Andy Rowell | Church Leadership Conversations

Advice about Duke Th.D. and Ph.D programs in theology

Here are my answers to the Frequently Asked Questions I get about doing a doctorate in theology.  In this post, I address the difference between the Duke Th.D and. Ph.D. programs, discuss financial stipends, dissertations, the application process, job prospects, and some thoughts on the Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) degree offered at some theological schools.

I am doing my Th.D. at Duke and wrote this in my second year of the program.  I am happy to be corrected by emails to me or comments below.  I get lots of emails from people about the Th.D. program at Duke and so I thought I would just try to put this information in a blog post to be helpful.  This information should not be taken as absolutely correct but rather can serve as an introduction to the issues so that you can ask good questions to faculty and program directors who know what they are talking about.

What is the difference between the Duke Th.D. and Ph.D. program in theology?

• Read the official information on the respective websites: Doctor of Theology degree at Duke Divinity School and Graduate Program in Religion's website and Graduate Program in Religion at Duke University.  Update May 3, 2009: the FAQ for the Th.D. program has been updated and is excellent.
• I understand why people are confused about the Th.D. and Ph.D. at Duke.  The Th.D. program is only three years old.  Let’s start with the basics because it is easy to be confused.  The Th.D. is from Duke Divinity School--part of Duke University.  The Ph.D. is from the Graduate Program in Religion at Duke University.  Like Duke, Harvard University has a Ph.D. and Harvard Divinity School has a Th.D..  Compare the Duke Divinity School faculty with the Graduate Program in Religion faculty--there is some overlap.  Mark Goodacre, a professor in the Graduate Program in Religion, says the best way of saying this is: "The Graduate Program in Religion is made up of faculty from both the Department of Religion and the Divinity School."  At Duke University, you can take courses in any part of the university (with some limitations) so courses are not an issue.  Many courses are cross-listed as both Duke Divinity School courses and Religion courses.  I have not mentioned that the Graduate Program in Religion offices are located in the Divinity School building.  No wonder people have trouble understanding the difference.
• The first group of Th.D. students started in August 2006.  I started in August 2007.  They just sent out acceptance letters to the fourth class of students in February 2009 who will start in August 2009.  The Duke Ph.D. program had its first graduates in 1939.    
• They are very similar programs.  They have similar requirements (coursework, languages, preliminary exams, dissertation proposal, dissertation) though there are some procedural differences.  For example, the preliminary exams process has to do with “fields” in the Ph.D. program and “concentrations” in the Th.D. program.  The Ph.D. program entails 4 preliminary exams and the Th.D. program entails 3 preliminary exams.  You can take classes with the same professors.   
• The Th.D. and Ph.D. students take classes together and hang out with one another.  The discipline-specific colloquiums include both Th.D. and Ph.D. students.  For example, people interested in theology (Th.D. and Ph.D.) talk to each other a lot. 
• My understanding is that the best funding for the Th.D. is:  tuition covered with a $13,000 per year stipend for 4 years (but the packages vary).  Th.D. students purchase their own health insurance through Duke individually (age 26 to 34, the annual charge is $1,690/yr.) and if they wish for their spouse and children.  My understanding is that the Ph.D. program offers:  tuition covered with a $20,000 per year stipend for 5 years and individual health insurance for the individual student.  (Students with families may elect to pay an additional premium for family coverage just like the Th.D. students).  I know Th.D. and Ph.D. students whose children have health insurance through Medicaid.  Spouses tend to work and bring in some additional income and/or people take out student loans. 
• Note how similar the Ph.D. and Th.D. stipend numbers are to stipend statistics published in the Chronicle of Higher Education.  "For instance, biology departments reported an average research-assistant stipend of $18,200 for an appointment that typically lasts a full 12 months. Students in English, however, got an average teaching-assistant stipend of $13,387 for an academic year." From "Graduate Students' Pay and Benefits Vary Widely, Survey Shows" By AUDREY WILLIAMS JUNE in the Chronicle of Higher Education December 5, 2008.
• My understanding is that the Duke Th.D. program this year accepted 9 students out of 75 applicants.  The Th.D. website has a description of concentrations. You have a primary and secondary area of concentration; you do preliminary exams in both.  Here is a partial list of the "concentrations" of some of the people in the program in the first four classes—(the repetition is intentional).  Some listed below are combined primary and secondary concentrations; for others it is just a primary concentration--I don't know which.
• Bible and Christian practices
• Christian formation and creation care
• Evangelism and culture 
• Evangelism and ecclesiology 
• Homiletics
• Homiletics      
• Homiletics and reconciliation   
• Homiletics and reconciliation
• New Testament
• OT Theology & Ethics
• Theological Aesthetics
• Theology (Friendship)
• Theology and aesthetics
• Theology and Christian formation
• Theology and Pedagogy
• Theology, narrative, and community
• Theology, politics, and culture 
• Theology, politics, and culture 
• Wesleyan theology and practices
• Youth Ministry / Education

• My understanding is that Duke's Graduate Program in Religion Ph.D. program takes about one student per year for each of its 11 fields.

1.    Hebrew Bible/Old Testament
2.    New Testament
3.    Early Christianity
4.    European Christianity
5.    American Religion
6.    History of Judaism
7.    Islamic Studies
8.    Christian Theological Studies
9.    Religion and Modernity
10.  Asian Religions
11.  Religion and Modernity

• To be exact, in the last 2 years, they have made 9 offers each year. See Duke University Graduate School Admissions and Enrollment Statistics (PhD Religion Only).

• I am told that the Christian Theological Studies has 70 applicants for one spot.  New Testament has perhaps 50 applications for one spot.  But I am told that some of the fields may have only 3 applications for one spot.  In the eleven fields in the Graduate Program in Religion, they accepted 9 out of 207 applicants total in 2008-2009.

What kind of work/ministry do Th.D/Ph.D. students hope to do in the future?

• Like the Ph.D., the Th.D. prepares someone to serve as a professor at the college, seminary and graduate school level (both secular and Christian schools).  It is possible that people will end up working for churches, denominations, publishing houses, parachurch organizations, and missions organizations but the degree is not primarily about that.  It is hard to know how hard it will be to find a job.  If we posit that there will be similar opportunities for Th.D. students as there are for Ph.D. students, I would say the outlook is mixed.  Some Duke Ph.D. students have gotten jobs at great schools; some have gotten jobs at not-so-great schools; and some have had a hard time finding them.  See the DUKE UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL PH.D. PLACEMENT DATA FOR STUDENTS GRADUATED IN 2000-2007--Religion.  Are you interested in academia as a career?  Remember this is 4-7 years of full-time study—average 5.8.  (See Duke University Median Registered Time to Degree to Ph.D. for Students Entering in 1997-2002 (Years)—Religion).  
• For a sober view of the hiring scene, see the article Graduate School in the Humanities: Just Don't Go: It's hard to tell young people that universities view their idealism and energy as an exploitable resource.  By THOMAS H. BENTON in The Chronicle in Higher Education column AN ACADEMIC IN AMERICA, January 30, 2009.
• See the Graduate Program in Religion Alumni Directory. 
• Update: Note also Duke Ph.D student Maria's good comments below about her sense that people who want to teach at a non-Christian university or college are probably better off doing the Ph.D. and those interested in working in a Christian college, university or seminary are more likely to be in the Th.D. program.  I think she is generally right BUT there are lots of exceptions to that (which she acknowledges).  For example, there are many Ph.D. grads at Duke from the fields of Christian Theological Studies and New Testament that have ended up at Christian institutions: Christian Theological Studies (William T. Cavanaugh--University of St. Thomas, Telford Work--Westmont College, Jonathan Wilson--Carey Theological College, Glen Stassen,  John L. Thompson, Robert K. Johnston--Fuller Theological Seminary, John Jefferson Davis--Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, Beth Felker Jones--Wheaton College) and New Testament (Craig Keener--Palmer Theological Seminary, Marianne Meye Thompson, Love L. Sechrest, J. R. Daniel Kirk, Fuller Theological Seminary, Rollin Grams--Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, Leroy A. Huizenga--Wheaton College, James H. Charlesworth, C. Clifton Black,  J. Ross Wagner, Beverly Roberts Gaventa--Princeton Theological Seminary)   And I know a few of the Th.D. students hope to be in secular universities and colleges.  Again though I would agree with Maria in general that the Th.D. tends to lead you toward Christian settings whereas as the Ph.D. tends to be more diverse.  
• See also Regent College professor John Stackhouse’s post:Qualifications for Teaching at a Small Christian College November 22, 2008
• See also the sober post by Keith Drury, a professor at Indiana Wesleyan University, on what a college professor of religion actually does each week (80 hours for him) and how to break into college teaching. H/T Russ Veldman.

Do you have access to all the incredible faculty at the Duke Divinity School and Duke University?  Is that through coursework, or just as advisors?

• You take 12 courses in the Th.D (3 per semester for four semesters).  You can basically take the 12 courses with anyone you want.

Did your seminary work adequately prepare you for doctoral work? 

