What I Learned in Bible College

Craig Groeschel wrote a blog on what he learned in seminary. I thought I'd steal his idea.

What I Learned in Seminary

1) Redemptive History / The Story of the Bible

The average goer hears 40ish hours of Bible teaching each year, and has no idea how it all fits together. I grew up in the church and kind of knew the story of the Bible, but it wasn't until Bible college that it all started to fit together. It's really very strange that we emphasize the Bible so much, but we spend so little time help people get the big picture.

If anything, my Bible college spent too much time on redemptive history. I had two survey courses, a class called redemptive history, and a class on how to teach redemptive history. 

2) Hermeneutics / How to Interpret the Bible

This was probably the most practical course at Bible college. There world would have far fewer heretics and bad teaching if more people took this course.

3) Fancy Theological Terms Which I Don't Need to Know

I understand the value of theology. I even understand the need for studying and understanding ancient heresies. I'm not so sure terms and phrases like supralapsarianism, kenotic theory of the hypostatic union, and euticianism.

4) Streamlined Method For Writing Sermons

My major in college was Bible Teaching. The emphasis was on teaching the Bible in Christian schools. So to graduate I had to do 9 weeks of student teaching at a Christian school. I had to write 4 lessons each week and five 50 minute classes each week. If I spent as much time on those lesson plans I spent on writing some of my sermons, I never would have slept.

Bible college gave me the skills to plan ahead, study the Bible, and write sermons much faster.

5) Unity Through Division

At Bible college you meet a lot of people with a lot of different ideas who are all on the same mission. Sometimes being unified means going in a different direction. In Acts 15, Paul and Barnabas split ways over a disagreement. The end result was that Mark was restored, Paul found Timothy, and the gospel was spread to more people.