hurt.

Fortunately, while you have to do a bit of philosophy every now and then to make sense of theology (Aquinas, anyone?) I was able to get away with a minimum of it!

 

[Open Heart]

I spent a year at Westmont University, an Evangelical College, but couldn't continue there without going into debt. I was an English major there, but switched to Liberal Studies with a minor in English at CSU Long Beach so that I could get my teaching credential. I will always feel bad that I couldn't continue my Christian education. I had one very close friend who did graduate and went on to get her Masters in English elsewhere (thesis on the Lord of the Rings). She and I took early English literature together and wrote competitive essays on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. We also took early English History at the same time and kind of related the real life events to what was being written about in literature. It was at Westmont that I took my first Psychology course -- I am now an Alcohol and Drug Counselor at a Christian Rehab facility (my second career). I got a lot out of the Survey courses (OT and NT) and greatly valued the Christian environment.

Our prayer chapel:

 

[Unix]

Sincerely: Is there anything I can do to help You out a little bit right now, dysert? Sorry I didn't look at this particular discussion earlier than now, but first I was sick, and for example yesterday I had a very busy and tiresome day!:

It costs more than I want to spend. There are hundreds of NT promises. As I think I said, I've written up 60 pages' worth and I'm not even halfway through:

Does it cost a lot for you?:

I am most of the way through getting a Master's of Biblical Studies. In fact, I'm part-way through my thesis, which is the last thing to finish before getting my diploma. It's a good experience being "forced" to study and crunch through various topics. Sadly, I doubt I'll ever finish my thesis. I've run out of ambition and money. Fyi, my thesis is on all of the NT promises, categorizing them and commenting on them. I think I bit off more than I can chew, and here I am, 60 pages in, and I don't have what it takes to finish :-(. If I did finish it, I imagine it would come to around 200 pages.

 

[Goodbook]

I looked at scholarships for my local bible college but they are only for pasifika and maori people and i am neither :-(

 

[Paidiske]

This might be a bit left field, but I think there is a reasonably vibrant branch of the Student Christian Movement in New Zealand. They sometimes offer to pay for study trips and the like for Christian students. Might be worth seeing if there's a group near you?

Even if you don't do anything like that with them, they can be a good group to study and grow with; I went over to a conference near Karitane with them a couple of years ago and found it really enriching.