Are Christian seminaries necessary?

[Giver]

deyates, you tell us all your experiences in seminaries have been positive that is nice, but did you ever ask Jesus if what your professor taught was right or wrong?

What would happen to a student who after hearing a lecture justifying war and then being tested, disagreed with the professor and told the professor that Jesus said we were not to hurt anyone for any reason?

I will share a situation that happened to me. While listening to a Catholic priest lecturing on how fortunate we all were to be protected under the umbrella of the church, the Holy Spirit told me to get up and tell everyone that no matter who tells them anything about God, be it a bishop, priest or anyone, they were to ask Jesus if it was right or wrong. I was told to leave, and if I ever came back I was never to open my mouth there again.

What I am saying is when being taught by man, in most cases, the person being taught is required accept what they are being taught, at least if they want to pass the exam. Now if they disagree with the professor, and want to pass there is much pressure to answer the questions the way the professor wants. Which in effect makes the student become liar.

 

[Giver]

What happened to this thread where did it go?

 

[Fireinfolding]

LOL. No problem. Only God knows just how much I miss on a daily basis.

Well, luckily I've had good physicians. I'm not trying to garner sympathy or anything like that, but I suffer from a chronic headache that I've had non-stop for over 11 and a half years now. I rely on medical doctors.

Man, Sorry bout that dcyates, my sister suffers from them as well, since she was a child, she tried everything under the sun they gave her but nothing works for her. I do sympathize with you. I have my own condition (not painful though) and I chose not to refuse my treatment which will (most likely) shorten my life span. I'm perfectly fine by that.

BUT If I got a toothache I will not refuse novacaine, or in any pain I would definately not refuse a morphine coctail out the door (if I linger) thats for sure

But at the same time, if I undestand you correctly, I also know the benefits to be had from alternative therapies, too.

I was sorta spiritually speaking in regards to healing (not sure if you knew that) and see Him the same today and He was yesterday for sure He has proven true to me.

Yeah. Thankfully she had access to the Lord himself.

Friend, we still do, you know that

And thankfully for me, medical science has advanced considerably since the 1st-century--where in the situation of a chronic headache, they probably would have employed the practice of trepanning; that is, drilling holes in my head. Goodness knows I've been sorely tempted on occasion to do exactly that to myself.

Oh man, I cant imagine, I bet you have. Im so sorry about that dcyates. I mean, I know you werent trying for sympathies or anything here but I cant help but express my own to you in what you feel. Heck yeah Id be there too.

Pain causes one to seek out a doctor with a license for the administration to loose pain off you thats for sure.


God bless you

Peace

Fireinfolding

 

[dcyates]

Originally Posted by dcyates Well, wasn't your teacher sharing with you when I asked you what the biblical text in Hebrew meant?

Believe me if my teacher wanted me to know I would know. He must think it is unnecessary for me to have that knowledge.

C'mon, giver, you know as well as I do that if I had reproduced the entire Old Testament in its original Hebrew and the entire New Testament in its original Koine Greek, there is no way in a million years that the Holy Spirit would have miraculously given you the ability to translate it. That's simply not the pattern we see in Scripture. God always requires humans to do what they're capable of and it's only after that that he steps in.


For example, at the Cana wedding when Jesus turned water into wine, he could have simply produced it out of thin air and thus filled those six stone water-jars with a capacity of 20-30 gallons each (John 2.6). But no, instead he required the men there to fill them first with water--"fill them to the brim" as John has it. Those big pots would have been considerably heavy even by themselves. I haven't worked it all out, but I replace our home water-dispenser with a plastic 5 gallon bottle and it's pretty doggone heavy; I can only imagine how much a stone jar filled with 20-30 gallons of water would've weighed. It would have been a multi-man job filling and carrying those awkward beasts. Jesus didn't have to make them do it, but he did because as burdensome as it would been it was nevertheless something they were capable of doing. Jesus only took care of what they couldn't do.