• Yes, seminary prepared me well and I bet your seminary prepared you fairly well.  But one needs to be passionate about the field they are interested in and to have read beyond seminary courses.  Reading needs to be a barely-in-control-passion in your life.  :-)  See the next question about the difficulty of getting in.    
• Reading Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, Wesley, Barth and MacIntrye will serve you well.  Schleiermacher, Kant, Yoder, Hauerwas, and Milbank wouldn't hurt too.  Besides reading their foundational works, I wonder if reading a biography about each of these theologians might be the best way to orient oneself to their theology and context. 
• You might want to read secondary sources that orient you to postliberalism which is what many at Duke have wrestled with—few would still label themselves that way—who likes labels?—but most operate from a position close to postliberalism at Duke Divinity School.  (For evangelicals, this is actually not that different from what you believe even though you may never have heard of it—see the works below). 

• The Nature of Confession 
• The Nature of Doctrine by George A. Lindbeck
• Beyond Liberalism and Fundamentalism by Nancey Murphy
• Introducing Radical Orthodoxy by James K. A. Smith

 
Do you have any advice for me on applying to the Th.D./Ph.D. program? 

To get into a first-tier program that provides a stipend, you must be special in some way and you must be adequate in most every area. 

• GPA (Duke Ph.D.Religion averages 3.6 undergraduate GPA)
• GRE (Duke Ph.D.Religion averages 729 Verbal and 739 Quantitative).  Th.D. FAQ #6: "There is no specific minimum score. Students admitted to the Th.D. through our first four years had a mean GRE verbal score of 690 and a mean GRE quantitative score of 655."  See my post How to Study for the GRE.
• Writing sample (See mine on Bonhoeffer here).
• Languages (See my post How to Learn to Read Theological German).
• Previous quality of schools you attended
• References: quality, connections, and impressiveness of people giving references and how highly they rave about you.
• Personal Statement (like a cover letter.  “This is why I want to study at your school . . .” ).
• Previous publications.
• Visit—personal impression you made of intellect and social skills.
• Inside connections
• Previous teaching experience at high school or college level and/or compelling ministry experience and/or international experience
• A compelling story and vision for publishing, teaching and ethics in the future
• Diversity
• Th.M. (from Yale, Princeton, Duke, Cambridge, Oxford, or another school might help).
• Masters degrees or doctoral degrees (MBA, M.D., J.D.) in other areas in addition to your 3 year—MDiv or 2 year—Masters of Theology would be a bonus. 
• Be in touch with the director of the Th.D./Ph.D. program at the schools of your interest (for example, Randy Maddox, the director of the Th.D. program at Duke) if you have questions.

I would visit on your own dime all the schools you want to go to.  Get familiar with the work of 4-5 professors who you like from the school.  Then visit and meet with the professors—one-on-one appointments for 15 minutes each all in one day; plus one with the Th.D./Ph.D. program director.   You want to be able to name why the school is the best possible place for you to study because your interests coincide with A, B, C and D professors and that they could uniquely prepare you in your areas of interest.  (See also Maria's comment below that she didn't visit and still got in to the Ph.D. program).  

I think it is pretty hard to get into a school without the inside knowledge of how to get in (whether that be an acquaintance who is there who gives you the scoop or a professor who wants you.)  I don't mean to paint it too scary but I did not get in anywhere in my first round of applications (0 for 5 the first year) and then got in at 3 out of the 5 places I applied the second year after talking to people.  (Details in the comments below).  Get your friends and others (at the school ideally) to help you with your statement and sample writing. 

Basically, you have a better chance of getting more scholarship money and a better chance at getting a job at "first-tier" schools.  (See Stackhouse and Gupta links below).  Duke professors seem to have strong relationships with Yale University, Emory University, Princeton Theological Seminary, University of Chicago, and Notre Dame so one hears a lot about these schools at Duke but it depends on the field what schools are first tier institutions.  A professor or author you respect can easily tell you their opinion of what schools to consider and you can weigh their opinion.   

See also:

• My post about my Th.D./Ph.D. application process.  I wrote it at the time I was applying to programs but I think the advice still stands. 
• Regent College professor (Ph.D. from University of Chicago) John Stackhouse’s Weblog post: Thinking about a Ph.D.?
• Durham (UK) Ph.D. student Nijay Gupta's post about New Testament Ph.D. programs applies to many other programs.

 

What's the big deal about dissertations?  What will your dissertation be about?

First a couple comments about dissertations. 

(a) It is difficult to finish one.  It is long solitary work on some piece of obscure scholarship.  Therefore people say things like, "A finished dissertation is a good dissertation." "Write for your advisor not the whole world."  "Unleash all your creativity and genius in your second book--not your dissertation."  "Limit its scope.  Write the __________ topic in the writing of __________ scholar."  "Let each of your 12 seminar papers be dissertation chapters if possible."  "Remember that everything one writes is in some sense unfinished."  I recommend How to Write a Lot by Paul J. Silvia for advice about churning out lots of written work--everyone should read it.

(b) You can get hired before your dissertation is completed and be ABD (All But Dissertation) but then you carry the heavy burden of trying to finish this obscure piece of scholarship while you are preparing lectures for introductory courses to undergraduates and grading their papers.  These are two very different ends of the academic spectrum and therefore one should try very hard to finish the dissertation before starting work as a professor.  For balancing teaching and writing, I highly recommend Advice for New Faculty Members by Robert Boice.

Note the similar advice of Steven Cahn from a review of his book  From Student to Scholar: A Candid Guide to Becoming a Professor (Columbia University Press, 2008).  JAMES M. LANG, "'From Student to Scholar': A senior professor writes a new guide for graduate students on pursuing a faculty career," February 3, 2009, Chronicle of Higher Education. 

In the conclusion to his first chapter, "Graduate School," Cahn asks, and answers, a question in a way that I think most graduate students need to hear: "What is the most important ingredient for success in graduate school? Many might answer 'brilliance.' I, however, would choose 'resiliency.'"  As he points out, most students who are admitted into graduate schools are capable of handling the work on an intellectual level. Many students who end their graduate careers prematurely do so because they have become discouraged by the endless series of tasks and obstacles that lie in the way of the degree — not because they have been unable to hack the academic work. Thus, when he sees students walk across the stage to receive their Ph.D.'s, he writes, "I'm not convinced that all the recipients possess remarkable intellectual talents. I am certain, though, that every one has demonstrated the power to persevere."  On the time needed to complete a dissertation, Cahn's advice is equally brisk and demanding: "Any time beyond two years is excessive. Indeed, I would expect the task to be completed in 12 to 18 months."  That advice might sound hard to graduate students in the midst of dissertation projects that seem to stretch out endlessly before them. But projects that run far beyond the normal time frame often do so because the students want to produce that perfect book, and so they bog themselves down in revisions — hoping to pre-empt their mentors — and turn in a near-finished product. In the end, as Cahn points out, "no one will ask you whether your dissertation was passed with major or minor revisions. All that matters is that you have fulfilled every requirement for the degree."

My dissertation is still being developed--that is more of a third year thing and I am in the second year--but my paper on John Howard Yoder on my blog is probably the best thing to see the direction I am interested in: leadership, ecclesiology, mission, church planting, evangelism—the church functioning at its best.  I’m interested in questions like: What is the theological basis of the church?  What are the dangers the church faces today theologically given an array of sociological data?  What should new and innovative churches focus on theologically?  What should established churches focus on?  I would love to tease out these themes in the form of a commentary on 1 Corinthians—but I think that is too ambitious.  I have put a list of Eight Important Theological Books to me on my blog.  Update May 3, 2009: I have given you the latest draft of my research topic at: My Th.D. program progress update    

Is the Th.D. a "practical theology" degree? 
No.  "Practical theology" does not have the best reputation everywhere because it has a reputation for being associated with liberal theology and liberation theology in particular—partly because it was Schleiermacher’s idea.  This is not altogether fair—see Practical Theology: An Introduction by Richard Osmer at Princeton Theological Seminary and The Shape of Practical Theology: Empowering Ministry With Theological Praxis by Ray Anderson at Fuller Theological Seminary—both people I like very much.  In evangelical settings, the term may not be related to any of these prior meanings; rather it just means "theological reflection on Christian ministry" or "practical ministry skills."

What do you personally want to do with your Th.D. degree when you finish? 
I want to teach church leadership at a seminary but I might pastor again.  We'll see what kind of offers I get and my wife's dreams—it is her turn next.

If the Th.D. is an academic degree, why is your blog written at a more popular level for church leaders rather than for academics?

First, I want to teach at a seminary and I was a pastor and so I am interested in church leadership issues.  Second, it is a way for me to keep a foot in the practical while I have a foot in the academy.  Third, I am doing my academic work precisely so that I can help others more wisely address ordinary church issues—this is a chance to keep testing that out.  Fourth, I realize that many of my blog entries are long and not easy for everyone to read and thus not as accessible as they could be!  Partly, I write long stuff because I assume some level of theological education.  But the other issue is that everything written on my blog could be written better!  My attitude toward the blog is to "write something—even imperfectly—because if I don't now, I may never return to addressing it and it is something I want to put out there because it might help someone." 

