The Stranded Scholar

McMaster Journal of Theology and Ministry

noreply@blogger.com (Zack Skrip) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 23:20:00 +0000

I have recently come across the McMaster Journal of Theology and Ministry. With articles by authors like Stan Porter and Craig Noll, this journal has articles that are very worth reading. I have updated my Greek NT Resources post with some articles I found here.

Electronic Greek New Testament Resources

noreply@blogger.com (Zack Skrip) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 22:35:00 +0000

Not all pdfs are created equal, so I'll put an asterisk (*) next to those that work well on the kindle due to their size or layout.

Greek Texts

SBL Greek New Testament (Kindle) (Everything Else)
The SBL GNT is current eclectic text with an interested TC apparatus. It compares its reading with that of Wescott/Hort, NIV, RP (Byzantine), and Tregelles. If you want to know what the UBS4/NA27 reads just check the apparatus for NIV. When they UBS/NA disagrees with the NIV, SBLGNT will make a note referencing "NA."

UBS/NA, WH, Byz., etc.
This is tagged and parsed. Very nice.

German Bible Society
Has the BHS (Hebrew), UBS/NA, and the LXX (Ralfs) all online.

GNT, LXX, Apocrypha, and Early Church Writings (tagged and parsed)
It isn't the prettiest site in the world, but it sure has a lot of available resources. I have no idea which editions of the texts he's using, but the fact that he's tagged and parsed everything will make me overlook just about anything.

Greek Grammars

Basics of Biblical Greek Summary (Mounce)*
I've bookmarked all of the pages that have paradigms so I can quickly jump to the appropriate section and check my parsing. Mounce has provided us with a nice summary of his much-adored first-year grammar, but he left out participles... I mean, yeah, who would ever want a summary of everything they need to know about Greek participles?!

"Poor Man's Porter" - A summary of Stan Porter's Verbal Aspect of the Greek in the New Testament
NT scholar Rod Decker wrote this summary for his students. His site is well worth visiting.

Smyth's Greek Grammar for Colleges (Official 1920 edition)
Yes, official is in italics, because the book has paragraph markings, and this is the edition all of the other books will reference. You can find an OCR'd 1916 edition on archive.org, but the paragraph marks will be wrong.
*Update* I have recently read that 1920 is not the official version. Apparently there is a later version from the '50's that classifies as "official."

Grammar of the Greek New Testament in Light of Historical Research (A. T. Robertson)*
This is the third edition with altered pagination. Check out my previous post for a look at the editions.

Syntax of Moods and Tenses in New Testament Greek (Ernest De Witt Burton)*
I got the file from this site, but he didn't embed the Greek fonts into the pdf, so I did it for him.

A Grammar of Septuagint Greek (Conybeare) (PDF)* (Web Only)
I've read that this is more helpful for those who know Attic Greek, as that is what he compares LXX Greek to, but I figure a source has to be better than no source.

Parsing Helps

The many faces of λυω*
It's everyone's favorite verb in all of it's different conjugations. I have a hard copy of this folded up into my kindle case so I can review it when I'm translating.

Mounce's 8 Rules for Parsing a Verb

Funk's rules for Parsing a Verb

Textual Commentaries

Word Pictures of the New Testament by A. T. Robertson (Kindle File) (Web Only) (PDFs)
Note: only the Web Only link has the entire New Testament. The Kindle file and the pdfs cover 15 books of the NT.

The Expositor's Greek Testament (5 Vols)

Misselbrook's Greek NT Commentary
This site is a treasure-trove of information. Misselbrook is a Greek prof who has developed a 5yr plan to read through the entire GNT. In conjunction with that, he's written textual notes over each day's reading to help you get the most out of it. He has summarized many good commentaries and pointed out where the insight can be found in the grammar of the GNT. This is worth downloading.

Dr. Constable's Bible Study Notes (approx. 7k pages)
While not Greek-specific, and a little less technical, this is akin to Misselbrook's work, but it is over all 66 books of the Bible. He's a seminary prof who has made exegetical and expository notes for each book. The quality seems pretty high, although I haven't perused even a small sampling of the over 7,000 pages available.

Wieland Willker's Textual Commentary on the Greek Gospels (approx. 2,600 pages)
Different than our previous commentaries, this is a Textual Criticism commentary that "discusses the 1500 most important textual variants of the Gospels, plus about 500 minor ones..." This is incredible. The commentary is available in 4 pdfs.