Similarly, when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, he presumably could have done so and at the same time miraculously rolled away that heavy stone from the tomb's entrance himself (John 11.38). Again, those things were both large and awfully heavy. They were made to seal a tomb by being rolled in place in a groove. It was tough enough to get them in place to begin with, but to roll them back up the incline away from the entrance was tougher still. Yet, Jesus told them to "Take the stone away" (literally "lift"; v. 39) because in the whole process that was something they were capable of doing. Only after that did Jesus resurrect his friend.

Likewise, when it comes to learning how to translate and accurately interpret the Bible, God doesn't do it for us, because it's something we're capable of learning ourselves. While spiritual insight through reading Scripture can come in a flash--and I firmly believe such insight is often given via the ministry of the indwelling Spirit--it nonetheless comes only after hours and hours of study.

The Church started sending their leaders for formal training almost as soon as the Christian Church was legalized by Emperors Constantine and Licinius in AD 313. Our seminaries and divinity schools are derived from the universities, which were themselves derived from the cathedral schools, which were themselves derived from the bishops' schools, which were formed very early and especially sprouted after Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire during the reign of Emperor Theodosius (AD 381 - 395).

In my opinion most of what is wrong in the church today is because of Constantine, so yes what he started would also be wrong, in my opinion.

"MOST of what is wrong in the Church TODAY is because of Constantine"?!? Holy mackerel, giver, you must be holding people to a pretty tough--not to say, legalistic--standard! The poor guy has been dead for over 1700 years and you're holding him responsible for "most of what is wrong in the church today"?!? My goodness, what did he ever do to you?

What egregious crimes did he commit? Prior to his reign Christianity was an outlawed religion with its adherents suffering frequent pogroms of persecution, all of which he brought to an end with his signing of the Edict of Milan (AD 313), a.k.a. the Edict of Toleration. He called for and presided over the Council of Nicea in AD 325 with the express purpose of bringing unity and peace to the Christian Church. It was here that the doctrine of Christ's deity was made official and received imperial sanction, and where was drafted the original form of the Nicene Creed. As well, he and his mother embarked on an extensive building program throughout the Holy Land where they had travelled identifying significant sites in the life of Christ and then constructed scores of churches at those locations. In fact, it's largely due to this building campaign that we regard the Holy Land as the Holy Land.

So what did he do in your opinion where most of what's wrong in the church today is because of him?

On top of that, most of the early Church fathers and apologists were among the most educated men of their times.

Well, I believe that most of the first Apostles were not educated men, and I don’t think a person needs to go to a seminary to be educated.

Certainly one does not need to go to seminary in order to become wise. But that does not mean that it's not wise to go to seminary.

 

[Giver]

C'mon, giver, you know as well as I do that if I had reproduced the entire Old Testament in its original Hebrew and the entire New Testament in its original Koine Greek, there is no way in a million years that the Holy Spirit would have miraculously given you the ability to translate it. That's simply not the pattern we see in Scripture. God always requires humans to do what they're capable of and it's only after that that he steps in.
There have been times when I have just been given knowledge without any prior study. When Jesus wanted me to understand the Word of God he told me to get more into the written Word. When I wasn’t convinced enough of what I was reading he would come and sit next to me and explain.


For example, at the Cana wedding when Jesus turned water into wine, he could have simply produced it out of thin air and thus filled those six stone water-jars with a capacity of 20-30 gallons each (John 2.6). But no, instead he required the men there to fill them first with water--"fill them to the brim" as John has it. Those big pots would have been considerably heavy even by themselves. I haven't worked it all out, but I replace our home water-dispenser with a plastic 5 gallon bottle and it's pretty doggone heavy; I can only imagine how much a stone jar filled with 20-30 gallons of water would've weighed. It would have been a multi-man job filling and carrying those awkward beasts. Jesus didn't have to make them do it, but he did because as burdensome as it would been it was nevertheless something they were capable of doing. Jesus only took care of what they couldn't do.

Similarly, when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, he presumably could have done so and at the same time miraculously rolled away that heavy stone from the tomb's entrance himself (John 11.38). Again, those things were both large and awfully heavy. They were made to seal a tomb by being rolled in place in a groove. It was tough enough to get them in place to begin with, but to roll them back up the incline away from the entrance was tougher still. Yet, Jesus told them to "Take the stone away" (literally "lift"; v. 39) because in the whole process that was something they were capable of doing. Ony after that did Jesus resurrect his friend.