What do you think of the D.Min.? 

I like them.  Pastors usually do a Doctor of Ministry degree part-time while they are doing ministry.  It gives them a chance to reflect, read, and write in a disciplined way with insightful colleagues and advisors.  Yeah!  I think churches should encourage pastors to do the D.Min. work and pay a portion of each class they complete—perhaps 2/3 of the tuition.  It is good for pastors and churches to have reflective pastors. 

Pretty much everyone says that the D.Min. degrees vary in quality—some are easier than others.  Of course that is not unique to D.Min. programs—ask people about MBA programs or law schools and how they vary. 

Duke Divinity School does not offer a D.Min.  I hear people recommending those at Fuller Theological Seminary, Princeton Theological Seminary and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary--though there are many other excellent programs. 

The real issue people need to know about the D.Min. is that academic institutions like colleges, universities and seminaries will not see them as an academic doctorate—therefore someone with a D.Min. will not be considered to have a terminal degree—the highest academic qualifications for a position.  For example, a school looking for a preaching professor will put the Ph.D. and Th.D. resumes to the top of the pile whereas the D.Min. applications will be mixed in with the MDiv applications.  This does not mean that they will not end up hiring someone with a D.Min. but they will hire that person for their other credentials—they have written 10 books and pastored a church of 2,000 for 30 years—not because they have a D.Min..  Again, I love D.Min’s and I think people who do them should be compensated for their efforts and praised and encouraged.  But it is understandable that an institution will value a D.Min. differently from a Ph.D./Th.D. which was earned with 3-7 years of full-time study when a D.Min. was earned part-time over three years.  Again, 90% of the time the person with the D.Min. has better ministry skills and pastoral sensibilities than the Ph.D./Th.D. graduate!  But the Ph.D./Th.D. graduate has demonstrated a degree of academic perseverance that the D.Min. person has not (unless they have written a few books).      

What about doing a Ph.D. part-time?

I don't know the answer to this but I will give you some leads. 

See

• Fuller Theological Seminary - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Intercultural Studies (California)
  
• Durham University - PhD - Department of Theology and Religion (UK)
• Regent University - Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership (Virginia) 
• University of Birmingham - PhD - Theology and Religion (UK)
• University of Wales - Lampeter - PhD - Department of Theology and Religious Studies (UK)
• King's College London - PhD - Theology & Religious Studies (UK)
• London School of Theology - PhD - Doctor of Philosophy (UK)
• University of Manchester - PhD - Religions & Theology (UK)
• University of Exeter - PhD - Department of Theology (UK)
• University of Stirling - PhD - School of Languages, Cultures & Religions (UK)

For UK programs see page 92 of Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) 2008: December 2008 (PDF) (ranking 61): Theology, Divinity and Religious Studies.

Someone else wrote me:

London School of Theology has a strong reputation internationally, but isn't as well known here.  They have a relationship with Asbury.  Asbury also has a relationship with University of Manchester / Nazarene Theological Seminary.  The University of Wales - Lampeter has a relationship with Vancouver School of Theology.  All of these allow for part-time PhD studies with one trip overseas.  Of course Durham allows for two trips each year for part-timers . . . By the way Exeter in the UK allows for one trip over per year and usually four months residency over the course of the programme. Birmingham is the same, but "normally" the student is expected to reside in Birmingham for six months.  There might be some flexibility in the six months, but I'm not sure.  Exeter and Birmingham supposedly have reduced costs for split-site students.  So far, I don't think Durham has any reduction in costs, which is surprising - you get the same level of supervision (they say) but you are not using their research facilities.  I'm not sure, but I think the PhD's awarded by the London School of Theology are through Manchester or Brunel.  I would prefer Durham I think, but the costs are significant and there are not many financial aid options for part-timers. 

See also Russ Veldman exploring South African schools. 

For other related posts about the Th.D. program and seminaries, you can try my categories:

Th.D. / Ph.D.

Seminaries

See also my post:

Advice about moving to Durham, North Carolina

What to read the summer before you start seminary

Wess Daniels, a Ph.D. student at Fuller Theological Seminary, has posted a list of pre-seminary summer reading for a friend who is starting at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in the fall.  See his "A List for Pre-Seminary Summer Reading"  Wess is someone worth listening to.

I have listed Wess's top five selections below and then made a few comments on what else students entering seminary might consider reading during the summer.

• 

  James K. A. Smith: Who's Afraid of Postmodernism?: Taking Derrida, Lyotard, and Foucault to Church (The Church and Postmodern Culture)

• 

  John Howard Yoder: Body Politics: Five Practices of the Christian Community Before the Watching World

• 

  Mark A. Noll: The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind

• 

  Robert E. Webber: The Younger Evangelicals: Facing the Challenges of the New World

• 

  Veli-Matti Karkkainen: An Introduction to Ecclesiology: Ecumenical, Historical & Global Perspectives

Affirming Wess's Picks
Good picks.    I love all five of these authors.  All five are good respected scholars you could cite in a paper.  And all are evangelical, even Yoder in my opinion. "For some, the adjective 'evangelical' belongs to those who read the Bible with a special kind of respect; some of them consider me as fitting in that realm." John Howard Yoder: For the Nations: Essays Evangelical and Public p.6-7)

 

 

Biographies of theologians worth considering
I wonder if reading easy-to-read biographies of Augustine, Aquinas (by Chesterton perhaps), Luther, Calvin, Wesley, Barth, Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther King, Pope John Paul II, and Billy Graham might not be the best way to get used to theology in a user-friendly way.  It would help you to connect the "big ideas" with the situations and personalities that helped produce them.  I read John Stott and J.I. Packer biographies and found them enlightening for understanding the theological landscape of 20th century evangelical British scholarship. 

A biblical studies book worth considering
I would also add a Bible book worth working through:

• 

  Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart: How to Read the Bible Book by Book: A Guided Tour

Fee taught at Gordon-Conwell and Stuart still does so. That is a bonus for understanding Gordon-Conwell. 

Easy to read books worth considering
If we are placing the emphasis on the summer part of pre-seminary summer reading, I would recommend some beach books that will inspire you for seminary but may not be sufficiently academic to cite in academic writing.   

For thinking about pastoring,

• 

  David Hansen: The Art of Pastoring: Ministry Without All the Answers

was helpful for me.  Easy to read. 

Or read something current to remind you what all of this is about:

• 2008

  Tony Jones: The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier

• 2007

  David Kinnaman: unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity... and Why It Matters

• 2003

  Donald Miller: Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality

A novel worth considering
Or read one big book:

• 

  Fyodor Dostoevsky, Richard Pevear (Translator), Larissa Volokhonsky (Translator): The Brothers Karamazov

I love all the parts at the beginning of the book about Father Zosima. 

Pick what looks good
Or, read whatever you want!  You will have to read what the professors want you to read after you arrive.  Part of your vocation, you calling, are the books that you pick off the shelf and read.  Notice what you find yourself choosing.  That may be part of where God is directing you.

Other resources:
For more about seminaries, see my March 12, 2006 post Seminaries for Evangelicals

Willow Creek's Discipleship Problem: How to Fix the Seeker-driven Church

Update, December 10, 2007

As I suspected, the interpretation and methodology of the Reveal study are deeply flawed.  I like Willow Creek's ministry model but they have really bungled this survey. 

See the Review of Reveal by Bradley Wright, a sociologist at the University of Connecticut. 

Here’s a selection from Wright’s conclusions:

The conclusion draw by the study’s authors, and loudly echoed by critics of Willow Creek, is that the Willow model is flawed. The data presented here are sufficiently ambiguous to make such strong claims. Given the weaknesses of the study design and analytic strategy, it’s possible that the results indicate strong support for the Willow Creek model . . . Simply repeating the Reveal study with hundreds more churches potentially adds very little knowledge.

Though Willow does not need to repent for its ministry strategy (though we could all repent for our ministry strategies to some extent - whose is perfect?), those who published this sociologically unsophisticated research probably need to apologize to seeker-sensitive church proponents everywhere. It is hard to say if Willow’s reputation will ever recover from the tidal wave of publicity saying that the Reveal quantitative data discredits Willow’s approach.

Still, all is not lost. The idea of doing quantitative research is a good one. But next time Reveal needs to do it right. Those who are part of Reveal need to do a serious crash course in American religious sociology: Christian Smith, Mark Chaves, Robert Wuthnow, Scott Thumma, and Nancy Ammerman.

For an example of a more a more sociologically sophisticated study see the U.S. Congregations Study which surveyed 300,000 congregations in 2001.

U.S. Congregations Survey

U.S. Congregational Life Survey, 2001, Random Attenders

Or see the:

National Congregations Study

See also the excellent summary of different recent postings about this at Leadership Networks Leanings blog "Reveal Squeal gets louder on the web" by DJ Chuang.

