Are Seminaries and Bible Colleges Biblical?

[Nebuchadnezzer]

I must respectfully disagree. Paul was Theologian and it is clear Jesus Hand-Picked HIM because of his understanding of the word of God as a card-carrying member of the Sanhedrin. Yes, he did count it all Dun for the sake of the Gospel but his Jewish tradition from the time of his bar mitzvah to the age of 24 Paul as most jews were in school.


The problem with the degree given in the Bible schools and seminaries in many receive them without conversion or personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

I know some Catholic theologians who will give many a run for their money yet they have no relationship with the Lord.

They have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof.
As many do they receive the certification, degree, etc... for self-gain like :

• to do weddings,
• work as chaplains in the military and civil,
• counseling,
• and starting a church.

They have no real desire to know Christ but have the knowledge of the things of God from the practical, philosophical methods. This helps them be accepted by the social graces of society (the world) and not have to stand for the truth of God's word on sin or perceived "fairy tales" by those of intellectual superiority.

However, this also helps those witnesses to the elites who would not give the common man the time of day.

God likes to work bottom-up.
80 yr old Moses the goat herder perhaps verses Pharoah, a god, and the most powerful man in the world at that time.

God likes to work bottom-up.

1 Corinthians 26-31
26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

-------------------------------------------

Seminaries work top-down.

President --> Dean --> Professor --> Student who becomes Pastor ---> you and me and most of us believers.

Pope --> Cardinal --> Bishop ---> Priest ---> Parishoner.

Top -Down

 

[Dino246]

"It seemed good" is a BIG difference than "it was good".

The requirements to abstain from blood was error - therefore it was not from the Holy Spirit.

Who are you to call that "error"?

Furthermore , we see in history what has followed from the Council of Jerusalem.

"While not regarded as an ecumenical council, the council of Jerusalem set the tone and became the model of all future Church councils. The bishops and leaders of the Church are called together, issues debated and a decision process established. Moreover, at the first and all councils thereafter, the divine guidance of the Holy Spirit permeates the proceedings and thus all pronouncements and canons issued are without error."
https://www.osvnews.com/2020/09/11/understanding-the-council-of-jerusalem/

That (bolded) is error.

The catholic church uses the Council of Jerusalem (which imparted error) as a model for their erroneous councils.

You haven't proven your premise, so your conclusion has no merit. The council at Jerusalem was the method God used to get the apostles on the same page regarding the gentiles and the Law. The Catholics were wise to use it as a model, even if they did other things horribly wrong.

 

[2ndTimothyGroup]

Wait just a second, there... you' can make generalized assertions that impinge on my character, but when I do the same, it's "guilting", "shaming" and "a horrific representation of Christianity"? Seriously?

If calling a spade a spade embarrasses you, I would have to wonder which Jesus you're following.

Okie Doke.

 

[Nebuchadnezzer]

Who are you to call that "error"?

Are you saying we are required to not eat blood? Blood sausage is a sin?

You haven't proven your premise, so your conclusion has no merit. The council at Jerusalem was the method God used to get the apostles on the same page regarding the gentiles and the Law. The Catholics were wise to use it as a model, even if they did other things horribly wrong.

Did the apostles get on the same page? No they did not. Paul and Barnabas split ultimately because of the matter. I believe Acts 15 and Galatians 2 are of the same matter.

 

[Dino246]

Are you saying we are required to not eat blood? Blood sausage is a sin?

Fallacy: red herring.

Did the apostles get on the same page? No they did not. Paul and Barnabas split ultimately because of the matter.

You're still wrong. Barnabas and Paul split over whether to bring along John Mark. See Acts 15:36-41.

 

[Nebuchadnezzer]

Fallacy: red herring.


You're still wrong. Barnabas and Paul split over whether to bring along John Mark. See Acts 15:36-41.

Might John, also called Mark, in Acts 15 be the John in Galatians 2? Sound that it could be.
Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch where Paul was
Cephas went to Antioch where Paul was...

You are so quick to call me wrong, so quick to call me ignorant and fool! Hmmmm.

Is the James in Galatians 2 the same James that said in Acts 15,
19 “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.

James said it is "my judgement". James did not say it was the Holy Spirit's judgement.

Galatians 2:6-14
6 As for those who were held in high esteem—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism—they added nothing to my message. 7 On the contrary, they recognized that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised,[a] just as Peter had been to the circumcised.[b] 8 For God, who was at work in Peter as an apostle to the circumcised, was also at work in me as an apostle to the Gentiles. 9 James, Cephas and John, those esteemed as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised. 10 All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along.

Paul Opposes Cephas
11 When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. 13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.

14 When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?

 

[crossnote]

Truth7t7 labeled me a "partial preterist".

Are you?

 

[Nebuchadnezzer]

Are you?

I do not categorize myself by man's invention

To me there is only one truth.

 

[2ndTimothyGroup]

You are so quick to call me wrong, so quick to call me ignorant and fool! Hmmmm.

I'd walk away.

 

[crossnote]

I do not categorize myself by man's invention

To me there is only one truth.

Whose truth? Yours?
You are playing games if you can't describe your end times view in brief.

 

[Dino246]

Might John, also called Mark, in Acts 15 be the John in Galatians 2? Sound that it could be.

No; John in Galatians 2 is John the disciple, brother of James (killed in Acts 12), not John Mark, who at the time was not reputed to be a pillar of the church.

You are so quick to call me wrong, so quick to call me ignorant and fool! Hmmmm.

I haven't called you a fool (not in this thread, anyway). I have implied that you are ignorant because you demonstrate ignorance when you speak about seminaries as though you have never attended one. I have called you wrong where you are wrong. If you are offended, the solution is not to whine about it, but to learn the facts. Maybe a season at a seminary would do you well.