Likewise, when it comes to learning how to translate and accurately interpret the Bible, God doesn't do it for us, because it's something we're capable of learning ourselves. While spiritual insight through reading Scripture can come in a flash--and I firmly believe such insight is often given via the ministry of the indwelling Spirit--it nonetheless comes only after hours and hours of study.

"MOST of what is wrong in the Church TODAY is because of Constantine"?!? Holy mackerel, giver, you must be holding people to a pretty tough--not to say, legalistic--standard! The poor guy has been dead for over 1700 years and you're holding him responsible for "most of what is wrong in the church today"?!? My goodness, what did he ever do to you?

What egregious crimes did he commit? Prior to his reign Christianity was an outlawed religion with its adherents suffering frequent pogroms of persecution, all of which he brought to an end with his signing of the Edict of Milan (AD 313), a.k.a. the Edict of Toleration. He called for and presided over the Council of Nicea in AD 325 with the express purpose of bringing unity and peace to the Christian Church. It was here that the doctrine of Christ's deity was made official and received imperial sanction, and where was drafted the original form of the Nicene Creed. As well, he and his mother embarked on an extensive building program throughout the Holy Land where they had travelled identifying significant sites in the life of Christ and then constructed scores of churches at those locations. In fact, it's largely due to this building campaign that we regard the Holy Land as the Holy Land.

So what did he do in your opinion where most of what's wrong in the church today is because of him?
Constantine all but destroyed the Christian Church. Jesus told us not to offer the wicked man any resistance Constantine used Christians as soldiers. He brought Christians into the world and made them part of the world. The closer the church came to the world the farther it got from the Holy Spirit.

Certainly one does not need to go to siminary in order to become wise. But that does not mean that it's not wise to go to seminary.

Wise to go to a seminary I think not. When I accepted Jesus call to his ministry and after asking Jesus what seminary to attend he told me: “NO! Don’t read about me I will teach you about me.” Now thirty some years latter I will witness that he has personally taught me.

 

[dcyates]

There have been times when I have just been given knowledge without any prior study. When Jesus wanted me to understand the Word of God he told me to get more into the written Word. When I wasn’t convinced enough of what I was reading he would come and sit next to me and explain.
.............................................
Wise to go to a seminary I think not. When I accepted Jesus call to his ministry and after asking Jesus what seminary to attend he told me: “NO! Don’t read about me I will teach you about me.” Now thirty some years latter I will witness that he has personally taught me.

So if I don't know what a particular text of Scripture means, all I need to do is ask you, right?

 

[Thekla]

C'mon, giver, you know as well as I do that if I had reproduced the entire Old Testament in its original Hebrew and the entire New Testament in its original Koine Greek, there is no way in a million years that the Holy Spirit would have miraculously given you the ability to translate it. That's simply not the pattern we see in Scripture. God always requires humans to do what they're capable of and it's only after that that he steps in.


For example, at the Cana wedding when Jesus turned water into wine, he could have simply produced it out of thin air and thus filled those six stone water-jars with a capacity of 20-30 gallons each (John 2.6). But no, instead he required the men there to fill them first with water--"fill them to the brim" as John has it. Those big pots would have been considerably heavy even by themselves. I haven't worked it all out, but I replace our home water-dispenser with a plastic 5 gallon bottle and it's pretty doggone heavy; I can only imagine how much a stone jar filled with 20-30 gallons of water would've weighed. It would have been a multi-man job filling and carrying those awkward beasts. Jesus didn't have to make them do it, but he did because as burdensome as it would been it was nevertheless something they were capable of doing. Jesus only took care of what they couldn't do.