Original Post October 19, 2007

Though Willow Creek continues to reach "people far from God" they admit that they are not doing as good a job at helping those people become "fully devoted followers of Jesus" as they thought they were.  Of course a lot of critics are saying "We told you so" but it is good Bill Hybels and friends are broadcasting their "mistake." (Leadership's Out of Ur blog post "Willow Creek Repents?" brought this to my attention.  There are 120 comments there now on that post).  They also have an updated post with a response from Willow Creek: Willow Creek Repents? (Part 2): Greg Hawkins responds with the truth about REVEAL.  They are not giving up their seeker approach.

Below I have summarize what Willow Creek has realized in the last few years in five quick statements.  Then I have described Willow Creek for those who are unfamiliar with it.  Finally, I have tried to put in perspective their five realizations. 

"Willow Creek's Five Realizations."
1. They want to be good stewards.  They want to use the financial resources they are given in the offering plate wisely. 
2. Research helps. They did a survey. 
3. They are still effective with seekers. They find that people who are exploring Christianity or are new Christians still rate what Wilow is offering very highly. 
4.  Consumer discipleship is not working.  There are many people who are highly involved in activities (i.e. consuming the religious goods they are offering) but are not growing in Christ that much. 
5.  Many mature Christians are unsatisfied with the church. There are a number of people who are strong Christians but are dissatisfied with their church.  But, Willow has concluded, the issue is not just offering people more meaty options, rather people need to learn to feed themselves.

All of this is available on their new website (August 2007) "Reveal."  You can hear executive pastor Greg Hawkins and founding pastor Bill Hybels describe the findings in their own words in 13 minute video presentations.  (I had to use Internet Explorer rather than Firefox to make them work).   Or you can buy the book which is only available from Willow Creek Resources.  (Why not have Amazon distribute it too?)

Who is Willow Creek?
If you don't know who Willow Creek Community Church is, it is the "second most influential church in the nation" according to a survey commissioned by Leadership Network. 

Still, many mainline church leaders (Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran) have never heard of Willow Creek, which is something I have become increasingly sensitive to.  Those people have other churches they admire.  They wouldn't admire Willow even if they knew about it because they place much more value on continuity with the the great tradition of Christianity as passed down through church history and denominations. 

Anyway, Willow Creek Community Church (i.e "Willow") is led by Bill Hybels who founded it 30 years ago in South Barrington, IL which is about 45 minutes from Chicago in the suburbs.  It is a non-denominational church with weekly attendance of about 23,500 according to Hartford Seminary's database of megachurches.  It was designed specifically for "seekers" or what they now call "people far from God."  As the story goes Hybels, walked around the area going to door to door asking people why they didn't go to church and they reported things like "they are always asking us for money," "boring," "irrelevant," "nothing for the kids." So Hybels and friends started a church in a movie theater that had upbeat music, relevant sermons, and no offering plates.  As the church grew exponentially, they formed a consulting branch in 1992 called Willow Creek Association which sells resources to churches like bible study materials, sermon tapes, etc. and also holds conferences.  Churches can become a member of the Willow Creek Association but all this really means is that the pastor subscribes to their resources for about $249 a year. 

Perspective and Context on Willow Creek's Five Realizations.

1. They want to be good stewards. My comment: Amen.  May they continue to wrestle with the problem.  When you see Willow Creek's facility, you are either envious or disgusted.  There is a 7400 seat auditorium complete with state of the art lights and audio.  The building includes a bookstore, coffee shop, and expansive facilities for children.  Most people say, "It feels like a mall."  These facilities were intended to make Willow a comfortable place for people who were turned off to church and needed to hear about Jesus in a place that was more familiar than a gothic cathedral.  I think this makes sense given their philosophy of ministry.  Still, it is very good to hear them saying, "We want to welcome people well but we don't want to spend a penny more than we have to.  Are we spending God's resources appropriately?  Are there other ways that God might be calling the wealthy North American church to use its resources?"  Additional note: Willow Creek has never had a major financial scandal and their books, salaries, etc. are public.

2. Research helps. My comment: Make sure this research is done well.  Randy Frazee, author of The Connecting Church, has been a pastor at Willow for a few years now.  He is one of the preeminent people in the evangelical world insisting that we need to measure and assess the development of people's discipleship.  As pastor of Pantego Bible Church in Texas, he came to see the need for assessing whether small groups actually help people become better disciples.  He even made up a tool to measure discipleship called The Christian Life Profile. 

I was glad to see Willow hire Randy because I knew he would encourage them to evaluate how they are doing beyond the kneejerk way it is often done, i.e. the ABC's (Attendence, Buildings and Cash) or the three B's (Bodies, Buildings and Bucks). 

I would simply urge them to continue to get good advice about how to do sociological research well.  There are many people out there doing research on the American church and for this I'm thrilled.  Here are some that I'm familiar with: Barna Group, Gallup Poll, Baylor Surveys of Religion, Natural Church Development, Pulpit & Pew: The Duke Center for Excellence in Ministry, National Study of Youth & Religion, the Louisville Institute, Hartford Institute for Religious Research, the new book After the Baby Boomers: How Twenty- and Thirty-Somethings Are Shaping the Future of American Religion
by Robert Wuthnow (chair of the sociology department at Princeton University), Church Innovations, the Alban Institute.  But the devil is in the details.  Numbers can be manipulated to say most anything.  We, as church leaders, have got to pay more attention to appropriate use of statistics.  I am not saying we need to use statistics less.  Actually, I think we need to do so more but we need to deal with those statistics and studies in a better way.  We need people who know statistics and who understand sociological research so that our numbers mean something.  (Are there any sociology majors and professors at Christian colleges out there listening to this?)  We need people who can sort through all of these statistics in such a way that it makes sense and in a way that is meaningful for congregations.  It drives me crazy when I hear stats like, "You know you need to add another service when 80% of seating is filled up" and "You know children who sit in the worship service with their parents continue to attend church after they have left home better than those who just go to youth group."  Sure, these have a glimmer of truth but they are more conventional wisdom (i.e urban legend) than solid analysis.  People build entire ministries on statistics like this.  For more outrage at evangelical misuse of statistics, see Christian Smith's "Evangelicals Behaving Badly with Statistics: Mistakes were made" from Books & Culture February 2007 and "What Scandal? Whose Conscience? Some reflections on Ronald Sider's Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience." by John G. Stackhouse, Jr. from Books & Culture August 2007 .   

3.  They are still effective with seekers. My comment: Willow Creek's gift to the wider church has been its passion to see unchurched people become followers of Jesus. Willow Creek, along with Andy Stanley's North Point Community Church, is still one of the best examples of an effective seeker model.  They see many people who were not Christians become Christians.  In this way, they are a model of contextualizing the gospel so that nonChristians can learn about it and begin to follow Jesus.  Though there are other ways of doing evangelism by the church, the seeker model is still one to be reckoned with because most the other approaches are so ineffective.  (Are lots of adults becoming Christians at the churches you know?) 

One of the principle problems with the seeker approach is that they replace Sunday worship with Sunday evangelism services.  Willow though still does have a worship service on Wednesday nights called "New Community."  Though some would see Sunday seeker services as a tragic terrible flaw, I think it is a valid move because of the lack of evangelism happening through other methods and because I place less value on the traditional-handed-down-for-centuries liturgy. 

Other resources on this topic: I recently wrote a reflection on this: Download The Seeker Model Paper.doc.  See Andy Stanley's Seven Practices of Effective Ministry for the most persuasive compelling case for the seeker-driven approach.  See my category Andy Stanley for more that I've written about him.  For a critique of the seeker approach, see The Great Giveaway: Reclaiming the Mission of the Church from Big Business, Parachurch Organizations, Psychotherapy, Consumer Capitalism, and Other Modern Maladies by David E. Fitch. 

Many mainline denomination (Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Lutheran) people who have a heart for evangelism put forward the Alpha course as the best evangelism program going right now.  It, like the seeker approach, allows people to learn about Jesus in a non-threatening way, with informational talks about the basics of Christianity by the winsome Nicky Gumbel, a meal, non-directed conversation in a non-churchy atmosphere.  The Alpha course comes from Holy Trinity Brompton in London, England.  They do this on a Tuesday night and then have regular worship services on Sundays.  Thus, you keep the tradition on Sundays but have effective evangelism program during the week.  For many people, this is the ideal approach. 

Interestingly though there are some mainline people who want to imitate seeker driven approaches (e.g. United Methodist Bill Easum and  Episcopalian Tom Ehrich).   

  4.  Consumer discipleship is not working.  My comment: Programs have limited usefulness.  It sounds good to put a system in place as Rick Warren suggests in The Purpose Driven Church (p.130) where people move from 101 (first base - discovering membership) to 201 (second base - discovering spiritual maturity), to 301 (third base - discovering my ministry) to 401 (home - discovering my life mission).  But discipleship is not an assembly line and it just doesn't work (for long) like that.  After working at seeker-driven megachurch, my friend wrote me: "I think discipling people may only be able to be done a few at a time."

