Preparation for Ministry

People have different reasons for getting an education. (a) Education for knowledge is a German emphasis. The goal is accuracy and completeness in any field of study. If anything develops out of that knowledge, well and good; but the stress falls on knowledge for its own sake and the love for learning as such.

The Teaching Task

            Bible colleges adapt higher education in partial preparation for ministry. On the one hand, they obviously differ from “secular” institutions by presenting courses from a Christian perspective. Unlike seminaries, Bible colleges begin ministry preparation at the undergraduate level. They differ also from Christian liberal arts institutions by including mostly those courses that have the greatest transfer to ministry, by teaching them with a view to ministering, by reducing the emphasis on liberal arts as such, and by including practical courses. On the other hand, Bible colleges do not try to become simply vocational-technical schools. In both practical and conceptual aspects of the curriculum, a governing principle for Bible colleges is “education for use.”

            Graduating someone with a ministry degree does not necessarily increase the number of personnel in permanent ministry. Several factors contribute to significant attrition, especially during the early years of ministry.

Limitations of science

            Science has three major limitations. First, (1) science cannot deal with universals, or absolutes. It is subject to “the plague of particularity” because it is limited to the inductive approach. Science can form and test hypotheses, which are mental deductions from previous particulars; but these hypotheses are approximate, since they are based on limited previous experience. Since science cannot deal with the absolutes of universal space or eternal time, science cannot lead to an adequate understanding of “the big picture.” In short, science cannot produce a worldview. It deals more with particulars than with systematics.

   Biblical languages, texts, and topics naturally combine for study that undergirds personal growth and Christian ministry. Acquaintance with the original languages of scripture raises options not suggested by the English, eliminates possibilities English wording might allow, and gives access to additional study tools. Furthermore, a knowledge of Greek and Hebrew facilitates the evaluation of points made by other commentators on the biblical text, a great advantage to ministers, because we are constantly called upon to deal with doctrinal issues purportedly based on “the original.”

            People have different reasons for pursuing an education. (a) Education for knowledge has been considered a German emphasis. The goal consists of accuracy and completeness in any field of study. If anything develops out of that knowledge, well and good; but the stress falls on knowledge for its own sake and the love for learning as such.

            At the trial of Jesus, Pilate remarked, “What is truth?” Jesus had just explained that he came into the world to “bear witness to the truth.” Interestingly, the truth issue does occupy the central reason for the personal incarnation of God into the world of human persons. It establishes the agenda for the followers of Christ, for “education that is Christian,” and for ministry preparation through an education process. As goes the view of truth, so goes the nature of education and the process of preparing for that education of the world that is called evangelism.