Similarly, when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, he presumably could have done so and at the same time miraculously rolled away that heavy stone from the tomb's entrance himself (John 11.38). Again, those things were both large and awfully heavy. They were made to seal a tomb by being rolled in place in a groove. It was tough enough to get them in place to begin with, but to roll them back up the incline away from the entrance was tougher still. Yet, Jesus told them to "Take the stone away" (literally "lift"; v. 39) because in the whole process that was something they were capable of doing. Ony after that did Jesus resurrect his friend.

thank-you dcyates !

I'm only reading this thread to stay awake (all-night laundry effort) -- but God is good -- I learned something !!!!!

Thanks again !!!

 

[Giver]

So if I don't know what a particular text of Scripture means, all I need to do is ask you, right?

Does that seem strange to you? If it does than that shows one of the dangers of being taught spiritual things by man. Jesus told us:” (John 10:27) “The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me.”

(John 14:26) “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you.”​

​

 

[Fireinfolding]

Does that seem strange to you? If it does than that shows one of the dangers of being taught spiritual things by man. Jesus told us:” (John 10:27) “The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me.”

(John 14:26) “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you.”​

I love this when I caught it in regards to the EAR (He that hath one) peirced TO the DOOR and the His sheep HEARING His voice


Our EAR ~peirced to~ THE DOOR (Him)


John 10:7 I AM ~the DOOR~ of ~the sheep~


Duet 15:20 Then thou ~shalt take ~an aul~, and thrust it ~through ~his EAR~ unto ~the DOOR~, and he shall be ~thy servant ~for ever~


Heres Jesus doing just that (away from the multitude)

Mark 7:33 ~he~ took him~aside~from ~the multitude~, and put ~his fingers~ into ~his EARS~


Mark 7:34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, ~Ephphatha~, that is, Be OPENED.


Isaiah 29:18 And ~in that day~ shall the deaf ~HEAR~ ~the words~ of ~the book~, ...


Mark 7:35 And ~straightway~ his EARS ~were~ OPENED


Job 34:16 If ~NOW~ thou hast ~understanding~, HEAR THIS: hearken to ~THE VOICE~ of ~my words~.

John 10:27 ~My sheep~ HEAR ~MY VOICE~, and I know them, and they ~follow ME~


Heb 10:7 Then said I, Lo, I COME (in the volume of the book it is written of ME,) to do thy will, O God.


Luke 24:45 Then OPENED ~HE~ their ~understanding~, that they might understand ~the scriptures~,


The Son of God ~is come~ to give us an understanding to know Him who is true

I love seeing these things hid of Him as it pertains to us hearing Him for ourselves.

Peace

Fireinfolding

 

[Giver]

I love this when I caught it in regards to the EAR (He that hath one) peirced TO the DOOR and the His sheep HEARING His voice


Our EAR ~peirced to~ THE DOOR (Him)


John 10:7 I AM ~the DOOR~ of ~the sheep~


Duet 15:20 Then thou ~shalt take ~an aul~, and thrust it ~through ~his EAR~ unto ~the DOOR~, and he shall be ~thy servant ~for ever~


Heres Jesus doing just that (away from the multitude)

Mark 7:33 ~he~ took him~aside~from ~the multitude~, and put ~his fingers~ into ~his EARS~


Mark 7:34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, ~Ephphatha~, that is, Be OPENED.


Isaiah 29:18 And ~in that day~ shall the deaf ~HEAR~ ~the words~ of ~the book~, ...


Mark 7:35 And ~straightway~ his EARS ~were~ OPENED


Job 34:16 If ~NOW~ thou hast ~understanding~, HEAR THIS: hearken to ~THE VOICE~ of ~my words~.

John 10:27 ~My sheep~ HEAR ~MY VOICE~, and I know them, and they ~follow ME~


Heb 10:7 Then said I, Lo, I COME (in the volume of the book it is written of ME,) to do thy will, O God.


Luke 24:45 Then OPENED ~HE~ their ~understanding~, that they might understand ~the scriptures~,


The Son of God ~is come~ to give us an understanding to know Him who is true

I love seeing these things hid of Him as it pertains to us hearing Him for ourselves.