Another friend wrote me about his experience working in a megachurch, "The megachurch approach can truly breed an unhealthy consumerism mentality. Specializing in everything to cater to our every need (affinity groups, a cafe in the lobby, Sunday school programs for children that are incredible, etc) isn't always bad, but can foster a 'it's all about me' mentality."  This is the concern of basically all of the critics of the megachurch approach. 

5.  Many mature Christians are unsatisfied with the church. Their conclusion is that people need to learn to feed themselves.  My comment: I think probably people want tradition and depth not just a personalized spiritual growth program. John Ortberg, now pastor at Menlo Park Presbyterian (PCUSA), was a pastor at Willow Creek for many years.  He has written one of the very best books on "feeding yourself" called The Life You've Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People.  These were originally sermons at Willow.  It is not new to Willow to feed yourself.  Thus, I think they probably need to dig deeper in order to find out what the path forward should really be. 

Hybels says that one thing they want to do is help people design a personal spiritual growth plan.  On the one hand, this still sounds consumeristic.  But on the other hand, my experience in theological education does lead me to believe that when mature Christians want to dig deep intellectually in order to further grow in their faith, they have very different interests as is evident in any list of course offerings at a seminary.  (See Fuller Seminary's School of Theology courses or Duke Divinity School's list of courses). 

This leads to my other point.  I think some of the mature Christians who are dissatisfied with what they are receiving at Willow, want a better connection to Christian history.  You find this in spades here at Duke Divinity School.  People want to connect to Augustine, Aquinas, Barth - someone with more worldwide and historical importance.  Traditional liturgical churches have a taste of those resources in the music and liturgy of every worship service.  The most extreme form of being unsatisfied with the nondenominational church is converting to Catholicism which a few of my friends have done.  Because church tradition is the one thing Willow decided to systematically expunge during its founding, its people miss it.  Like most churches, its greatest strength is also its greatest weakness. 

If Willow's mature believers long for history, there is no quick fix.  But here are some suggestions. 

• Give each of the staff a subscription to Christian History. 
• Encourage mature Christians to take seminary correspondence courses. 
• Foster connections with local Roman Catholic priests and nuns to do spiritual direction. 
• Attempt to introduce a modified Anglican eucharist to the mid-week service (Invitation, Confession, Gloria, Word, Eucharist, Benediction). 
• Use Robert Webber's outstanding eight volume Complete Library of Christian Worship which gives us an easy to use reference for deepening worship through the insights of the centuries. 
• Have the staff and congregation work through some of Richard Foster's Renovare resources like Devotional Classics and Spiritual Classics. 
• Have learning sessions with mainline people who have confessional (orthodox) theology and are pro-evangelism who are positive about things like the Alpha course (described above).
  
• Listen to North Park New Testament professor, amazing blogger, and Willow Creek attender Scot McKnight.
• Ask Mark Noll, preeminent historian and former Wheaton College professor, now at Notre Dame and author of Scandal of the Evangelical Mind. 

 
If those solutions seem too far removed from the Bible-centered non-denominational tradition, then at least read the very best Biblical Studies people that you can find (which I am told Randy Frazee is now doing).  I recommend An Annotated Guide to Biblical Resources for Ministry by David R. Bauer or Commentary and Reference Survey: A Comprehensive Guide to Biblical and Theological Resources by John Glynn as a way of sorting through the vast array of commentaries out there.   When you are preaching, you should always (if possible - I have always been near a theological library), consult commentaries.  Use these resources to find some good ones.  When you begin a series, invited your congregation members to buy a commentary and read through it with you.

Update.  Here are a couple of "I told you so" articles:

"Willow Creek Repents?
by Diana Butler Bass, author of Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church Is Transforming the Faith.  Book description: "A detailed survey of progressive church growth in recent decades reveals how non-evangelical, neighborhood churches are flourishing without emulating the tactics of mega-churches, in an analysis that counsels Protestant readers on how to remain authentic to denominational traditions while promoting one's spiritual community."

A Shocking “Confession” from Willow Creek Community Church
by Bob Burney, a Christian radio host in Columbus, Ohio

What are the largest seminaries in North America?

Here is a list of the largest seminaries in North America. 

This information was gleaned from the Association for Theological Schools website.  They publish the pdf document 2005-2006 Annual Data Tables which is below:

Download 20050620annual20data20tables1.pdf

and the data for every school is on TABLE 2.15 HEAD COUNT AND FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT ENROLLMENT BY DEGREE CATEGORY - ALL MEMBER SCHOOLS. 

Thanks to my friend Brad Brummeler, (like me a Taylor University and Regent College grad and now a Ph.D. student in philosophy at Baylor), for helping me compile this data. 

1. Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary - 2062

2. Fuller Theological Seminary - 1981

3. New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary - 1567

T4. Asbury Theological Seminary - 1315

T4. Southern Baptist Theological Seminary - 1312

6. Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary - 1181

7. Dallas Theological Seminary - 1122

8. Trinity Evangelical Divinity School - 910

9. Bethel Seminary at Bethel University - 833

10. Concordia Seminary (MO) - 789

11. Reformed Theological Seminary - 672

12. Princeton Theological Seminary - 651

13. Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary - 618

T14. Interdenominational Theological Center - 593

T14. Luther Seminary - 593

T16. Claremont School of Theology - 557

T16. Alliance Theological Seminary - 556

18. Duke Divinity School - 525

19. Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary - 503

See my take on how to choose a seminary and a list of seminaries where evangelicals attend at my post Seminaries for Evangelicals.   

Church Leadership Free Audio Available

I have added four new sites to my list of great Christian audio. The full list of 60 links is here.

Two offer free seminary courses for depth:

Covenant Theological Seminary's "Covenant Worldwide" - free seminary courses.

Gordon-Conwell's Dimensions of the Faith free online theological education program. Listen to full Church History, Systematic Theology, and Biblical Studies courses.

Two discuss the latest trends in ministry:

Emergent Podcasts including LeRon Shults, Miroslav Volf and Scot McKnight.

Leadership Network resources - mission statement: to identify, connect and help high-capacity Christian leaders multiply their impact.

Seminaries for Evangelicals

Seminary is great.

A number of Taylor students have asked me about seminary. I think seminary is a wonderful thing. It is a chance to read great books and devote time to the intellectual side of faith. Meanwhile, if you are intentional, you can work on spiritual formation with a group of friends. You can also get involved in a local church and get ministry experience. There is no replacement for seminary if you are going to work with adults.

Start on it early if you want to.

Another thing I always tell students is that they can start right away from wherever they are. For example, I took Church History 1 and 2 from Gordon Conwell through their extension program. They sent you a bunch of tapes or CD’s and you have to listen to them. Then you have to have someone unrelated to you proctor your exam. Then you have to send in your paper. It is great!

Most credits will transfer from school to school. Check on this but I think this is almost always true.

How to pick a seminary:

1. When you are nearby traveling for other reasons, check out the seminary, visit a chapel, talk to an admissions person, meet with a prof, and see what you think of it.

2. Pay attention to the books you like (and don’t like). Where did the authors go to school? Where do they teach?

3. You will likely have some interests. Are you looking for apologetics? Are you looking for mentoring? Are you looking for innovative church ministry? Do you want a seminary that hates the megachurch or loves it? Do you want a seminary that likes the emerging church conversation or hates it? Do you want a seminary with a wider statement of faith or a narrower one? Many schools have some kind of specialty.

4. Check out the websites.

5. Realize that where you go to seminary will often influence where you end up living. You will tend to settle down nearby.

6. A seminary will certainly form you so this is a big decision.

7. Go to Regent College’s summer school. They have awesome 1-2 week classes in May, June and July with professors from many seminaries.

8. Seminaries accept most everyone.  I'm not saying not to take the admissions process seriously.  Write good essays, turn in your recommendations, send your transcripts, follow the directions, etc.  But, it bothers me when people say, "I got in so that must be the right place!"  Hmm . . . no.  Most everyone with a college degree and a C average without a criminal record gets accepted at most every seminary.  Hmm . . . again, you should check on whether this is true.  Princeton and Duke are more picky.  All I am saying is that getting is not necessarily God saying "Go here."  Talk to your friends and family, visit, read, etc.   

My List of Seminaries

Below I have listed a number of seminaries where Taylor grads have attended. I have tried to list them from most liberal to most conservative. There are some schools that I don’t exactly know where they lie so I have guessed.

Certainly there are many, many more seminaries. There are many more that are smaller and more denominationally oriented. There are many that are more liberal. There are bible colleges. There are many in other countries!

After naming the seminary and providing the link, I have listed some of the more famous faculty members. Now, this “fame” is just my opinion and is most often determined by authors I have happened to have read. I just thought it would get you started on your search. I have also listed some friends of mine and where they went to school. If you email me, I can probably give you their contact info.

The List

Pittsburgh Theological Seminary - Pittsburgh, PA. Craig Barnes, Edith Humphrey. Friends: Scott & Fairlight Collins-Jones who now pastor in Philadelphia.

