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Should Pastors Get a Ph.D. in Theology?

I think there are a number of positive reasons; let me mention a few.

First, the truth is that an M.Div. degree today does not provide as good an education as it once did. Many pastors graduate from seminary with little understanding of classical Christian theology and having read few, if any, of the major works of the history of theology. In our doctoral seminar this fall at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, students are reading classic authors like Augustine, Anselm, Thomas Aquinas, and Stephen Charnock, plus contemporaries such as Webster, Boersma, Sytsma, Muller, Feser, Duby, Weinandy, Dolezal, Ayres, and White. The focus here is on the doctrine of God as seen in the Great Tradition.The church needs shepherds who have a solid education, spiritual discernment, and wisdom. Click To Tweet

Second, there is a lot of false doctrine, confused doctrine, and shallow doctrine around today. The church has always been plagued with false teaching as we can see in the letters of Paul all the way to the present. We will never eliminate false teaching because Satan keeps stirring it up. The church needs shepherds who have a solid education, spiritual discernment, and wisdom. This is not a distraction from or alternative to the mission of the church. It is essential to maintaining the effectiveness of the church in evangelism and missions.

Third, the bigger your doctrine of God, the more you will exalt him in your preaching and the more God is exalted in preaching the deeper and richer the worship of your church will become. All of us are pilgrims on a journey and we will either deepen in our understanding of God’s being and attributes or we will stand still. The bigger your doctrine of God, the more you will exalt him in your preaching, and the more God is exalted in preaching the deeper and richer the worship of your church will become. Click To Tweet

There is a direct correlation between our growth in spiritual knowledge of God and our love for one another. Pastors need to forge ahead and be trailblazers for the rest of the congregation in this regard. Read, contemplate, discuss, describe in writing, and share what you have learned. Am I talking about your Ph.D. program or your local church ministry? I referring to both! One should blend into the other and each should enrich the other.

After 15 years as Theologian in Residence at Westney Heights Baptist Church, I can tell you that the mutual enrichment of theological reading and writing has enriched and been enriched by my ministry of teaching and preaching in the local church. I often say that I could never have written the book, Interpreting Scripture with the Great Tradition, had I not taught an introduction to the interpretation of the Bible to my men’s Bible study at that time.

Craig A. Carter

Craig A. Carter is the author of Interpreting Scripture with the Great Tradition: Recovering the Genius of Premodern Exegesis (Baker Academic, 2018) and Contemplating God with the Great Tradition: Recovering Trinitarian Classical Theism (Baker Academic, 2021). He is currently writing a third volume in the Great Tradition trilogy on the recovery of Nicene metaphysics. Other upcoming projects include an introduction to Theology in the Great Tradition and a theological commentary on Isaiah. He serves as Research Professor of Theology at Tyndale University in Toronto and as Theologian in Residence at Westney Heights Baptist Church. His personal website is craigcarter.ca and you can follow him on Twitter.

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