Peace

Fireinfolding

Jerusalem Bible: (Galatians 1:11-12) “The fact is, brothers, and I want you to realize this, the Good News I preached is not a human message that I was given by men, it is something I learnt only through a revelation of Jesus Christ.”

King James Bible: (Galatians 1:12) “For I neither received it of men, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.”


Paul heard Jesus’ voice and saw him. What makes anyone think Jesus has stopped talking to his people?

 

[FirstBelieved]

.

Giver, whether you know it or not, what you believe you were taught by others. You read transcibed versions of the Scriptures which were transcribed down through the ages. You were taught your understanding of those because if not you would not understand the English language and, hence, the English translations of the Scriptures.

 

[Giver]

Giver, whether you know it or not, what you believe you were taught by others. You read transcibed versions of the Scriptures which were transcribed down through the ages. You were taught your understanding of those because if not you would not understand the English language and, hence, the English translations of the Scriptures.

Of course people taught me how to read and write and many other things, I do wish I had been a better student, when they were trying to teach me how to write. What I am trying to say is; we can only be taught to know God by God.


(1 Corinthians 2:10-16) “These are the very things that God has revealed to us through the Spirit, for the Spirit reaches the depts. Of everything, even the depths of God. After all, the depths of a man can only be known by his own spirit, not by any other man, and in the same way the depths of God can only be known by the Spirit of God. Now instead of the spirit of the world, we have received the Spirit that comes from God, to teach us to understand the gifts that he has given us. Therefore we teach, not in the way in which philosophy is taught, but in the way that the Spirit teaches us: we teach spiritual things spiritually. A spiritual man, on the other hand, is able to judge the value of everything and his own value in not to be judged by other men. As scripture says;’ Who can know the mind of the Lord, so who can teach him?’ But we are those who have the mind of Christ.”

 

[IgnatiusOfAntioch]

The reason that the Seminary system is necessary is because without it, it is nearly impossible for the individual to subdue the vices of arrogance, pride and self-sufficiency. Without this, the individual has too high an esteem of his own opinion and often confuses his own opinion with objective truth. Who has not found that, at some point in his life, he has convinced himself of something which later turned out to be untrue? There is no way to discern this on ones own, hence the seminary to help the individual learn how to bend his stiff neck.

God Bless.

 

[Giver]

The reason that the Seminary system is necessary is because without it, it is nearly impossible for the individual to subdue the vices of arrogance, pride and self-sufficiency. Without this, the individual has too high an esteem of his own opinion and often confuses his own opinion with objective truth. Who has not found that, at some point in his life, he has convinced himself of something which later turned out to be untrue? There is no way to discern this on ones own, hence the seminary to help the individual learn how to bend his stiff neck.

God Bless.

That is a sad commentary about a man or woman of God. Also what a beautiful excuse and club to give people, so they can force someone to believe just the way a leadership wants them to believe. Shut up you stiff necked people we are right no matter what God is tell you. If it is different from what we believe it has to be Satan. Wow! Now isn’t that some club? How dare some young man or woman stand up to that? Now tell me I’m wrong and the churches don’t do just what I have just described?

 

[Giver]

So if I don't know what a particular text of Scripture means, all I need to do is ask you, right?

I posted this previously, but it must have slipped by you, so I will ask you again.
You tell us all your experiences in seminaries have been positive that is nice, but did you ever ask Jesus if what your professor taught was right or wrong?

What would happen to a student who after hearing a lecture justifying war and then being tested, disagreed with the professor and told the professor that Jesus said we were not to hurt anyone for any reason?

I will share a situation that happened to me. While listening to a Catholic priest lecturing on how fortunate we all were to be protected under the umbrella of the church, the Holy Spirit told me to get up and tell everyone that no matter who tells them anything about God, be it a bishop, priest or anyone, they were to ask Jesus if it was right or wrong. I was told to leave, and if I ever came back I was never to open my mouth there again.

What I am saying is when being taught by man, in most cases, the person being taught is required accept what they are being taught, at least if they want to pass the exam. Now if they disagree with the professor, and want to pass there is much pressure to answer the questions the way the professor wants. Which in effect makes the student become liar.

