Online Theological Courses
The Rise of Online Theological Education
The Split Between the Academy and Pastors
“The North American context reflects the same general movement away from clerical theologians that we see in Europe. But unlike Europe, the decisive factor for North America was not an aggressively secular Enlightenment, but rather the American Revolution and its religious aftermath - the Second Great Awakening.”[1]
Historically, Pastors in America were theologically more prestigious than educational institutions (e.g., Johnathan Edwards). In other words, pastors had more authority than a professor. As a crazy example of this, Yale went for two years without a rector because no pastors would leave their churches to manage educational duties. It was too humiliating for them! Today this is the reverse. Professors and academicians have all the theological authority. Pastors’ responses to many good questions say something like, “I don’t know that’s the territory of theology.” Or, “I recall some mention of that in my third year of college but I really don’t remember. I have been too busy doing God’s work to spend time studying theology. And it isn’t practical anyway so who needs it.”
Gerald Hiestand gives three reasons pastors divorced their posts as theologians.[2]
Urbanization began to edge pastors out of their theological places of power. Large population centers required multiple churches to cover the large population. This destabilized the centralized power center of the local pastor.
Following the American Revolution, egalitarian impulses called into question authorities such as clergy, lawyers, and doctors. If the people could govern themselves without a king then they could read the Bible for themselves without an educated biblical authority figure. The Second Great Awakening promoted the anyone-can-be-a-theologian egalitarianism that ultimately led to theological education being viewed as a liability rather than a resource.
During this time, theological training contracted heavily to the only place where it was welcomed - the university (Andover in 1808 and Princeton 1812). From that point on, theologians remained in the university where they belonged, and pastors led flocks where they belonged, and never again shall the twain meet.
University Model
Introductory courses in college degree curriculums, such as “college success”, often meet with student cynicism regarding the necessity of the degree. Despite reservations, many still seek to attain it for the potential financial benefits in their future careers not necessarily because they are hoping to gain any knowledge or skills.
Universities initially were about finding a group of people upon whom you trusted your education. The focus was more on the reputation of the teachers rather than the institution. However, in the late 1800s, people began emphasizing the institution they studied at rather than under.[3] This change came with the rise of fraudulent institutions, offering degrees for money and then disappearing, leaving individuals both uneducated and holding worthless degrees.
To counter this problem, regulation via third-party accreditation institutions was introduced. However, the increase in bureaucracy resulted in inflated staff and tuition fees, and providing education became secondary to satisfying regulations.[4]) The dilemma for students is that without regulation, there’s a risk of being scammed, but with regulation, the quality of education is compromised.
Nevertheless, doing diligent research before choosing an institution and maintaining a positive attitude can lead to a quality education. There are still many credible professors teaching valuable subjects awaiting discovery.
Christian Theology from the Comfort of Home?
Let’s stop for a moment and think about how Christian theology fits into this. Historically, if you wanted to be trained in theology you did it at a seminary. The seminary is different than a university. It is training and teaching in a particular school of thinking. In that sense, it isn’t much different than welding. But seminaries are supposed to be training matters of the soul. That means that you need to be physically present with someone who can spend time with you and get to know you and customize their training for you and your soul individually.
We have a couple of problems here.
Seminaries are facing the same problems as higher education above because they need to be accredited. So matters of the soul are replaced by course outcomes. Leaving seminarians with functional welding degrees.
Seminaries still think of themselves as doing soul work so they have been reluctant to move their high-quality content online. Believe me, seminaries have some of the best trained and educated and most amazing people you will ever encounter… consider that my own personal accreditation!
Let’s return to the split between pastors and theologians above. People need high-quality theological content and training but can’t get it from their pastors (broad brush stroke here… there are a lot of great pastors out there!). People need high-quality shepherding but can’t get it from their professors (broad brush stroke here… there are a lot of great professors out there).
Solution
What if there was a way to receive bachelor’s and master’s level training from professors who were also pastors?
That’s Theos Seminary.
Welcome to Theos Seminary! Our goal is to equip you with a high standard of academic excellence so that you might engage contemporary culture as a Christian thinker. Using sound methodologies to approach the text and with a commitment to the historic church, orthodox doctrines, and the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit, we are confident our education will prepare to serve the Kingdom of God in whatever capacity you are called. We hope you enjoy our innovative approach to higher education! -Chris Palmer - Dean of TheosSeminary
Pros and Cons of Taking Online Courses
Based on the above discussion let’s distill all that down to a short list of pros and cons.
Cons
There are still some ministry fields (e.g. military chaplaincy) locked into accredited degree plan requirements.
You will encounter some who don’t trust your education.
Being together, in person with a teacher or mentor is really good for you.
You may discover that you enjoy academic work and want to continue your education. Accredited institutions probably won’t accept your credits. This may require you to be in school longer. Which may not actually be a problem.
Culturally, society is trained to respect the authority of a Doctor. You may find this a barrier early in your public career but should go away as you are faithful to the message.
Pros
The people you want to minister to don’t care about most of the cons above. It’s mainly just the guilds and institutions that do.
It is cheaper. No overburdening debt.
It is content focused.
