ArmyChaplain
Puritan Board Freshman
I am considering attending Talbot for my M.Div (or Southern Baptist Theological) and wanted to know if anyone knows how they are doctrinally, academically, faculty wise, seminary overall, etc.?
Talbot School of Theology
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Jash Comstock
Puritan Board Freshman
Talbot is a hotbed of dispensationalism. It is very broadly evangelical. I would say that they are faithful to the scriptures, but watered down in theology. Reformed doctrines are not going to be taught there. Their view of the cross, and confessionalism, and the covenants are going to be more broad and diverse, instead of necessarily faithful.
bookslover
Puritan Board Doctor
I graduated from Talbot with my M.Div in 1994. Yes, Talbot is, officially, a dispensationalist school, but the subject was never brought up in any of the courses I took there - not even in the theology courses. Dr. Robert Saucy, who will be 82 on May 1 and still teaches about 2/3 time (he has taught there since 1961), is a leader in the "progressive dispensationalism" movement (which gives up some theological ground to the Reformed). I spent about 12 years proctoring courses in the self-study tape (now CD) courses that students can take and, ironically, many of the courses are taught by solidly Reformed guys. Alan Gomes, who is Professor of Historical Theology, has Reformed leanings, I believe - he edited the re-issue of Shedd's systematic theology. So, yes: the school (founded in 1952 as Talbot Theological Seminary, by the way) is broadly evangelical, but it has some "Reformed flavoring," if you will - it is certainly NOT a hot bed of dispensationalism (though it probably was so through the 1950s and 1960s). Also, the school has an excellent library (in which I've been prowling since about 1984), which it shares with Biola University (which Talbot is part of). Hope this helps.
sastark
Puritan Board Graduate
I graduated from Biola (with an MA in Science and Religion) just over a year ago. While I did not get an MDiv through Talbot, I was required to take several Theology and Philosophy classes from Talbot as part of my degree.
Biola/Talbot is certainly not reformed. They are not covenantal. They are not confessional. They are not presuppositional. They are dispensational (though that will vary--I had a few professors tell me they are "progressive dispensationalists" whatever that means), and they are Arminian (though again, that will vary). If you are looking for a Reformed seminary education, Talbot/Biola is not the place for you.
Having said that, I was time and again, pleasantly surprised by the professors and classes I took. Though not Reformed, I would say that a good portion of the Theology faculty of Talbot is "calvinistic" or at least sympathetic to the Doctrines of Grace (as a counter to this, the Philosophy department at Talbot is Arminian to the core). I did not encounter any faculty that were outright hostile to the DoG (that's not to say there aren't professors who are hostile to the Doctrines of Grace at Talbot: See William Lane Craig and J. P. Moreland, for example). There are some professors who I would recommend, if you end up going to Talbot. There are also some that I would recommend you avoid, as much as possible (see the two above).
You will be required to read some really good books (J. I. Packer's Knowing God, W. G. T. Shedd's Dogmatic Theology, plenty of Calvin (if you take the right classes), Jonathan Edwards, etc). You will also be required to read some really bad ones (Moreland, Craig, Hugh Ross, etc).
I am glad that I went to Biola. I think the education I received in my program was first rate, and I recommend the MA in Science and Religion. However, I do not believe Talbot is the best place for a potential reformed pastor to study for his MDiv. There are better choices out there for that.
I'd be glad to answer any other questions you may have.
Biola/Talbot is certainly not reformed. They are not covenantal. They are not confessional. They are not presuppositional. They are dispensational (though that will vary--I had a few professors tell me they are "progressive dispensationalists" whatever that means), and they are Arminian (though again, that will vary). If you are looking for a Reformed seminary education, Talbot/Biola is not the place for you.
Having said that, I was time and again, pleasantly surprised by the professors and classes I took. Though not Reformed, I would say that a good portion of the Theology faculty of Talbot is "calvinistic" or at least sympathetic to the Doctrines of Grace (as a counter to this, the Philosophy department at Talbot is Arminian to the core). I did not encounter any faculty that were outright hostile to the DoG (that's not to say there aren't professors who are hostile to the Doctrines of Grace at Talbot: See William Lane Craig and J. P. Moreland, for example). There are some professors who I would recommend, if you end up going to Talbot. There are also some that I would recommend you avoid, as much as possible (see the two above).
You will be required to read some really good books (J. I. Packer's Knowing God, W. G. T. Shedd's Dogmatic Theology, plenty of Calvin (if you take the right classes), Jonathan Edwards, etc). You will also be required to read some really bad ones (Moreland, Craig, Hugh Ross, etc).