 

[Fireinfolding]

Jerusalem Bible: (Galatians 1:11-12) “The fact is, brothers, and I want you to realize this, the Good News I preached is not a human message that I was given by men, it is something I learnt only through a revelation of Jesus Christ.”

King James Bible: (Galatians 1:12) “For I neither received it of men, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.”


Paul heard Jesus’ voice and saw him. What makes anyone think Jesus has stopped talking to his people?

My post was about hearing His voice... you understood to the contrary?

Peace

Fireinfolding

 

[sunlover1]

The reason that the Seminary system is necessary is because without it, it is nearly impossible for the individual to subdue the vices of arrogance, pride and self-sufficiency. Without this, the individual has too high an esteem of his own opinion and often confuses his own opinion with objective truth. Who has not found that, at some point in his life, he has convinced himself of something which later turned out to be untrue? There is no way to discern this on ones own, hence the seminary to help the individual learn how to bend his stiff neck.

God Bless.

Actually, while this can happen, the opposite is
probably much more common isn't it?
Men going into seminary for all the wrong
reasons.
My dad used to boast how his grandson
was going to grow up and be a priest.
NOT how his grandson loves the Lord, but
how he "know's" this or "know's" that from
church.

Yeah, I really think that what you say can
certainly happen, I believe pride can hit
anyone whether they've learned 'correctly'
or learned through studying on their own
with God as their captain, mostly on their
knees preferably.

But God is able to accomplish HIS plans
no matter which the men choose anyhow.

Education is awesome, for sure!

But to share the gospel,...
the heart is WAY more important.
Balance would be lovely as well.

just my opinion naturally,
sunlover

 

[IgnatiusOfAntioch]

The reason that the Seminary system is necessary is because without it, it is nearly impossible for the individual to subdue the vices of arrogance, pride and self-sufficiency. Without this, the individual has too high an esteem of his own opinion and often confuses his own opinion with objective truth. Who has not found that, at some point in his life, he has convinced himself of something which later turned out to be untrue? There is no way to discern this on ones own, hence the seminary to help the individual learn how to bend his stiff neck.

That is a sad commentary about a man or woman of God..

Sad indeed! What is even sadder is the fact that, due to the fallen state of human nature, people will not be able to see these failings in themselves and
stiffen their necks even more.

May the grace and peace of Christ be with you.

 

[dcyates]

So if I don't know what a particular text of Scripture means, all I need to do is ask you, right?

Does that seem strange to you?

What seems strange to me, giver, is that all I would need to do to understand a difficult text is to go to you, when there are texts that have perplexed Christians for centuries. As I've already noted, this is one of the problems with having Scripture so readily accessible to us in our own languages. First of all, scores of other people have already done all the heavy-lifting for us. First, these scholars had to collect and collate all the extant Hebrew and Greek manuscripts (mss). They then had to pore over them with the purpose of identifying and cross-referencing all the discrepancies between them (of the over 5,000 mss that we have testifying to the text of the New Testament, no two are exactly alike). They had to struggle--and I mean STRUGGLE--to identify the actual letters having been written down on usually faded and badly decomposed papyri or parchments. This step is made more difficult still by the fact that many Greek mss were not only written with almost no punctuation whatever but also without spaces in between the words. So not only did you not know for certain where one sentence ended and the next began but also at times where one word ended and the next began! On top of that, some mss were written in a format called 'boustrophedon', meaning that the text would be written alternating with one line reading from left-to-right and the next written right-to-left, and so on down the page. Additionally, certain copyists had their own system of abbreviations, where at times a certain key word would be symbolized by a single letter, or a word or name would be abbreviated with the its first and last letter. Only after all this was determined could anybody even think of translating the biblical text into another tongue. And even then translators would have to determine which word in the receptor language best characterizes the term in the original language. For instance, when the evangelists describe Jesus feeling compassion, there's isn't a Greek word meaning "compassion." Instead, in passages like Luke 7.13, it depicts Jesus having "splangchna," or "feeling in his bowels upon" the poor widow of Nain. I don't know about anyone else who may be reading this, but if I came across a text like this where one person "had feelings in his bowels upon" someone else, an image a bit more graphic than simply possessing compassion for that person would spring immediately to mind. The fact is, translation requires interpretation; it consists of a lot more than simply matching a word in one language with its alleged equivalent in another.