Greek Syntax Notes by Lee Irons
This is like a poor-man's Max and Mary. Irons has gone through the entire GNT and marked out those syntactical elements that are likely to cause the beginner problems and explain them. Very handy.

Lexicons

Liddel-Scott-Jones 8th Edition
This is not the Great-Scott! edition (the 9th), but it is close. The pdf is almost 200mb, so this is best used on your computer.

Liddel-Scott-Jones 9th Edition (Web Only)
You can search this with Perseus. This is the best, most complete, classical-Koine Greek lexicon available. (Of course NT scholars would want BDAG instead, but if you are looking at any Classical Greek at all, this is the lexicon to have).

If you know of other important Greek resources, please let me know!

Other Greek NT Resources

Constance Campbell's Blogged Intro to Verbal Aspect Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Benjamin Baxter writes a very helpful two-part series on Word Studies in the McMaster Journal of Theology and Ministry: "The Meanings of Biblical Words," and "Hebrew and Greek Word-Study Fallacies"

Craig Noll writes "Biblical Meditation: A Forgotten Resource in Learning New Testament Greek?" His articles makes the case that it is beneficial both spiritually and pedagogically to memorize passages of the GNT.

Filología Neotestamentaria - Free Journal

noreply@blogger.com (Zack Skrip) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

I just found Filología Neotestamentaria the other day. It's a Spanish (English language) journal on New Testament textual studies. This is how they describe it:

[This] journal is the result of initiative taken at the Chair of Greek Philology of the Department of Antiquities of the University of Córdoba, Spain.Within its Scope lies every aspect of New Testament Greek philology, namely textual criticism, grammar, semantics, lexicography and eventually semiotics and its relationship with Classical or Hellenistic Greek. It is published in Córdoba (Spain) by EDICIONES EL ALMENDRO DE CÓRDOBA, SL once a year (September).

I'm not sure if this journal is still in production; the website only lists years 1994-2007, and I can't find any information on subscription.

The few issues I've looked at have been good, with scholarship by some of the "big names" in NT textual work.

Limited Time: "Journal of Biblical Counseling" Free!

noreply@blogger.com (Zack Skrip) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:10:00 +0000

CCEF is releasing the Journal of Biblical Counseling for free each quarter (?). Those articles will be available until the next issue is released and then they'll be available for a fee through the archive service. CCEF also announced that back issues and articles will be available online sometime this summer.

You might want to set a calendar reminder to ensure you check back each quarter and download the new articles.

Keep your Greek

noreply@blogger.com (Zack Skrip) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

I have recently been convicted that I have not been putting the time I need into studying as I should. I listened to the Pastor as Scholar and Scholar as Pastor lectures by Piper and Carson respectively. It showed me that my laziness was truly sin and I needed to work harder to do the work that I've been called to do.

So, I've resolved to get my Greek back up to snuff (or better than it was, but that'll take some time). As a decent study guide I'll use Campbell's method, which he later published as Keep Your Greek, but they started out as blog posts.

Here they are, in order.

Read Every Day (1)
Burn Your Interlinear (2)
Use Software Tools Wisely (3)
Make Vocabulary Your Friend (4)
Practice Your Parsing (5)
Read Fast (6)
Read Slow (7)
Get It Right the First Time (8)
Get Your Greek Back (9)

If you are a bit more advanced, check out his class notes from his Advanced Greek class at Moore College.

Advanced Greek Notes: 1, 2, 3, 4

If you want to bone up on your vocab, check out this NT Greek Vocab list. It gives all the words that are used 10x or more. It is set up by frequency, so if you just want to know words used 50x or more, then that's sectioned off for you as well.

Israel Antiquities Online

noreply@blogger.com (Zack Skrip) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:03:00 +0000

Thanks to BibleX for pointing this out, you can now view images from the Israel Antiquities Treasury online. This is a great way to "spice up" you bible study. I was amazed in college how helpful an understanding of archaeology and figurines was in interpreting scripture. It's not a night/day difference, but it really takes it from black'n'white to color.

