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  • From: "Charles Savelle" <chsavelle AT hotmail.com>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Doctorates (PhD or ThD?)
  • Date: Mon, 05 Sep 2005 23:45:16 +0000

Kevin,

While I don't care to get involved in the broader discussion concerning the value of a doctorate or not, several comments that you make appear to be in need of clarification or correction.

Kevin wrote:
It seems the avoidance of anything that undermines a presupposed theology. Such as that the Bible has one author: God.

My:
I think that we need to be clear that we all have a presupposed theology. We come into the discussion not as blank slates but with presuppositions. I think it is naive to suggest that only Evangelical seminaries have an agenda so to speak. Indeed, a rejection of divine authorship of Scripture for example, is a presupposition many critical scholars bring to the text.


Kevin wrote:
Sure he could. He would just have to get a "doctorate" from some Bible college. A "theological seminary" of some sort. They tend to put theology first and foremost. Whatever Greek and Hebrew they learn must come prepackaged so that it doesn't offend their theological sensibilities. The "education" they receive is tainted with theological persuasion.

My:
I think that this gross misrepresentation of a biblical/seminary education. While I can't speak for all seminaries and Bible colleges, I am a product of both. What is your experience? While I can't speak for all programs I can tell you that in my experience we often used the same books as non-Evangelical institutions. We were required to use the standard language tools such as BDB, HALOT, DCH, BAGD (now BDAG), TDNT, TDOT. LSJ and so forth. Furthermore, especially in the OT, we were required to interact with critical commentaries and special studies. We were required to parse verbs and memorize paradigms and vocabulary (to the chagrin of many students!) just like anyone else.

Kevin wrote:
I'll give you a perfect example of what I'm talking about. A couple of years ago I was discussing the Gospel of John with a student from Dallas Theological Seminary. He insisted the Bible teaches that God is not anthropomorphic, metaphysically, because John 4:24 demands such an interpretation. I pummeled him with scholarship indicating how anthropomorphism was the norm for the Ancient Jewish understanding of God, and how it passed over to the early Christians. He went further to say that the "rules of Greek grammar" insisted on his interpretation, and he said this was something he learned from his Greek professor at DTS. Now this is something you could only learn at a "Bible college."

My:
While this may have been your experience, I’m not sure anecdotes are the best way to go here. Otherwise we can trade personal bad experiences from either camp. By the way, if what you mean by anthropomorphic that God has human characteristics and form, I think a good biblical case can be made that God is in essence immaterial in nature. I wonder what you mean by “the norm for the Ancient Jewish of God.” You seem to suggest that there might be a monolithic static view of Judaism. I also wonder what you mean by “pummeled him with scholarship.” I would suggest that you don’t win the day by appealing to scholarship in general. There is good scholarship and poor scholarship. You make your points through evidence and sound argumentation. I might also add, that you are mistaken by referencing “his Greek professor at DTS,” and then asking, “Now this is something you could only learn at a "Bible college.” Surely you must know the difference between a graduate school such as DTS and a college. By the way, DTS has not offered a ThD for some time now, but rather a PhD.

I could go on but I will resist the temptation for now. But this is my two cents.

Charles Savelle
Center Point Bible Institute






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