It becomes too easy for us to simply read the text and then think that, because it's come to us in such familiar terms, these people we've just read about in Scripture were very much like ourselves. They weren't. They lived over 2,000 years ago, half a world away and in a culture vastly different from our own.

If it does than that shows one of the dangers of being taught spiritual things by man. Jesus told us:” (John 10:27) “The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me.”

(John 14:26) “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you.”​

And interpreting a passage like this in the way you have shows the danger of relying solely on one's own knowledge, rather than at least occasionally availing oneself of the knowledge of others. Look at the context of this verse: the "you" Jesus is speaking to here to is not some generic "you" that can thus be applied to anybody and everybody. The "you" he is speaking to refers to his disciples. The Holy Spirit is going to remind "you (i.e., his disciples) of all I (i.e., Jesus) have said to you." What are those things? When did he say them? Look at the previous verse: "I have said these things to you while I am still with you" (v. 25). In other words, giver, unless you were there in ancient Palestine nearly 2,000 years ago tramping around the countryside as a disciple of Jesus, actually hearing with your own eardrums the actual words of Jesus spoken using his own vocal cords, this verse doesn't apply to you, or me, or anybody living today.
The purpose of the verse was to assure John's own readers that what he was writing to them about Jesus and his teachings were indeed accurate.​

 

[dcyates]

I posted this previously, but it must have slipped by you, so I will ask you again.
You tell us all your experiences in seminaries have been positive that is nice, but did you ever ask Jesus if what your professor taught was right or wrong?

All the time. In fact, it was something the profs insisted on and frequently incorporated in each class's opening prayers; that the Spirit may protect us, the students, from anything they, the instructors, said that may be wrong. And that we make sure to keep them honest and to be constantly questioning and challenging them.

What would happen to a student who after hearing a lecture justifying war and then being tested, disagreed with the professor and told the professor that Jesus said we were not to hurt anyone for any reason?

That student would be respectually asked to back up whatever it was that their position may be on any given issue.

I will share a situation that happened to me. While listening to a Catholic priest lecturing on how fortunate we all were to be protected under the umbrella of the church, the Holy Spirit told me to get up and tell everyone that no matter who tells them anything about God, be it a bishop, priest or anyone, they were to ask Jesus if it was right or wrong. I was told to leave, and if I ever came back I was never to open my mouth there again.

Well, giver, it may have had nothing to do with what you said but rather the means, manner, and timing by which you said it. If you were in a Catholic church or setting when you stood up and said this, then frankly, you were being terribly rude and I can't say as I blame them for responding to you the way they did. How would you have responded were the tables turned and you were worshiping in your church only to be interrupted by a Mormon, or Jehovah's Witness, or Muslim with them implicitly telling the members of your congregation that your church leader was leading you all astray?

What I am saying is when being taught by man, in most cases, the person being taught is required accept what they are being taught, at least if they want to pass the exam. Now if they disagree with the professor, and want to pass there is much pressure to answer the questions the way the professor wants. Which in effect makes the student become liar.

Which only further proves my earlier point--and sorry to put it this bluntly but--you're speaking out of ignorance. Never did I ever feel pressure from a prof that I needed to agree with or adopt any of their stances wholesale. I never for a second felt it necessary to answer any question in accord with the instructor in order to pass their course. The only requirement was that I do my best in showing them that I did the work and to argue well for any position I might have arrived at.

Just this past year I took a course on the book of Revelation. The instructor's own position regarding the date of composition for the book is late in the 1st-century, ca. AD 95. This was a date I held to as well, but during the course of my own research I beame more and more convinced of an earlier date, probably ca. AD 66-68, prior to the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple. I wrote a paper arguing for this earlier date and in grading it he added a note saying that though he found my arguments intriguing he was still ultimately unconvinced and then proceeded to give me one of the top marks in the class.