Does going to Seminary cause people to lose their faith?

Not David said:

Ivan Pavlov, who the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1904, grew up as the son of an Orthodox Priest and even went to Seminary, however, he became an atheist.

Pavlov's follower E.M. Kreps asked him whether he was religious. Kreps writes that Pavlov smiled and replied: "Listen, good fellow, in regard to [claims of] my religiosity, my belief in God, my church attendance, there is no truth in it; it is sheer fantasy. I was a seminarian, and like the majority of seminarians, I became an unbeliever, an atheist in my school years." Quoted in Windholz, George (1986). "Pavlov's Religious Orientation". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 25 (3): 320–27.

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While I am not in seminary, from what I’ve seen, that is not the the typical case. Also, no external entity can “make” you lose your faith.

Not David said:

Ivan Pavlov, who the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1904, grew up as the son of an Orthodox Priest and even went to Seminary, however, he became an atheist.

Pavlov's follower E.M. Kreps asked him whether he was religious. Kreps writes that Pavlov smiled and replied: "Listen, good fellow, in regard to [claims of] my religiosity, my belief in God, my church attendance, there is no truth in it; it is sheer fantasy. I was a seminarian, and like the majority of seminarians, I became an unbeliever, an atheist in my school years." Quoted in Windholz, George (1986). "Pavlov's Religious Orientation". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 25 (3): 320–27.

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Judas Iscariot had spiritual training, but turned out bad. Eleven others went on to succeed. I suppose the quality of admissions and faculty may influence the success rate of the students.

Not David said:

Ivan Pavlov, who the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1904, grew up as the son of an Orthodox Priest and even went to Seminary, however, he became an atheist.

Pavlov's follower E.M. Kreps asked him whether he was religious. Kreps writes that Pavlov smiled and replied: "Listen, good fellow, in regard to [claims of] my religiosity, my belief in God, my church attendance, there is no truth in it; it is sheer fantasy. I was a seminarian, and like the majority of seminarians, I became an unbeliever, an atheist in my school years." Quoted in Windholz, George (1986). "Pavlov's Religious Orientation". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 25 (3): 320–27.

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no, but it can reveal a lack of faith from the start.

Each has different experiences and which seminary you go to. For me, when my husband went to seminary, it turned out to be an incredibly difficult and faith-testing relationship. I went from a zealot in my faith to nearly losing it, grasping for God throughout. And turned out, it wasn't the route for my husband to go. A few of his fellow seminarians changed their masters of divinity to lesser degrees, veering away from the path toward the priesthood. But we had to go through that in our journey to get where we are today. We've regained our faith and grown. Each person is, of course, on a different path.

School in general can take the joy out of things. If I'm really interested in a subject, I've learned to avoid taking classes on that subject. It often turns it all into tests, assignments and following what the teacher thinks, leaving you little flexibility to study the parts that you like or creative thought. I once heard that the mark of a good teacher, was that if a student is excited about a subject, they are still excited when the class is over. Maybe putting something fundamentally spiritual into an academic light, saps some of the joy out of it.

Not David said:

Ivan Pavlov, who the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1904, grew up as the son of an Orthodox Priest and even went to Seminary, however, he became an atheist.

Pavlov's follower E.M. Kreps asked him whether he was religious. Kreps writes that Pavlov smiled and replied: "Listen, good fellow, in regard to [claims of] my religiosity, my belief in God, my church attendance, there is no truth in it; it is sheer fantasy. I was a seminarian, and like the majority of seminarians, I became an unbeliever, an atheist in my school years." Quoted in Windholz, George (1986). "Pavlov's Religious Orientation". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 25 (3): 320–27.

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If you're looking at the early 20th century, a good chunk of higher education was in seminaries, so if you look at people who had some amount of higher education, you'd see a good chunk of them had some seminary education. In the early 20th century, a lot of educated people were, for better or for worse, leaving the Church. Further, people were sent to seminaries whether or not they had any aptitude or desire for it. It got you a state-funded job, for better or for worse.

Many young people, either because they are developing, becoming men / women, having a crisis because their youth is soon to go away, whatever, go through phases where they question a lot of their own worldviews and previously held beliefs. Or they come face to face with a grim fact of reality that easily dismantles their belief system.

Often times that questioning leads to atheism or a disillusionment.

As seminaries usually attract young men in their 20s - 30s, they often experience this in Seminary.

Probably. Most seminarie act like academic institutions. Devoid of any mystical elements. Some seminaries are attached to monasteries those tend to be better.

Seminary often challenges what someone believes, and requires them to think about it in new ways. For some people, this can feel like a very distressing loss, as the way they used to think before can feel as if it is crumbling, and this is equated with a loss of faith. I remember people bursting into tears in class as they realised that the fairly simplistic ideas they had brought to seminary weren't going to stand up to academic rigour.

In my experience, most people get past that stage and are able to build a new, expanded set of ideas in which their faith can flourish. But there are some people - I would say a small minority - who don't manage to do that; and who either give up on their faith, or who leave the seminary with a lively faith but a decided anti-intellectualism. I do agree with Dorothea that if the seminary has a vibrant communal prayer life that can help.

buzuxi02 said:

Probably. Most seminarie act like academic institutions. Devoid of any mystical elements. Some seminaries are attached to monasteries those tend to be better.

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that was what attracted me to St Tikhon's (shameless plug).

ArmyMatt said:

no, but it can reveal a lack of faith from the start.

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It depends a lot on who the person was before they went in. Some leave thinking they are smarter, or worse more pious, than anyone there, especially the professors, and refuse to learn anything or accept discipline, and leave slightly better than where they started. But they do learn stuff. If it's their first time in an unusual and uncomfortable environment and they see things that make them think hypocrisy is happening it might shake their faith. Even the easier seminaries aren't that easy to live in, less so if you don't belong to that country or the predominant ethnic group.

Having read some stuff from these seminary professors it becomes apparent that what they do teach can be out of context. The academic professors are the worse looking to steer things away from what has always been passed down. Some get paid (not necessarily money) to endorse a specific view point. This is why you have Orthodox theological professors claiming you can venerate statues, endorse homosexual behaviors, promote any kind of dialogues with heretics. Theres one that endorses communism another literal reading of tollhouses etc.
Then when you go to the primary texts of the early Fathers to read it from the source and in context that's when you see it doesnt add up. You also have quotes passed on for decades without the professor himself verifying what is being said is accurate or even if it exists!

ShiFuBill said:

It depends a lot on who the person was before they went in. Some leave thinking they are smarter, or worse more pious, than anyone there, especially the professors, and refuse to learn anything or accept discipline, and leave slightly better than where they started. But they do learn stuff. If it's their first time in an unusual and uncomfortable environment and they see things that make them think hypocrisy is happening it might shake their faith. Even the easier seminaries aren't that easy to live in, less so if you don't belong to that country or the predominant ethnic group.

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yep.