Princeton Theological Seminary - Princeton, NJ. Darrell Guder, Ellen Charry, Kenda Creasy Dean. Friend: Brendan Benz – fellow 1998 Taylor grad. Aaron Messner – pastor in Philadelphia.

Duke Divinity School - Durham, NC. Ellen Davis, Amy Laura Hall, Stanley Hauerwas, Richard Hays, Richard Lischer. Friend: Ryan Moore – 1999 Wheaton grad.

Palmer Theological Seminary - Wynnewood, PA. Craig Keener, Ron Sider.

Fuller Theological Seminary - Pasadena, CA. Ray Anderson, Colin Brown, Eddie Gibbs, Archibald Hart, Don Hagner, Richard Mouw, Joel Green. Friend: Jacob Gaines – 1998 Taylor grad.

Mars Hill Graduate School - Bothell, WA. Dan Allender, Nancy Murphy. Friends: Jon Stanley, Atta Dawahare, Ken Peer, Jason Jost, Jon DenHartong, Chris Keller – all Taylor grads.

Regent College – Vancouver, BC, Canada. J.I. Packer, Gordon Fee, Bruce Waltke, James Houston, and John Stackhouse. Friends: A million because I went there. Amy Rowell, Matt Ghormley, Ben Suriano, Cynthia Bennett, Jon Yeager, Brad Brummeler – all Taylor grads.

Bethel Seminary – St. Paul, MN. Associated with the Baptist General Conference.

Asbury Theological Seminary – Wilmore, KY.  Ben Witherington III. Friend: Sally Evans – 1997 Taylor grad.

Denver Seminary – Littleton, CO. Craig Blomberg, Douglas R. Groothuis. Friends: Brooks Penner – 1999 Taylor grad.

Calvin Theological Seminary – Grand Rapids, MI. Cornelius Plantinga, John Witvliet. Friend: Mark Dykstra – 1998 Taylor grad.

Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary – Hamilton, MA Robert Coleman, Scott Gibson, Scott Hafemann, Walter Kaiser, Haddon Robinson, David Wells. And Charlotte, NC. Friends: Brad Bitner and John Noble 1998 Taylor grads. Eric Kniffin – 1998 Wheaton grad.

Wheaton College Graduate School – Wheaton, IL. Greg Beale, Doug Moo, John Walton. Friends: Jeff Loaney and Beverly Matos.

Trinity Evangelical Divinity School – Deerfield, IL. D.A. Carson, Grant Osborne, Kevin Vanhoozer. Friends: JR Kerr and Jim Matter – 1998 Taylor grads.

Truett Theological Seminary - Baylor University, Waco, TX. David Garland, Roger Olsen.

Multnomah Biblical Seminary - Portland, OR.

Talbot School of Theology – La Mirada, CA. William Lane Craig, J.P. Moreland, Michael Wilkins, Norman Wright. Friends: Hank Voss – 1998 Taylor grad and Brent Croxton – 1998 Wengatz hall director.

Westminster Seminary California - Escondido, CA. Michael Horton, Robert Godfrey, Steve Baugh, David VanDrunen.

Westminster Theological Seminary – Glenside, PA. Presbyterian and Reformed. Peter Enns.

Reformed Theological Seminary – Jackson, MS. Orlando, FL. Charlotte, NC. Atlanta, GA. Washington, DC. Boca Raton, FL.

Covenant Theological Seminary – St. Louis, MO. PCA seminary. Bryan Chapell. Friends: Andrew Stern and Jeff Loaney.

Dallas Theological Seminary – Dallas, TX. Darrell Bock, Howard Hendricks. Friend: Jon Easterhaus – 1998 Taylor grad.

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary – Louisville, KY. Thomas R. Schreiner, Albert Mohler. Friend: Joseph Bonura - 1999 Taylor grad.

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary – Fort Worth, TX. Paige Patterson, Craig Blaising.

The Master's Seminary – Sun Valley, CA. John MacArthur.

Update:
See the post by John Stackhouse (a professor at Regent College): Seminary: Who Needs It?  from March 8, 2007.

Fuller Theological Seminary Syllabi / Course Descriptions

I love that Fuller Theological Seminary puts their course descriptions online:

http://www.fuller.edu/sot/ecds/

They are usually pretty cutting edge in terms of what reading they require. But because it is graduate school it is usually not fluff either.

Links to Lists of Good Commentaries

When writing good Bible Studies, it can be tremendously helpful to look at a commentary on the passage you are studying. For example, it can be very helpful to read what Craig Blomberg said in his commentary on Matthew about Matthew 6:1-18. But which commentaries should you read? See below some links to some lists of recommended commentaries for each book of the Bible.

Denver Seminary Old Testament Bibliography 2003
Denver Seminary New Testament Bibliography 2003
Gordon-Conwell Seminary Bibliography

I also recommend:

Glynn, John. Commentary and Reference Survey: A Comprehensive Guide to Biblical and Theological Resources. 9th ed. Kregel Academic & Professional, 2003. $13.

Reviewed positively in RBL and JETS

I started asking for commentaries for Christmas presents my senior year at Taylor and haven't stopped since!

Favorite Audio Sermons and Lectures

This post was updated on August 30, 2006.

Below I have placed links to lots of free audio of good teachers and speakers on the internet.

See also my list of favorite podcasts for church leaders here. 

30GoodMinutes.org including Frederick Buechner, Richard Foster, Thomas Groome, Calvin Miller, Lewis Smedes, Jim Wallis, Walter Wangerin, Will Willimon, Philip Yancey

Allelon - NT Wright, Brian McLaren, Eugene Peterson, Dallas Willard

American Rhetoric including Alexander Solzhenitsyn and Bono

Andy Stanley - North Point Community Church

Andy Stanley - Practically Speaking - Seven Practices of Effective Ministry Series

BibleGateway.com Audio Bibles

Billy Graham and Franklin Graham - The Hour of Decision Past Broadcasts

Bob Russell - OnePlace.com - Broadcast Archives

Brenda Salter McNeil - Urban Youth Workers Institute - "Elevate" -  2004

Brenda Salter McNeil - New Community (Chicago) - "Racial Reconciliation" - 11/20/2005

Brian McLaren - Cedar Ridge Community Church including series on Emerging Church in Sept-Oct 2005.

Brian McLaren Q&A with Canadian Church Leaders "Resonate" in April 2006.

Brian McLaren - Grand Rapids Theological Seminary - What is Emerging?

Catalyst Conference Podcast Interviews with Andy Stanley, Erwin McManus, Donald Miller, Tim Sanders, Eugene Peterson. Rob Bell, Mike Foster and Louie Giglio.

Cornel West at Whitman College

Covenant Theological Seminary's "Covenant Worldwide" - free seminary courses.

Craig Barnes and John Perkins - Shadyside Presbyterian Church Recent Sermons

Da Vinci Code - New Testament scholars Richard Hays and Bart Ehrman Debate - April 2006

Dallas Willard Audio

Darrell Johnson, Ken Shigematsu, Larry Crabb, John Stackhouse - Tenth Avenue Church

David Dark - The Message in the Matrix - 25 minute interview

Durham NT Seminar Audio Archives including NT Wright, James Dunn, Walter Moberly, Francis Watson, John Barclay

Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger Lecture on Emerging Churches at Fuller Seminary

Emergent Village Podcasts including LeRon Shults, Miroslav Volf, Stanley Hauerwas, and Scot McKnight.

Erwin McManus - Mosaic Podcast

European Leadership Forum - Resources for European evangelical leaders - Amy Orr-Ewing, Don Carson, Ravi Zacharias, Bruce Winter, Darrell Bock, Henri Blocher, and William Lane Craig.

Following Christ 2002-2003 - InterVarsity Plenary Session Speakers - Marva Dawn, Miroslav Volf, Dallas Willard

For Sale - Regent Bookstore Online MP3 CDs

For Sale - Willow Creek Conference Resources

For Sale - Youth Specialties 2005 National Youth Workers Convention - San Diego, California

For Sale Youth Specialties 2004 National Youth Workers Convention - San Diego, California

For Sale Youth Specialties Pastor's Conference 2003

Grand Rapids Theological Seminary Chapel: Rodney Clapp, Robert Webber, Brian McLaren, Scot McKnight, DA Carson

Gordon-Conwell's Dimensions of the Faith free online theological education program. Listen to full Church History, Systematic Theology, and Biblical Studies courses.

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship Audio

J.I. Packer - St. John's Shaughnessy Anglican Church

John Ortberg - Menlo Park Presbyterian Church - Menlo Park, CA - Sermons Online

John Piper - Audio Sermons

John Stott, Alister McGrath, Philip Yancey - All Souls Church, Langham Place

John Stott "A Call to Christian Maturity" Mariner's Church, Calif. Nov 2005

Larry Crabb - New Way Ministries

Leadership Network resources - mission statement: to identify, connect and help high-capacity Christian leaders multiply their impact.

Leith Anderson - Weekly Sermons

Marva Dawn interview. It is excellent.  From WBCL - a Christian radio station in Fort Wayne, IN.  March 24, 2006.  You can only listen to it online. 

