Great blog. I agree completely. "Pray while you study" is a huge part of seminary, along with being prepared beforehand. If a student hasn't already read relevant material to the lecture topic, it will likely go over his head and be of very little use. However, armed with due preparation, the lecture and discussion can be every bit as devotional and motivating as a Sunday sermon.

I know that my seminary studies have been used by God to make me a better husband, friend, and church-goer. I can't get through a class without being convicted of a sin or brought to new appreciation for a grace. Also, the more I read theology, the more conscious I am of my need for the Scripture to be the "norming norm" in my mind. My devotional life has actually multiplied since going to seminary. The Bible, understood covenantally and historically, is so much more accessible!

And the Reformers and post-Reformation Orthodox, WOW! When I started reading Calvin's Institutes for the first time, it was as if the pages were crackling with soli deo gloria. Turretin left me astonished at the power of a mind conformed to regenerate reason. And can one read the Puritans without tears?

Not just the really old guys either. Geerhardus Vos revolutionized my approach to the Gospels. Instead of stories of Jesus, Great Ethical Teacher, in every pericope I see Jesus gathering up the Old Testament in fulfillment and stretching toward the eschaton.

Whew! Out of breath. Thanks for the blog. To infringe upon a famous milk commercial, "Seminary - does your spirit good."

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Charlie Johnson
Heritage Bible Church (non-denom)
Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, student