I am glad that I went to Biola. I think the education I received in my program was first rate, and I recommend the MA in Science and Religion. However, I do not believe Talbot is the best place for a potential reformed pastor to study for his MDiv. There are better choices out there for that.
I'd be glad to answer any other questions you may have.
It was J.P. Moreland's books that got me into philosphy in high school, resulting in me majoring in it in college. So I have a lot of respect for the heart of the apologists there. I was considering doing their MA in Philosophy of Religion and Ethics, but the more I learned about Philosophy, the more I learned that I disagreed with pretty much every philosophical doctrine to which they held (except for theism, or course, and I haven't made up my mind on substance dualism). Moreland's dissertation and a lot of his subsequent work deals with supporting the doctrine of realism about universals: the Platonic idea that resemblances like colors are real objects and our ontology should include them. To me, this view is absolutely silly, and the only thing it has in common with Christian theism is that, to an outsider, it's ultimate function is postulating the existence of unnecessary entities. Also, in reading Moreland and Craig's Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview (a book that was an excellent resource for reviewing basic philosophical doctrines for classes!) I have seen parts blatant espousing Arminianism.
Theologically, they are pretty clearly dispensationalists. For the Theo IV (ecclesiology and eschatology) class, you have to read Dr. Saucy's A Case For Progressive Dispensationalism. Their view of Israel is very much informed by dispensationalism; they recently held some conference thing on the future of Israel, and one of their complaints is that people don't care enough about its prophesied future: an understandable concern--if one shares their dispensationalist convictions. I don't know to what extent they open things up for discussion. I'd think they would be pretty open to other views, but then I hear that the philosophy department kinda considers disagreeing with Moreland about universals heretical. But I bet you'd definitely be dispensationalist-until-proven-otherwise if you had a degree from there.
I too am considering seminary, and Talbot is, geographically, the best option; many pastors from my home church went there! But I don't want to go there because I don't think I could get along with their theological and philosophical doctrines.
Oh, and they are horrible about teaching OT. You have one survey class, your basic Hebrew, and an exegesis class. That's it. Compare that to most seminaries, where you at least take two semesters going over OT content, or most reformed seminaries where you take 3-4 semesters going over OT content. I want to know my Old Testament better.
However, Talbot is very strong when it comes to practical theology. You do a lot of stuff with learning how to engage the church with culture. And their spiritual formation track is absolutely wonderful if you consider spiritual disciplines an area in which you'd like to lead and grow more. John Coe, who chairs their Spiritual Formation stuff, gave a sermon on Galatians 3:1-3 at my home church recently, and it was something that I think a reformed person would have delighted to hear. If I didn't have the scholarly interests that were pulling me to TEDS, RTS, or WSC, and I were more solely interested in a pastorate, I would probably still be considering Talbot.
Theologically, they are pretty clearly dispensationalists. For the Theo IV (ecclesiology and eschatology) class, you have to read Dr. Saucy's A Case For Progressive Dispensationalism. Their view of Israel is very much informed by dispensationalism; they recently held some conference thing on the future of Israel, and one of their complaints is that people don't care enough about its prophesied future: an understandable concern--if one shares their dispensationalist convictions. I don't know to what extent they open things up for discussion. I'd think they would be pretty open to other views, but then I hear that the philosophy department kinda considers disagreeing with Moreland about universals heretical. But I bet you'd definitely be dispensationalist-until-proven-otherwise if you had a degree from there.
I too am considering seminary, and Talbot is, geographically, the best option; many pastors from my home church went there! But I don't want to go there because I don't think I could get along with their theological and philosophical doctrines.
Oh, and they are horrible about teaching OT. You have one survey class, your basic Hebrew, and an exegesis class. That's it. Compare that to most seminaries, where you at least take two semesters going over OT content, or most reformed seminaries where you take 3-4 semesters going over OT content. I want to know my Old Testament better.
However, Talbot is very strong when it comes to practical theology. You do a lot of stuff with learning how to engage the church with culture. And their spiritual formation track is absolutely wonderful if you consider spiritual disciplines an area in which you'd like to lead and grow more. John Coe, who chairs their Spiritual Formation stuff, gave a sermon on Galatians 3:1-3 at my home church recently, and it was something that I think a reformed person would have delighted to hear. If I didn't have the scholarly interests that were pulling me to TEDS, RTS, or WSC, and I were more solely interested in a pastorate, I would probably still be considering Talbot.
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