Green, Lowell C. (2010) The Erlangen School of Theology: Its History, Teaching, and Practice, (pp .21-22). Lutheran Legacy: Fort Wayne, Indiana.
“In the system that once prevailed in the Lutheran churches of the United States and Canada, a theological seminary was a graduate school which culminated in the historical Bachelor of Divinity degree.1 A thorough college education with a solid preparation for starting seminary work, including a knowledge of the four theological tongues–Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and German–was required before enrolling in a Lutheran seminary. Under the changed conditions today, students of theology are coming into theological seminaries without a working knowledge of the German language and therefore can only read materials written in English. Unfortunately, this generally means that they have access more to materials written by Reformed, Arminian, Eastern Orthodox, or Roman Catholic writers than the works of great Lutheran writers. These theologians from other denominations–however capable–cannot be expected to reflect the nuances of thought expressed in the Lutheran Confessions. This suggests the grave danger that Lutheran students in America will be nourished by theological systems which will gradually wean them away from Lutheran ways of thinking. This means first and foremost a neglect of the distinction of Law and Gospel, as well as a Lutheran understanding of Christology–two doctrines which pervade not only dogmatics but all the other subjects of the theological curriculum. This is the case whether one is speaking of systematic theology, liturgics, Biblical theology, or even historical theology.”
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1 The conversion of this degree to the so-called Master of Divinity was well-intended but ill-conceived since a master’s degree is the culmination of a graduate liberal arts program; the Bachelor of Divinity however was already a post-graduate degree and therefore ranked above any master’s degree. Thus Philipp Melanchthon, who already had a Master’s Degree in philosophy, took out the more advanced Bachelor of Bible degree in September 1519. In wake of the conversion in America the standards of pre-theological education were actually lowered, so that many seminary students today do not have a reading knowledge of German.
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GJ - Oh no, the emphasis must be on turning out ministers in the mold demanded by the synod. That is just as true of ELCA as it is for Missouri, WELS, and the ELS. People must turn off their brains to accept this level of conformity. The ideal candidate is someone who reads the political tea-leaves and follows the latest fad, whether it is gay ordination in ELCA or Emergent Church in the Olde Syn Conference.
The B.D. was changed to MDiv to give more prestige to seminary students. I have seen WELS resumes where pastors list their unaccredited Sausage Factory as "graduate school." Tim Glende and other claim they are always right because of "eight years of
The relative new DMin degree was invented because the lazy pastors did not want to go back to seminary for more education. Once they called a one-year course a "Doctor of Ministry," the lazy-bones flocked to attend. These DMins (like Larry Olson and Rich Krause) call themselves "Dr," which is inexpressibly funny. They call their little DMin papers "dissertations." Deep breath. Bag breathe. OK, I am better now.
The worst heretics in Missouri and WELS have DMins from Fuller Seminary, Gorden Conwell, Denver, plus many hours of conference time at Fuller, Willow Creek, Trinity Divinity, Catalyst, Drive, Dirt, Granger, Exponential, and Mars Hill (Seattle).
Jeske's recently boastful remarks suggest that he has also skipped pastoral conferences in his own synod for the ones listed above, the ones he sent Ski and Glende to attend, the ones favored by District VP Kudu Don Patterson.
Book of Concord Lutheran doctrine is dead in America, and the Olde Syn conference leaders of today killed it.