Max Lucado - UpWords

N.T. Wright Page

New Perspective on Paul Opponents- Theopedia - DA Carson

Off-The-Map - Brian McLaren on Evangelism

Parker Palmer Lecture

Pittsburgh Theological Seminary Audio including Ken Bailey

Pittsburgh Theological Seminary Audio including Emerging Church Discussions with John Franke

Preaching Today Audio - They ususally have one free under "Media"

Princeton Theological Seminary Emerging Church Theological Education Caucus with Brian McLaren, Tony Jones, Kenda Dean, and Doug Pagitt

Princeton Theological Seminary Institute for Youth Ministry - Cloud of Witnesses: An Audio Journal on Youth, Church and Culture including Eugene Peterson and Darrell Guder

Regent College Radio

Resurgence Podcasts including Mark Driscoll, Tim Keller, John Piper, Chris Seay

Rob Bell - Mars Hill

Stuart and Jill Briscoe - Elmbrook Church, Brookfield, Wisconsin

Taylor University Chapel Archives 2005-2006 - Jay Kesler, Dan Allender

Tony Jones talks with Alan Hartung - March 2006

The Veritas Forum - Donald Miller, Alvin Plantinga, William Lane Craig

Tim Keller - Redeemer Presbyterian Church

Tim Keller - free archive

Tony Campolo's Messages

Wheaton College Chapel - now free!

Willow Creek's most recent mid-week "New Community" sermons

Basics of listening to MP3’s:

In the olden days, I would listen to tapes. Now I usually listen to MP3’s. If you are technologically fearful and don’t want to deal with the hassle of MP3’s, you can always pay for CD's and tapes. Almost all the sites above have places where you can order CD's or tapes. But if you want to listen to free stuff, this is the ticket!

MP3’s are computer files. So you can listen to them on any computer and on most new CD players and DVD players and of course portable MP3 players. Your computer will likely play them in Windows Media Player, or on the basic Real Player (which is free to download here) or in ITunes (which you can download for free here). Basically, you just click on the sites above and you click on the sermon you want to listen to and it will pop up and begin playing. Make sure you have your volume up on your computer (Control Panel . . . Sounds and Audio Devices . . . )

Some of the audio are only available when you are connected to the internet. Usually they play in Real Player only or some other player. But most are MP3's that you can download and listen to later. If you want to save a copy to your computer to listen to later, you can often right click the link and click "Save Target as . . ." and save the MP3 to a folder of your choice on your computer. For example, you can do this with the Veritas files. (These are big files (20-50 MB) so you don't want to do this with Dial Up.)

Once you have it on your computer, you can burn it to a CD and play it in your CD player or DVD player or MP3 player. Or just listen to it from your computer like I do. I hook my laptop up to my stereo by having a cord that goes from my laptop headphone jack into my stereo.

See my description here of my listening habits.

Bibliography of Key Biblical Commentaries for Women in Ministry Issues

1 Timothy, 1 Corinthians, Ephesians and Genesis are the location for the main "problem passages" for women in ministry. Here are some of the most important commentaries on those books. 1 Timothy 2 Complementarian The Pastoral Epistles: A Commentary on the Greek Text (New International Greek Testament Commentary) (Hardcover)by George W. Knight Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (August 1, 1992)

Word Biblical Commentary Vol. 46, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus (mounce) (Hardcover)by William D. Mounce
Nelson Reference (May 1, 2000)

The Message of 1 Timothy & Titus: God's Good News for the World (The Bible Speaks Today) (Paperback)by John R. W. Stott
InterVarsity Press (June 1, 2001)

The First and Second Letters to Timothy : A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (Anchor Bible) (Hardcover)by Luke Timothy Johnson
Anchor Bible; 1st ed edition (March 20, 2001)

Egalitarian

The Pastoral Epistles: A Critical and Exegetical Commentary (International Critical Commentary Series) (Paperback)by I. Howard Marshall
T. & T. Clark Publishers, Ltd. (July 22, 2004)

1 & 2 Timothy, Titus (Hardcover)by Walter L. Liefeld
Zondervan (August 1, 1999)

First and Second Timothy and Titus: Interpretation, a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Interpretation, a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching) (Hardcover)by Thomas C. Oden
J. Knox Press (November 1, 1989)

1-2 Timothy & Titus (IVP New Testament Commentary Series) (Hardcover)by Philip H. Towner
InterVarsity Press (May 1, 1994)

1 and 2 Timothy, Titus (Paperback)by Gordon D. Fee
Hendrickson Publishers (April 1, 1989)

1 Corinthians 11; 14:34-35

Complementarian

The First Epistle to the Corinthians (New International Greek Testament Commentary) (Hardcover)by Anthony C. Thiselton
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (December 1, 2000)

1 Corinthians (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament) (Hardcover)by David E. Garland
Baker Academic (November 1, 2003)

1 Corinthians (Hardcover)by Craig L. Blomberg
Zondervan (April 10, 1995)

Showing the Spirit: A Theological Exposition of 1 Corinthians 12-14 (Paperback)by D. A. Carson
Baker Academic (October 1, 1987)
Egalitarian

The First Epistle to the Corinthians (The New International Commentary on the New Testament) (Hardcover)by Gordon Fee
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (July 1, 1987)

1-2 Corinthians (New Cambridge Bible Commentary) (Hardcover)by Craig S. Keener
Cambridge University Press (June 13, 2005)

First Corinthians (Interpretation, a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching) (Hardcover)by Richard B. Hays
Westminster John Knox Press (September 1, 1997)

Ephesians 5:21-33

Complementarian

Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament) (Hardcover)by Harold W. Hoehner
Baker Academic (January 1, 2003)

Egalitarian

The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians (New International Commentary on the New Testament) (Hardcover)by F. F. Bruce
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (October 1, 1984)

Ephesians (IVP New Testament Commentary Series) (Hardcover)by Walter L. Liefeld
InterVarsity Press (March 1, 1997)

Ephesians (Hardcover)by Mr. Klyne Snodgrass
Zondervan (July 7, 1996)

Not Sure whether egalitarian or complementarian

The Letter to the Ephesians (Pillar New Testament Commentary) (Hardcover)by Peter T. O'Brien Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (October 1, 1999)

Word Biblical Commentary Vol. 42, Ephesians (Hardcover)by Andrew T. Lincoln
Nelson Reference (November 6, 1990)

Ephesians: Translation and Commentary on Chapters 4-6 : Anchor Bible 34A (Anchor Bible) (Paperback)by Markus Barth
Anchor Bible (September 3, 1998)

Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon (Interpretation, a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching) (Hardcover)by Ralph P. Martin
Westminster John Knox Press (February 1, 1992)

Genesis 1-3

Genesis (Hardcover)by Bruce K. Waltke, Cathi J. Fredricks
Zondervan (August 1, 2001)

Word Biblical Commentary Vol. 1 Genesis 1-15 (wenham) 406pp (Hardcover)by Gordon J. Wenham
Nelson Reference (October 9, 1987)

Genesis: Interpretation : A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Interpretation, a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching) (Hardcover)by Walter Brueggemann
Westminster John Knox Press (March 1, 1982)

Genesis 1-11: A Continental Commentary (Hardcover)by Claus Westermann
Augsburg Fortress Publishers; 1st Fortress Press ed edition (May 1, 1994)

The Book of Genesis (New International Commentary on the Old Testament Series) 1-17 (Hardcover)by Victor P. Hamilton
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (November 1, 1990)

The New American Commentary: Genesis 1-11:26 (New American Commentary) (Hardcover)by Kenneth A. Mathews
Broadman & Holman Publishers (January 1, 1996)

Genesis (Hardcover)by Dr. John H. Walton
Zondervan (October 1, 2001)

Women in Ministry Bibliography

Egalitarian and Complementarian

Egalitarian: http://www.cbeinternational.org/

Discovering Biblical Equality: Complementarity Without Hierarchy (Paperback)by Ronald W. Pierce (Editor), Rebecca Merrill Groothuis (Editor), Gordon D. Fee (Editor)
InterVarsity Press; 2nd edition (August 1, 2005)
The most comprehensive, scholarly, and recent (2005) presentation of the biblical egalitarian view. Contra: The Council of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood’s response at http://www.cbmw.org/journal/editions/10-1.pdf

Two Views on Women in Ministry (Paperback)by Craig Blomberg, Thomas R. Schreiner, James R. Beck, Ann L. Bowman, Linda L. Belleville, Craig Keener
Zondervan (June 1, 2001)
Excellent and updated essays by excellent scholars Linda Belleville and Craig Keener

Paul, Women, and Wives: Marriage and Women's Ministry in the Letters of Paul (Paperback)by Craig S. Keener
Hendrickson Publishers (November 1, 1992)
Craig Keener is an excellent commentator whose speciality is backgrounds. Make sure you get the version with the new 2004 preface.