A. T. Robertson's Grammar (3rd ed.)

noreply@blogger.com (Zack Skrip) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:56:00 +0000

For those of you hardcore Greek guys, A. T. Robertson's magisterial A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in Light of Historical Research is available on the three main bible programs and the third edition (greatly expanded) is available as a very nice pdf. If you want original pagination for citation purposes, you can use the 2nd edition from archive.org. The 4th, and final, version is what bibleworks has (and I assume the other programs as well). The difference between the 3rd and 4th is apparently quite small. Robertson says "The Fourth Edition is a reprint of the Third with the correction of a few errata that remained." (pg. xx)

If you are interested, read a few reviews off of amazon.com (the link to the fourth edition).

Oxyrhynchus Papyri Online

noreply@blogger.com (Zack Skrip) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:36:00 +0000

The Oxyrhynchus Papyri were discovered by the archaeologists Grenfell and Hunt in Egypt. "The manuscripts date from the 1st to the 6th century AD. They include thousands of Greek and Latin documents, letters and literary works."¹ Many NT and OT mss were discovered at this time. There were, at it's completion, about 85 volumes published, some of which are available online.

Roger Pearse has linked to the first 14 volumes, with the 15th volume also available. Images of the papyri for vols 41-68 are now online, and it also includes an index to vols 1-68 (this means there is a short description of each papyri--very useful).

Papyri.info is a searchable papyri database that is not limited to just the P.Oxy. group.

A list of OT and NT P.Oxy. documents.

A closing word from A. T. Robertson from his book The Minister and His Greek New Testament:

But enough has been said to show how rich the papyri are for the student of the Greek new Testament. The best linguistic commentary on the Greek New Testament is the papyri of the first century A.D. and the Septuagint. It is now possible for any eager student to have both these privileges without having to sell his coat to get them. (last paragraph of Chapter II)

Sell your coat, nothing! With all of this available online, you won't even have to put it on.

Textual Commentary of the GNT Gospels

noreply@blogger.com (Zack Skrip) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 15:59:00 +0000

Wieland Willker has produced an incredibly helpful textual commentary on the Gospels of the Greek New Testament. Each Gospel has it's own pdf where Willker walks the reader through all of the disparate evidence for the textual variant and then he suggests a preferred reading. The best part about a commentary is that you don't have to trust the author's reading: all of the evidence is there for you to come to your own conclusion.

It looks like he's already updated it for 2012, and the full commentary comes out to approximately 2,600 pages and 2,000 variants.

You can look at the textual apparatus on your NA²⁷ to give you a quick idea of what is going on, but for the important variants, I would check out Willker's commentary.

Going further down the textual criticism rabbit hole, you can review all of the different papyri evidence for the GNT and then, if you so choose, look at the actual papyri images.

Merold Westphal Lectures for free download

noreply@blogger.com (Zack Skrip) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:25:00 +0000

This appears to be a class on Philosophical Hermeneutics (PH517) at Fuller Seminary taught by none-other than Dr. Merold Westphal. Dr. Westphal is not someone with whom I agree, but he is someone I am lucky to get a chance to listen to and learn from. I would encourage you all to download these lectures, because I have no idea how long they'll be up. It appears a student recorded the lectures with his personal recorder and then put the syllabus and lectures up on his blog.

noreply@blogger.com (Zack Skrip) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 21:21:00 +0000

Just found this over at the AOmin blog. This is a paper presented to Presbyterian students over at Westminster Seminary on how reformed baptists can still hold covenant theology.

TREN Database

noreply@blogger.com (Zack Skrip) — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 00:30:00 +0000

TREN.com is the Theological Research Exchange Network, which, in practical terms, means it's a place for you to get (theological...duh) master's theses and doctoral dissertations. After you sign up, you'll even find some free resources. The interface is a bit clunky, but it works.

There are a couple of benefits of going to a place like TREN when you need to read that unpublished paper. 1) It's easier to deal with a website than it is to deal with the individual university library, 2) you might get lucky and find they have already scanned it, which means you can start reading it right away.

They are a bit more expensive than I would like, but hey, I'm not aware of any other options. To get a paper copy it's $0.15 per page, microfiche $3-5 per document, and pdf costs vary.

I'm not entirely sure what I would do with microfiche anymore...

For the City: Book Review

noreply@blogger.com (Zack Skrip) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 17:38:00 +0000

I am not a church planter. I am not an elder of a church. I believe this should be said at the outset, lest anyone give my opinion more credit than it deserves. However, I do have a teaching ministry at my church, and the joy and heartache of shepherding a small group of people. All of that to say: I was really excited to read this book and see how I could grow or change to further impact the people I am currently leading.

