Sean Lucas of Covenant Seminary offers some wise words for seminarians (and collegians) who are contemplating doctoral studies. You can read his post here.
Hardly a week goes by that I do not have a student who is asking questions about whether or not it is in his best interests to pursue the PhD. Some of these students want to be professors who teach either church history or theology. Most of them want to be pastor-theologians like John Piper or Mark Dever, even if they do not agree with those men’s Calvinism. I typically offer the former advice similar to what Sean suggests in his post. For the latter group, I inform them that the PhD is not necessary to be a thoughtful pastor. I also remind them that both Piper and Dever earned their doctorates because of their initial desire to teach, and Mark at least has said on occasion that he’s not sure he would have pursued the PhD had he known he’d be a full-time pastor rather than a seminary professor.
[HT: Justin Taylor]
Tags: PhD, Sean Lucas, Seminary