A Mind for What Matters: Collected Essays (Paperback)by F. F. Bruce
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (November 1, 1990)
See chapter 17 "Women in the Church: A Biblical Survey." This essay is also available at the Christians for Biblical Equality website http://www.cbeinternational.org/new/free_articles/ffbruce.shtml

Listening to the Spirit in the Text (Paperback)by Gordon D. Fee
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (September 1, 2000)
See chapter 6: "Gender Issues: Reflections on the Perspective of the Apostle Paul."

Women in the Church: A Biblical Theology of Women in Ministry (Paperback)by Stanley J. Grenz, Denise Muir Kjesbo
InterVarsity Press (November 1, 1995)
A prolific evangelical theologian weighs in and summarizes the issues

Slaves, Women & Homosexuals: Exploring the Hermeneutics of Cultural Analysis (Paperback)by William J. Webb
InterVarsity Press (May 1, 2001)
An excellent work exploring the important hermeneutical issues.

Gender & Grace: Love Work & Parenting in a Changing World (Paperback)by Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen
InterVarsity Press (May 1, 1990)
The classic work by the brilliant scholar asking how far psychological data supports the idea of natually different roles for men and women.

Women Leaders and the Church: 3 Crucial Questions (3 Crucial Questions) (Paperback)by Linda L. Belleville
Baker Books (March 15, 2000)
This is a fairly popular work. Her more technical work is in Discovering Biblical Equality and the Two Views book.

Dictionary of New Testament Background (Hardcover)by Craig A. Evans (Editor), Stanley E. Porter (Editor)
InterVarsity Press (November 1, 2000)
See Keener's articles on "Marriage," "Family and Household," and "Headcoverings."

Finally Feminist: A Pragmatic Christian Understanding of Gender (Acadia Studies in Bible and Theology) (Paperback)by John G., Jr. Stackhouse
Baker Academic (December 1, 2005)

Good News for Women: A Biblical Picture of Gender Equality (Paperback)by Rebecca Merrill Groothuis
Baker Books (January 1, 1997)

Women Caught in the Conflict: The Culture War Between Traditionalism and Feminism (Paperback)by Rebecca M. Groothuis
Wipf & Stock Publishers (July 1, 1997)

Junia: The First Woman Apostle (Paperback)by Eldon Jay Epp
Augsburg Fortress Publishers (October 1, 2005)

A Woman's Place: House Churches In Earliest Christianity (Paperback)by Carolyn Osiek, Margaret Y. MacDonald, Janet H. Tulloch
Fortress Press (November 1, 2005)

The Journey Back to Eden : Restoring the Creator's Design for Women and Men (Paperback)by Glen G. Scorgie
Zondervan (October 1, 2005)

The Fall of Patriarchy: Its Broken Legacy Judged by Jesus & the Apostolic House Church Communities (Paperback)by Del Birkey
Fenestra Books (February 1, 2005)

Familiar "Leadership" Heresies Uncovered (Paperback)by Bruce C. E. Fleming
Wipf & Stock Publishers (January 1, 2005)

Putting Women in Their Place: Moving Beyond Gender Stereotypes in Church and Home (Paperback)by Joe E. Trull (Editor), Audra E. Trull (Editor)
Smyth & Helwys Publishing (June 1, 2003)

Woman Be Free (Paperback)by Patricia Gundry
Suitcase Books (June 1, 1977)

Courage And Hope: The Stories of Ten Baptist Women Ministers (Baptists) (Paperback)by Pamela R. Durso (Editor), Keith E. Durso (Editor)
Mercer University Press (September 30, 2005)

Instruments for His Glory: Releasing Women to Minister in Harmony with God and Manby Joyce Strong
Charisma House (July 1, 1999)

Is It I, Lord?: Discerning God's Call to Be a Pastor (Paperback)by James O. Chatham
Westminster John Knox Press (December 1, 2002)

A Time for Risking: Priorities for Women (Paperback)by Miriam Adeney
Multnomah Pub (July 1, 1987)

Middle:

Men and Women in the Church: Building Consensus on Christian Leadership (Paperback)by Sarah Sumner
InterVarsity Press (March 1, 2003)

Complementarian: http://www.cbmw.org/

Two Views on Women in Ministry (Paperback)by Craig Blomberg, Thomas R. Schreiner, James R. Beck, Ann L. Bowman, Linda L. Belleville, Craig Keener
Zondervan (June 1, 2001)

The Feminist Gospel: The Movement to Unite Feminism With the Church (Paperback)by Mary A. Kassian
Crossway Books (April 1, 1992)

Man and Woman in Christian Perspective (Paperback)by Werner Neuer
Crossway Books; 1st U.S. ed edition (February 1, 1991)

Biblical Foundations for Manhood and Womanhood (Foundations for the Family Series) (Paperback)by Wayne A. Grudem (editor)
Crossway Books (November 1, 2002)

The Role of Women in Ministry Today (Paperback)by H. Wayne House
Thomas Nelson Inc (March 1, 1990)

Evangelical Feminism and Biblical Truth : An Analysis of More Than 100 Disputed Questions (Paperback)by Wayne Grudem
Multnomah (November 4, 2004)

Man and Woman in Christ: An Examination of the Roles of Men and Women in Light of Scripture and the Social Sciences (Hardcover)by Stephen B. Clark
Servant Pubns (June 1, 1980)

Leadership for Women in the Church (Paperback)by Susan Hunt, Peggy Hutcheson
Zondervan (October 20, 1991)

Equality in Christ?: Galatians 3:28 and the Gender Dispute (Paperback)by Richard Hove
Crossway Books (September 1, 1999)

Biblical Womanhood in the Home (Foundations for the Family Series) (Paperback)by Nancy Leigh Demoss (Editor)
Crossway Books (January 1, 2002)

Building Strong Families (Foundations for the Family Series) (Paperback)by Dennis Rainey (Editor)

The Excellent Wife: A Biblical Perspective (Paperback)by Martha Peace
Focus Publishing (September 1, 1996)

Called to Womanhood: The Biblical View for Today's World (Focal Point) (Paperback)by Beth Impson
Crossway Books (June 1, 2001)

Where's Mom?: The High Calling of Wives and Mothers (Paperback)by Dorothy Kelley Patterson
Crossway Books (June 1, 2003)

The Feminist Mistake: The Radical Impact Of Feminism On Church And Culture (Paperback)by Mary Kassian
Crossway Books (May 30, 2005)

Different by Design (Macarthur Study Series) (Paperback)by John, Jr. MacArthur
Chariot Victor Publishing (June 1, 1994)

Different by Design: God's Master Plan for Harmony Between Men and Women in Marriage (Paperback)by H. Dale Burke
Moody Publishers (March 1, 2003)

Does Christianity Squash Women?: A Christian Looks at Womanhood (Paperback)by Rebecca Jones
Broadman & Holman Publishers (August 1, 2005)

Embracing Authority: Learning to Live Joyfully in God's World (Paperback)by John Kitchen
Christian Focus (September 1, 2002)

Gender Roles and the Bible: Creation, the Fall, and Redemption a Critique of Feminist Biblical Interpretation (Paperback)by Jack W. Cottrell
College Press Publishing Company (December 1, 1994)

God, Marriage, And Family: Rebuilding the Biblical Foundation (Paperback)by Andreas Kostenberger, David W. Jones
Crossway Books (November 11, 2004)

Male Spiritual Leadership (Paperback)by F. Lagard Smith
21st Century Christian (October 1, 1998)

Men and Women, Equal Yet Different: A Brief Study of the Biblical Passages on Gender (Paperback)by Alexander Strauch
Lewis & Roth Publishers (September 1, 1999)

Pastoral Leadership for Manhood and Womanhood (Foundations of the Family) (Paperback)by Wayne A. Grudem (Editor), Dennis Rainey (Editor)
Crossway Books (February 1, 2003)

Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism (Paperback)by John Piper, Wayne A. Grudem (Editor)
Crossway Books (April 1, 1991)

Rocking the Roles: Building a Win-Win Marriage (Paperback)by Robert Lewis, William Hendricks
Navpress Publishing Group; Rev Update edition (January 1, 1999)

Role Relationships of Men and Women: New Testament Teaching (Paperback)by George W. Knight III
P & R Publishing (June 1, 1989)

What's the difference?: Manhood and womanhood defined according to the Bible (CBMW practical living series) (Unknown Binding)by John Piper
Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (January 1, 1989)

Women and Men in Ministry: A Complementary Perspective (Hardcover)by Robert L. Saucy (Editor), Judith Tenelshof (Editor)
Moody Publishers (May 1, 2001)

Women, Creation, and the Fall (Paperback)by Mary A. Kassian
Crossway Books (March 1, 1990)

Women and Ministry: What the Bible Teaches (Paperback)by Daniel M. Doriani
Crossway Books (April 1, 2003)

Women In The Church: An Analysis And Application Of 1 Timothy 2:9-15 (Paperback)by Andreas J. Kostenberger (Editor), Thomas R. Schreiner (Editor)
Baker Academic; 2nd edition (August 1, 2005)