Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Seminary

I had a thought in the shower this morning, which is where I have thoughts that seem to come by surprise. It occurred to me that in a healthy Christendom, seminaries would be unnecessary.

My line of reasoning went like this: Jesus, his apostles, and the leaders that succeeded them were not seminary trained, and that does not seem to have been a disadvantage. One might object and point out the fact that Jesus and others spent much time in the synagogue, but that seems more analogous to church or Sunday school to me than seminary. Our churches should be providing the training for our pastors and laypeople alike. Why is this not happening? Where did we get the idea that going to a special school for a few years was better training for leading Christians into a relationship with God than simply walking closely with God?