Darrin Patrick and Matt Carter wrote For the City which reads like an introduction to missional ecclesiology. They drive the point home over and over that they are calling for pastors and church planters to be a church that is for their city. They define this as being a church that

speaks the truth of the gospel and is not afraid to uphold a biblical worldview and moral standard. Such a church proclaims the truths of Scripture with passion, clarity, and boldness. At the same time, though, this is a church that commits itself to seeking the shalom, the flourishing of the city. This means seeking the shalom of the people they live in community with, living sacrificially and using their gifts, time, and money to seek the peace and prosperity of their neighbors. (26)

Their passion for the masses found in cities is understandable, laudable, and frankly should be on our hearts more and more, but to actually be in a city is not necessary to appropriate and grow from what they have written in this book (as they acknowledge, cf., 26). Anyone, in any church context can be challenged by what this.

These pastors are pleading for Christians to stop seeing their church as a “holy huddle” and instead to be entranced with the God-given mission of reaching the lost and seeing God's peace and grace overflow to those around them. We are called to do the same job that the prophets and the apostles did, call people to repent and live their lives under the rule of their king. If you are swept away by this vision, this will not be the only book you read. It was not meant to be. But if you believe there must be something more than a stale, inward focus for your church, then I think there are few places that would be as good as a place to start.

The chapter I appreciated most was written by Darrin Patrick on communities. As a small group leader, I know how easy it is to make the bible study the end-all and be-all of your small group event. But most leaders who develop small groups would say there is more to it than that. We all know that a small group is made to be an opportunity for people to practice the “one anothers” actually with one another. Patrick challenges us to see these groups as possible church plants that are radically oriented towards the radical proclamation of the gospel to a lost world. He argues that it is precisely when we stop focusing on ourselves and begin to focus on helping a lost and hurting world that we will actually begin to do the one anothers that we've been trying to do. It is only when we as Christians are brought to the “end” of ourselves that we begin relying on God and he most powerfully works through us.

The one thing I wish they would have spent more time on is how they see the role of partnerships with groups that do not believe the gospel. I'm not against that completely, but to see how the gospel is the one unifying factor in this whole book (as it should be) and to understand what it means to go from dead to alive in Christ, to know that everything else pales by comparison, how are we to understand partnering with groups that do not hold the gospel? The chapter on Equipping touches on this and other “sticky” spots as they seek the well-being of their cities. What is clear is that those partnerships were not taken lightly and without much thought, but I was still left unsure how I would make those same decisions.

This book will challenge you to question your interaction with your city and how you view the role of your church. You might not be left without questions, but you will certainly be blessed by how God has revealed his heart to bring people to himself as seen in these two churches.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review.

Reformation Day Media

noreply@blogger.com (Zack Skrip) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 13:25:00 +0000

This is a little inane, but why not?

You can enjoy the movie Luther this reformation with your friends. Just don't forget the Diet of Worms chip dip!

Monergism.com and Free eBooks

noreply@blogger.com (Zack Skrip) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 13:41:00 +0000

There are quite a few places I troll to find free (and good) resources. One of them is monergism.com, a great reformed site (and don't forget the bookstore). They have a bunch of amazing theology resources, including an extensive mp3 archive full of some incredible teaching. If you are going on a long car ride, I heartily suggest downloading a longer-than-necessary playlist and let the miles just fly by.

They also have a bunch of free ebooks in both .mobi and .epub formats. Authors range from Augustine to Van Til. Their bookstore has more ebooks, the most beneficial of which are the massive omnibus editions that compile everything you ought to know about ________. These can range from heady topics like Justification to more general things like Calvinism. Because there are typically about 8-12 full length books in each omnibus, they do charge a bit for them, but to have all of those resources together is worth a few bucks.

Keller on Preaching

noreply@blogger.com (Zack Skrip) — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 20:57:00 +0000

Here are the various distillations of Tim Keller's series on preaching called Preaching to the Heart.

Most familiar with Keller on this topic will think of the 6 part series he gave at Gordon-Conwell. GC only sells CD's, so if you are interested in listening to them, you'll have to wait for them to ship it (not to mention having to pay for it *gasp*). Luke Simmons, a church planter in the Phoenix area says they are so good they would be worth 10x the cost (currently $25). Another church planter, Pete Williamson, agrees that paying for them in a world of free messages is still worth it.

