# In One Paragraph: Which Seminary Would You Suggest and Why?



## N. Eshelman (Nov 7, 2011)

If you could recommend ONE seminary in the USA, which one would you suggest and why? This would be for a Master of Divinity degree. Defend your answer in ONE paragraph (4-6 sentences). 

Go:


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## jogri17 (Nov 7, 2011)

Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. 

Despite the fact that it is not accreditated uses the TR and the KJV , it has proven by producing many excellent ministers that they are not a seminary that has high academic standards, emphesizes the original langages, maintains the importance of Church History and Systematic/Dogmatic Theology in a day when propositional truth is underattack from the church, and teaches men how to hone and precise their preaching skills: it is truly a schools of the prophets and not a theological grad school (which many fine semianries are). Second, it has an excellent library with the best of the Historic Reformed tradition and provides places for students to study and has great working relations with Calvin Seminary so they have access to more modern reformed and evangelical and critical scholarship. Finally, my encouters with their students and graduates are nothing but good, they produce nuanced thinking, humble, pious, orthodox men to be pastors. My final point is that they have an amazing full time staff and bring it some great guest lecturers. 

That is where I stand.


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## DMcFadden (Nov 7, 2011)

Man, I was going to say a school closer to Nate Eshelman in L.A.  After all, Nate is from Grand Rapids and I understand that the most famous pastor from Grand Rapids is in L.A. now, teaching the Angelinos that "Love Wins."

From my brief and unscientific exposure to PRTS a couple of years ago, it would sure be near the top of my list. All of the things that Joseph said echo my own observations. Academic rigor + Puritan experimental Calvinism + the fruit of the Spirit = WOW!


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## PuritanCovenanter (Nov 7, 2011)

Nathan, 
I am not a scholar but I look at doctrine, Teachers, and the fruit of books that have been beneficial in my life. Right now I recommend Mid-America, RPTS, PRTS, and Greenville. Not necessarily in that order.


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## mhseal (Nov 7, 2011)

Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, of course. The focus on each of the loci in systematic theology is by far the most attractive part of the school. The MDiv is very extensive, with the emphasis on the original languages, church history, and of course, systematic theology. The faculty are wonderful men of God, and very accessible, though Beeke is less than the others. Oh, lest I forget, the MDiv at PRTS is more credit hours than most B.A.'s.


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## Andres (Nov 7, 2011)

jogri17 said:


> it has proven by producing many excellent ministers that they *are not* a seminary that has high academic standards



Is this a typo? If it's not, why is it good that they do not have high academic standards?


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## Ask Mr. Religion (Nov 7, 2011)

TNARS. Not accredited, but no tuition fees for a rigorous program that will challenge you every step on the way. You interact via discussion sites, and with your assigned faculty mentor. The program takes great self-discipline given the amount of writing required, but you will be forced to dig deep as you interact with the course content.


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## N. Eshelman (Nov 7, 2011)

So Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary (my alma mater, by the way) and The North American Reformed Seminary are the only two seminaries worth defending for a Master of Divinity in one 4-6 sentence paragraph? I bet there are others who would like to add to this...


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## jogri17 (Nov 7, 2011)

yes it was a typo


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## N. Eshelman (Nov 7, 2011)

Ask Mr. Religion said:


> TNARS. Not accredited, but no tuition fees for a rigorous program that will challenge you every step on the way. You interact via discussion sites, and with your assigned faculty mentor. The program takes great self-discipline given the amount of writing required, but you will be forced to dig deep as you interact with the course content.



Patrick, I am wondering how many graduates are there from TNARS? How many have completed the MDiv program and where are some of these men serving? 

I know that TNARS awarded a DMin to a man who was not even in the ministry and was actually a student in University at the time. He is the only "graduate" the I have ever heard of.


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## Ask Mr. Religion (Nov 7, 2011)

N. Eshelman said:


> Patrick, I am wondering how many graduates are there from TNARS? How many have completed the MDiv program and where are some of these men serving?
> 
> I know that TNARS awarded a DMin to a man who was not even in the ministry and was actually a student in University at the time. He is the only "graduate" the I have ever heard of.


