Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Rationale for an Accommodated Educational Standard for Ordination

Previously I noted that a seminary education has Biblical grounds.  However, none of the lines of reasoning I presented specify exactly how much education is necessary to achieve the Biblical ideal. My suggestion is that a full Master of Divinity may not always be necessary to accomplish the ideal. I would argue that unique territories like West Virginia can be allowed to have adjusted standards, without denigrating the propriety of the Master of Divinity as a normative standard. A Biblical basis for this could be found in Paul’s “everything to all people” philosophy of ministry (1 Cor. 9:19-23). If the conventional standard inhibits the recruiting of ministers, the supply of pulpits, and the spread of the Church in our State, and if something less than a full Master of Divinity will still accomplish what Scripture demands, then accommodating our standard to the needs and abilities of West Virginians is both Biblical and necessary. If what the Bible demands can be accomplished with something other or less than the conventional standard, that would be just as Biblical as the Master of Divinity.

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