For those not willing to spend money, there is a shorter, two-message version available for free. If that littler series whets your appetite, then I've been told that all of these messages are based on the D.Min class, Preaching Christ in a Post-Modern World, that Keller taught with Edmund Clowney, over at Covenant. Here is the 189pg syllabus for the class

***Update***
It appears the syllabus is actually for a class Keller taught at RTS and not at Covenant. While I'm sure there will be much in over-lapping content, the syllabus may not match up with the lectures exactly..

***Update 2***
I found a source required by Keller on page 12 of the syllabus: Keller, Tim; "Preaching to the Secular Mind" The Journal of Biblical Counseling 14:1 (Fall 1995), 54-62.

Loeb Collection Online

noreply@blogger.com (Zack Skrip) — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 14:45:00 +0000

This isn't really breaking news, but then, I never said that was the purpose of this website.

The Loeb collection, being out of copyright, is now freely available for peering eyes to see. For those poor souls unfamiliar with Loeb, allow a short introduction: Any college worth it's salt will have the Loeb Classics Library. They are easily recognizable by their stoutness (half the length of a normal book) and their color—the color of the cover gives away the language inside. They are great for the student because they have the original language on the right page and the English translation on the left.While not especially helpful for word studies (for that, see Perseus, or Perseus for Logos), they are great for immersing yourself in the literature that was readily known in bible times. Check out this great, free resource.

Digital Dead Sea Scrolls Now Online

noreply@blogger.com (Zack Skrip) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 17:43:00 +0000

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Museum for making these important resources freely available. Also, my hat tip to Biblical Studies and Technological Tools for making me aware of it. The Great Isaiah Scroll, the War Scroll, the Temple Scroll, the Community Rule Scroll, and the Commentary on Habakkuk Scroll are currently available with more to come. Google has done some incredible coding to highlight versification when you are reviewing the scroll at its most 'zoomed-out-ness,' as well as an English translation of the MT to give you the gist of what is being said.

See the Scrolls!.

Octavius Winslow - A whole Library!

noreply@blogger.com (Zack Skrip) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 20:55:00 +0000

The complete works of the post-puritan Calvinistic Baptist Octavius Winslow are now available online and in epub and mobi format here. To learn a little bit more about Mr. Winslow read this. I give my thanks out to the former website for all the work they did to make these resources available.

Preaching Christ from the OT with D. Murray

noreply@blogger.com (Zack Skrip) — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 14:40:00 +0000

Just found this resource -- Preaching Christ from the OT -- the first 6 lectures from David Murray's class on the same. He is a professor at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. Here is a direct link to the audio in case the blog links go dead. His blog has lecture notes which seem to be rather useful.

Which books/lectures have you found useful in learning how to preach Christ from the OT?

Free(!) Certificate through Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary

noreply@blogger.com (Zack Skrip) — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 16:16:00 +0000

My darling wife connected with an old friend over the weekend and she found out that her husband is currently working on his PhD in homiletics with Haddon Robinson as his supervisor. I know. We all have our crosses to bear.

After the greenish tint left my skin she told us that GCTS has an online certificate program, and you can access the classes and get the cert. for free. Of all the certificate programs I've seen - other than SBTS's programs - this is the most extensive. There are ten different classes with study guides and exams that should offer the student a good foundation for further study. It is a shame that they only offer the classes through streaming real audio, unless you want to purchase the mp3 CD through the school bookstore. Some of us with our little mp3 players like to take classes on the go.

While I'm on this topic, I'd like to talk for a minute about why it is important for the teacher - lay or not - to continue to learn and study God's word.

First, it should continue to breed humility in the teacher. Some may think it produces the opposite, but I have found that I am far more dogmatic and arrogant the less I know about something, and the more I learn, the more I realize my knowledge on it is very limited in deed. Of course there will always be the exception, prideful people struggle with pride, but teachers who also have a teachable heart should be continually confronted with the limit of their knowledge.