I don't have the stats. PB Member larryjf is the man who would know this as he is the President of TNARS. I will pass the query along.

AMR


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## larryjf (Nov 7, 2011)

N. Eshelman said:


> Ask Mr. Religion said:
> 
> 
> > TNARS. Not accredited, but no tuition fees for a rigorous program that will challenge you every step on the way. You interact via discussion sites, and with your assigned faculty mentor. The program takes great self-discipline given the amount of writing required, but you will be forced to dig deep as you interact with the course content.
> ...



We don't require that a man be in the pastorate to go through our academic programs. We do require that his local church approve of him going through the program with us, but we leave the persons calling up to him and his church and don't feel that its our right to interfere in such as an academic institution.

We currently have the following "Numbers"...
16 graduates
We also have the following active students...
AATS: 88
BATS: 31
MATS: 27
MDiv: 61
DMin: 22
DD: 5

Total active students: 234

Students from countries outside of the US: 28%

---------- Post added at 10:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:04 PM ----------

I think that 6 or 7 of our graduates are serving as pastors. Many of our active students are currently pastors and are studying with us to help in their calling.


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## Andres (Nov 7, 2011)

N. Eshelman said:


> Patrick, I am wondering how many graduates are there from TNARS? How many have completed the MDiv program and where are some of these men serving?



I'd be interested to know this as well. Not trying to bash the program in any sense (I considered it myself at one point) but I do want to know about the results.

EDIT: Apparently I cross-posted with Larry. Thanks for the info!


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## larryjf (Nov 7, 2011)

No problem.
I don't get on this board as much as i used to, so feel free to contact me directly if you have any other questions.


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## Andres (Nov 7, 2011)

N. Eshelman said:


> I bet there are others who would like to add to this...



I was hesitant to answer because I've never been to seminary, but I've researched and applied to a few in the past and I think I would choose Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary over all the rest. While there are other great seminaries that I would consider academically, for me a huge factor is cost. Greenville is tremendously affordable (at least compared to others) and yet from what I understand, it still offers a top-notch education. Plus, I like the idea of studying under Dr. Pipa. Lastly, Greenville comes off as solidly confessional and that's very important to me as well. PRTS pretty much fits all these same qualifications, so I'd probably place it second, but Greenville gets my vote because I'd rather live in South Carolina than Michigan!


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## larryjf (Nov 7, 2011)

I'm personally a huge fan of both PRTS and Greenville


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## SolaScriptura (Nov 8, 2011)

I find the OP question challenging to answer precisely because I don't believe that there is ONE, and only ONE, seminary to which I would recommend prospective students. Antecedent to the giving of my recommendation I first need to know 1) the theological background of the prospective student, 2) the ecclesiological background of the prospective student, and 3) any long-term vocational goals of the prospective student.


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## elnwood (Nov 8, 2011)

I agree with Ben. There's no one seminary that would fit with every student. All seminaries have their strengths and weaknesses.

If I were to choose one, it would have to have the following attributes:
1) Academically rigorous, and an academic reputation to get students into prestigious university Ph.D. programs. This would exclude non-accredited institutions and more than a few accredited ones.
2) Theologically sound (i.e. in harmony with conservative Reformed and Baptist doctrine).
3) Have a strong missions emphasis.

In my mind, there are no institutions that do all three well.

Many Baptist seminaries have a strong missions emphasis, but most lack in theological and academic rigor.

Many Reformed institutions are strong academically and are theologically sound, but lack a missions emphasis. At most, they have one resident missions faculty, and most have none. Seminaries need to teach their ministers to see the ministry beyond the walls of their church.

Is it right that seminaries are not preparing their ministers to work beyond North America when the need for gospel ministers, evangelists, and Bible Translators are much greater overseas?

Balancing all these things, my recommendations would be Westminster Philly, Gordon-Conwell, and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. All are academically rigorous and have a world missions emphasis.


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