Seminary 2.

0
Bringing Biblical Education into the
21st Century
 Goals of Seminary 2.0

•
All of the rigor
None of the obstacles
•
Open to anyone
Accountable to the Church
 Current Obstacles to a
Seminary Education

•
Money
Time
•
Location
 Obstacle: Money

•
Seminary is extremely expensive
Usually more than $10,000 per
year
•
Debt burden for starting pastors
Makes seminary unavailable for
laity
 Obstacle: Time
•
Scheduling work and seminary is
nearly impossible
Those with unpredictable jobs (like
pastors, for instance) need
flexibility
•
Need to be able to start and stop
as your personal situation allows
 Obstacle: Location
•
Not every town has a seminary
Many people have to drive 3 hours
to get to seminary, for 6 hours of
driving time - 72 hours each
semester!
•
3rd world countries have very little
access to Biblical training at all
 Seminary 2.0 Removes
Obstacles
•
Free - content available for
everyone, personalized instruction
available with Church sponsorship
Internet-based - accessible from
anywhere
•
Go at your own pace - courses are
pre-recorded, assignments can be
done as time is available
 Seminary for Everyone
•
Which aspects of how to interpret the
Bible and care for the Church should
only be available to the pastor?
What are you hiding from the laity and
why?
•
Are laity really part of God’s holy
priesthood?
Seminary-level education for laity
should be encouraged, especially if we
remove the obstacles
Scholarship in the Church
•
Church cannot answer basic questions
from the culture - needs more than pat
answers
Church lacks understanding of attacks
against it both from within and without
•
Church members are vulnerable
because of lack of solid Biblical training
Church members have trouble caring for
each other because of lack of pastoral
training
 Accountability to the
•
Church
Current seminaries are largely
accountable to denominations, not
Churches
In the interest of Academic freedom
(which is good when in measure) the
importance of Biblical doctrine has been
lost
•
Many theology departments seek the
approval of secular academic bodies
more than the approval of God
Worse yet, more don’t see the
distinction
 Accountability to the
Church
Partial Solution: Make seminary
professors on the Church’s payroll
•
Full Solution: Raise up a generation of
scholars who seek God first
•
Potential Problem: Church may see
academic inquiry as a threat, and
become overly dogmatic and close-
minded
•
Potential Solution: Have more lay people
with seminary-level training!
Seminary 2.0 Requirements
•
Church must invest in scholarship
Church must foster an atmosphere
for questioning
•
Church must value cooperation
•
Church must value their laity as
contributors
•
Church must invest in their
libraries
 A Seminary 2.0
Classroom:
The Student
•
The Student
Works with a local scholar
Attends classes online, does self-review
•
Submits assignments to local scholar
•
Scholar gives feedback on assignments
•
Student reviews feedback, and studies
appropriately
 A Seminary 2.0
Classroom:
The Scholar
The Scholar
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Creates a video lectures (easy to do with
Keynote and similar programs)
Uses online tool to build self-reviews for
the lectures
•
As students take the class, reviews
assignments and provides feedback for
students
 A Seminary 2.0
Classroom:
Additional Scenarios
• Additional Scenarios
People with no connection to a
Church can watch the videos
freely and do the self-reviews
Churches can form networks to
share scholars with specialties
•
Scholars can use lesson material
developed by other scholars
 Seminary 2.0

•
All of the rigor
None of the obstacles
•
Open to anyone
Accountable to the Church