What Is Taught in a Seminary?

[Bakin]

I know a guy who's in a seminary, and have had a couple of teachers who made it partway through Catholic seminaries.

What exactly is taught there? Ideally, I would think that wide range of things should be taught at a seminary, including science, philosophy, the history of religion, and comparative religion in addition to just scriptures and such.

But something tells me that at some seminaries all a person would do is study the Bible all day long. While I think that Catholic seminaries would be more likely than Protestant ones to be close to my ideal, I still suspect that they are lacking in at least some of those areas.

So what exactly is taught in a seminary?

 

[ParsonJefferson]

The simple answer is that what is taught in seminary depends entirely on the seminary.

That being said, seminaries offer advanced-degree education for people going into pastoral ministry and/or other related fields. Therefore, they're probably not going to have any of the typical under-grad course offerings.

 

[E.C.]

Depends on the seminary.

A Roman Catholic seminary would teach the history, beliefs, doctrines and so forth of Roman Catholicism.

An Orthodox seminary would probably teach the same thing, but about Orthodoxy. As well as all the quirks and need-to-knows that comes with being a priest.

As for Protestant seminaries, I have no clue.

 

[LamorakDesGalis]

So what exactly is taught in a seminary?

Broadly speaking, seminary involves 1) Bible, Theology and original language courses, and 2) educational or ministry-related courses. As others have said, it really depends on the area one is seeking. The purpose of seminaries is to prepare a person to enter positions within their respective clergy. Most seminaries are associated in some way to a denomination or group of denominations.

Typically the use of the term "seminary" these days refers to a graduate school. There are still a few other types of undergrad schools (i.e. preaching schools and Bible colleges) that have traditionally prepared one to enter the ministry without earning a graduate degree. Over the decades though, these have been giving way to the graduate seminaries and degrees. And unlike the preaching schools, the vast majority of graduate seminaries are accredited.

Like other professional graduate programs, one needs to have earned an undergraduate degree before entering seminary. One is expected to have a good broad-based education as is usual with most universities. Some seminaries require one to make up any deficiencies, although a Bible or Theology undergrad degree is not a requirement. I went into seminary with an undergrad in Computer Science. Also the seminary masters degree can serve as a basis for continuing on to a PhD.

The typical Protestant seminary program involves 3 years of study, and the degree is called an MDiv (Master of Divinity). The study involves formal courses in Bible, Theology, education, ministry-specific areas and some original languages (mostly Greek). I received a ThM (Master of Theology), which is similar to the MDiv but involves 4 years of study, with a little more emphasis on Bible, Greek and Hebrew. At least for my school, tracks are offered as well - which means one takes core courses in specific areas such as pastoral ministries, academic ministries, etc. Many seminaries also offer 1 or 2 year programs.


LDG

 

[emmzee]

It depends a lot on the seminary and the particular program they teach. Generally speaking though, assuming it's a Master of Divinity or Master of Theological Studies program (or a religious studies oriented Master of Arts in _______ program) you'll probably have required courses in:

- Biblical interpretation
- Systematic theology
- Church history
- New Testament
- Old Testament
- Leadership
- Spiritual formation
- Languages (Hebrew/Greek)

Unfortunately classes in apologetics and world religions are not usually required, and in some schools are not even offered. IMHO at least one class in these subjects should be mandatory, but you'd just have to use your electives for those courses.