Second, Bryan Chapell's lectures on preaching have taught me that when we teach the word of God, we are saying God's words after him, through our own personality. This means, that everything that we are, what we've done, seen, experienced, is the wrapper or packaging for re-spoken words of God. The vilest man on earth may give an exegetically sound exposition of scripture, but none of us are going to pay him any heed because his life is in incongruence with his message. But I would argue this "wrapper" goes beyond just character. If you, as a teacher, model a humble, teachable spirit that is always trying to grow, do you think your people will see that? Do you think that will come through in how and what you teach? As you continue to dig deep and learn more and more about the word of God, do you think that will add a vibrance to your teaching?

Now, I don't think we all need to study ourselves into a PhD. God has called some men to be Sunday School Teachers and no more. And they should be honored to have the opportunity to study and teach the word of God, Sunday after Sunday, week after week. But, aside from their job, their wives, their kids, and their preperation, they should consider scratching aside a little bit of time, even an hour a week, to push themselves just a little further. At an hour a week it would take a man a little less than two years to earn the certificate through GCTS. I think it's worth it. I think their church is worth it. I think the men and women in their classes are worth it. Do you?

Most Awesome Digital Library....Ever

noreply@blogger.com (Zack Skrip) — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 15:00:00 +0000

Puritan Library has the complete works of around 45 of your favorite puritans, all online, most in multiple formats (pdf, epub, mobi) all for free. They even have some of the more obscure works that are harder to find, like John Owen's commentary on the book of Hebrews (4 vols!!).

The Puritans have so much to offer us in their piety, theological acumen, and pastoral examples. These books, if read, will most definitely help you along your journey.

Charles Hodge and his Sytematic Theology

noreply@blogger.com (Zack Skrip) — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 15:44:00 +0000

Charles Hodge's Systematic Theology is available through archive.org as searchable pdfs. These scans are of a very high quality, it is the next thing to holding the original copy. (Remember, if you are using Zotero, you can link them to their bibliographic listing and then they will also be searched when you are looking for a resource.) He wrote his three-volume systematic theology in the 1870s and it is a supreme example of reformed theology.

Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3

Or, if you prefer to actually hold a book, check out CBD where you can get all three volumes in hardcover for a measly $24.99.

D.Min-ology

noreply@blogger.com (Zack Skrip) — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 14:44:00 +0000

No, I'm not going to delve into the theological underpinings of a Frank Peretti novel, I'm talking about the Doctor of Ministry degree.

The D.Min is a "professional" degree (over and against an "Academic" degree) where a student takes approximately 30hrs worth of advanced classes and then write a 100-200 page project paper. This degree allows for specialization in areas such as management and goal setting, preaching, church planting, or missiology.

David Wells sees this type of a degree as troubling, because it reveals, he argues, a desire to be seen as a "professional" amidst other (secular) professionals. One of the many sources Dr. Wells uses is the Hartford Study that seems to have looked at why a student desired to get the degree (n.b.: I didn't read the study, I read the synopsis by one of the authors). In that synopsis, Dr. Carroll explains some of the reasons the degree was so popular:

Certainly the initial success of the degree was partly due to the broader continuing-education movement that gained momentum in the early 1970s among the professions in general. Without doubt the success of the D.Min. also reflects the importance Americans attach to credentials. Some cynics believe, too, that the D.Min. has provided one way in which clergy can try to bolster their status and enhance their careers.

Other reasons cited later were increased pay and better self-esteem.

All that to say, I am certainly not disparaging the D.Min degree, in fact, I would probably complete such a program if given the chance. I love the chance to have outside assessment, and I think the D.Min allows pastors to continue to develop their mental acuity and be a continued blessing to their ministry. Of course, it could be taken for foolish or selfish reasons, but so could an associates degree.

If you'd like to continue to read more about this, see the Journal of Christian Ministry, which is online for free.

What do you think of the D.Min degree? Do you have one? Was it helpful? Would you consider getting one?

A Note from a Great SBC Pastor

noreply@blogger.com (Zack Skrip) — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 02:24:00 +0000

From: A Treatise on the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons by John A. Broadus. p.18

...But printing can never take the place of the living word. When a man who is apt in teaching, whose soul is on fire with the truth which he trusts has saved him an hopes will save others, speaks to his fellow-men, face to face, eye to eye, and electric sympathies flash to and fro between him and his hearers, till they lift each other up, higher and higher, into the intensest thought, and the most impassioned emotion -- higher and yet higher, till they are borne as on chariots of fire above the world, -- there is a power to move men, to influence character, life, destiny, such as no printed page can ever possess.

No, but he proves it sure can get close.