You have the ability to seek out incredible teachers from anywhere in the US without having to relocate in person.
Education is unencumbered by administration.
The real list of pros is in our reviews by the way. Scroll to the bottom of the page here: Theos Seminary Bachelor’s Program — TheosSeminary
Core Components of Theological Courses
Biblical Studies
Reading the Bible is accessible to nearly everyone. Studying the Bible is a lifelong commitment. There are others who have gone before you and discovered that the Bible could be researched ad infinitum without mining its depth! This is why learning to study the Bible from those who have studied it is worthwhile.
Church History
Have you ever wondered about a particular tradition, song, doctrine, statement of faith or interpretation of the Bible? Church History. Bringing context to the way things are by looking at the way things were is extremely helpful if you want to evaluate the truth behind some of these things. If the Church feels messy (it is) then this might untangle some of those knots. And, you might discover that some of those wonky Church things are grounded in something real.
Systematic Theology
Theology can be hard to wrap your mind around. There are lots of competing methods for doing theology. The point of theology is to help you make sense of the world and live a flourishing life. God created an orderly world and that means that when we look at the world around us it needs to fit into that principle. That last sentence was theological in nature. Systematic just takes everything we know or can infer and tries to make it all fit into one box. It’s not as crazy as it sounds because the Bible gives us the boundaries of the box.
Practical Theology
Ok. So now what? How do you use it? How do you lead a church? Or council a grieving widow. You also need some training on how to handle the common stuff that comes up in these areas. This is the pastoral heart stuff. Believe it or not, the messy part of being human is a little less scary when you have had some training.
Special Courses and Electives
There are many other factors to be considered such as Philosophy, Christian Apologetics, Contemporary Theological trends, Spirituality, and Introductory Courses. Call it miscellaneous if you want. The point is that when the Certificate, Bachelor’s, and Master’s degrees were designed the course designer looked around and said, “There’s more!” These classes are often small but packed with powerful content because they are intensely relevant to society and cultural needs.
Career Opportunities and Paths Post-Graduation
Ministry:
People need people (presumably you!) who are willing to serve the church and community with knowledge and faith. And perhaps more importantly they need people who can shepherd them toward Christ. Leading and serving with and for God’s people.
Counseling:
Guiding individuals through life’s spiritual challenges is a critical need in our culture. Most people don’t ask you to exegete a particular scripture verse. They ask others (presumably you!) how to respond to the grief of losing a parent, child, sibling, or spouse.
Teaching and Further Education:
What good is an education if you don’t teach others? The next generation needs you to bring theological thinking to them. Many people don’t know what they don’t know and they need others (presumably you!) to help them learn and grow.
What We (Theos) Offer
Certificate Course List
• How to Be a Modern Monk
• Books of the Bible
• Systematic Theology
• Defense Against the Dark Arts
• Western Civilization I
• Hermeneutics I
• Contra Mundum
• Introduction to the Pentateuch
• Leadership I
• Church History
• Synoptic Gospels
• Faith
• School of the Prophets
• Catechism
BA in Biblical Studies Course List
PROLOGUE
• Introduction to TheosSeminary
• Introduction to Theological Writing
• Spiritual Formation (Modern Monk)
CHAPTER 1
• Books of the Bible
• Systematic Theology I
• Defense I
• Western Civ I
• Hermeneutics I
• Contra Mundum
• Introduction to the Pentateuch
• Leadership
• Church History I
• Synoptics
• Faith
• School of the Prophets 1
• Catechism
CHAPTER 2
• Ecclesiology
• Pauline Epistles
• Introduction to Philosophy
• Major Prophets
• Greek I
• O.T. History
• Hermeneutics II
• NT Eschatology and Revelation
• Worship
• Church History II
• Covenants
• Defense II
CHAPTER 3
• Pneumatology
• Modern Theologians
• Gospel of John
• Greek II
• Minor Prophets
• Psalms
• Hermeneutics III
• School of the Prophets II
• Wisdom Lit
• Ephesians
• Acts
• Tabernacles
CHAPTER 4
• Political Theology
• Senior Capstone Project
• Financial Peace
• Leadership Epistles
• Leviticus
• Genesis
• James
• Western Civ II
• Western Canon
• Petrine Literature/Jude
• Romans
• Hebrews
• Colossians and Philemon
• Biblical Inerrancy (Battle for the Bible)
MA in Theology LineUp
• Research Methods
• Greek I
• Greek II
• Hebrew I
• Hebrew II
• Patristic Writings
• Interpretive Methodology for the OT
• Interpretive Methodology for the NT
• Integrative/Systematic Theology
• Law, Grace & Freedom in Paul
• Charismatic Distinctives
• Christ & Philosophy
• Biblical Justice
• Communicating Scripture
• Pastoral Ethics
• Greek III
• Hebrew III
• OT Use in the NT
• Apocalyptic Literature
• Final Thesis
[1] Gerald Hiestand, The Pastor Theologian: Resurrecting an Ancient Vision (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2015), 46.
[2] Hiestand, 49.
[3] What is Honor? | The Art of Manliness
[4] ITT Technical Institute - Wikipedia