Is the James in Galatians 2 the same James that said in Acts 15,

Yes, that is the same James.

19 “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.
James said it is "my judgement". James did not say it was the Holy Spirit's judgement.

James was an apostle of Jesus. He also wrote, "It seemed good to the Holy Spirit". You're saying James is wrong. You don't rightly interpret Scripture by playing one statement against another, but rather by harmonizing them. You might have learned that if you had actually attended a seminary. You're rather effective at disproving your own premise.

 

[crossnote]

You don't rightly interpret Scripture by playing one statement against another, but rather by harmonizing them. You might have learned that if you had actually attended a seminary. You're rather effective at disproving your own premise.

Even Sunday School should have sufficed. I'm beginning to wonder if he even goes to Church.

 

[Pilgrimshope]

A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, in academics, or in Christian ministry.

The English word is taken from the Latin seminarium, translated as seed-bed, an image taken from the Council of Trent document Cum adolescentium aetas which called for the first modern seminaries.

The Council of Trent (1545–1563) required the creation of diocesan seminaries with the canon Cum Adolescentium Aetas, adopted during the council's twenty-third session in 1563. ... Cardinal Pole's solution was to cure the carelessness of the clergy by erecting seminaries at every cathedral church.

Modern day Seminaries and Bible Colleges have their origin in the Council of Trent.

Where in scripture are the institutions of seminaries and bible colleges authorized or advocated for?

For reformers claim to follow sola scriptura but on seminaries and theology schools the reformers appear to follow the Council of Trent.

Here is one piece of scripture which speaks against any need for seminaries and bible colleges.

Jeremiah 34:31-34
The New Covenant
31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

There’s definitely no scriptural basis for seminaries in scripture I would say other than this one

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”
‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭4:3-4‬ ‭KJV‬‬

I would say the support for seminaries would be more toward this type of warning about what would happen to doctrine about 1400 years before what happened in your op there’s a lot more of this type of thing regarding the subject but I can think of nothing that would support a godly group of scholars it’s meant to be as God calls men to do he gives them what they need to do

 

[Lanolin]

A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, in academics, or in Christian ministry.

The English word is taken from the Latin seminarium, translated as seed-bed, an image taken from the Council of Trent document Cum adolescentium aetas which called for the first modern seminaries.

The Council of Trent (1545–1563) required the creation of diocesan seminaries with the canon Cum Adolescentium Aetas, adopted during the council's twenty-third session in 1563. ... Cardinal Pole's solution was to cure the carelessness of the clergy by erecting seminaries at every cathedral church.

Modern day Seminaries and Bible Colleges have their origin in the Council of Trent.

Where in scripture are the institutions of seminaries and bible colleges authorized or advocated for?

For reformers claim to follow sola scriptura but on seminaries and theology schools the reformers appear to follow the Council of Trent.

Here is one piece of scripture which speaks against any need for seminaries and bible colleges.

Jeremiah 34:31-34
The New Covenant
31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

ok I know they had synagogues in Jesus day...and Jesus preached or read in one.

Before he got chucked out. He cant have said 'know the Lord' because He WAS the Lord.

 

[Lanolin]

Ideally you should learn everything before you turn 12.

dont bother with college. Just learn the Bible in primary school while you are young.

Jesus was teaching at age 12.

 

[2ndTimothyGroup]

Ideally you should learn everything before you turn 12.

dont bother with college. Just learn the Bible in primary school while you are young.

Jesus was teaching at age 12.

If my youth pastor would have just taught the doctrine of Spiritual Circumcision, I could have understood the Bible at twelve instead of my fifties.

 

[oyster67]

I would say a fundamental difference would be a bible study between fellow believers would be they teach and edify each other. You have a two-directional teaching and learning or a multidirectional teaching and learning. We all contribute.

But this is almost impossible today because the seminaries have divided us on just about every issue there is in the bible. Look at how the Council of Jerusalem (and Galatians 2) divided Paul and Barnabas.

A seminary is a top-down teaching and learning institution. Information, knowledge, teaching flows essentially in one direction. Top-down.
Then those who were students at the bottom at the seminary now go to the top of a church and they also teach in the style that they learned: top-down. The pastor teaches his congregation. But do those in the congregation teach the pastor? Most likely not. the pastor most likely goes outside the congregation to get his materials from those who are of a higher stature than he is. Top-down.

Seminary is a top-down structure.
Catholism is a top-down structure.

I imagine that a properly functioning church should be able to acquire all its knowledge and wisdom from within its members. Built up on the power of the Holy spirit. Defying the normal top-down learning processes of the world.

I imagine a properly functioning church should be all of the above:
1) top-down,
2) bottom-up,
and
3) side to side teaching, learning, and edifying.

Perhaps someone will now insult me by calling me a communist advocating for a eutopia.

This is the way the Mennonite Church functions. Leaders taken from congregation and Bishop discusses right along with the rest of us in Sunday School. Lesser men would be intimidated. He is a good man. I just wish he was not saddled with all the extra baggage that comes along with Mennonite-ism. I'm glad he will be freed from it when we all get to Heaven.

 

[oyster67]

Truth7t7 labeled me a "partial preterist".

I have been labeled a "twisted pretzel".

 

[oyster67]

Whose truth? Yours?
You are playing games if you can't describe your end times view in brief.

I believe the Bible is very clear and straightforward on this. No Theological Seminarian-ism required.

 

[oyster67]

Maybe a season at a seminary would do you well.

Workable clay goes in, Blocks of denominational concrete come out.