My friend Wess composed this list of pre-seminary reading material for a friend of his. When we met this past Thursday for Communicatus Sapientia I offered a few suggestions. Wess was wise enough not to include all of them! I am satisfied with his list and stand behind his recommendations. Those of you who read this blog and are considering seminary should definitely peruse his list and either purchase the books or frequent your local library and get your hands on copies of them. It would be shrewd for you to do so. And in the long run you’ll thank us.
That being said, while I am satisfied with Wess’s list there are a few other books that I would highly recommend. These other books I would recommend based on my experience as a seminarian and a teacher’s assistant. They introduce one to names and subjects that I wish I would have known before I matriculated in seminary or I wish students would know before they enroll in the courses that I am assistant teaching. Here they are:
//Boniface Ramsey - Beginning to Read the Fathers//
It has been my experience that most seminarians have no knowledge or understanding of the Church fathers. Unfortunately, I was one who perpetuated this as an incoming seminarian. It wasn’t until I enrolled in a patristic theology course that I voraciously devoted myself to studying them and discovered how valuable they are for seminarians. Therefore I find this ignorance of the Fathers to be inadmissible for several reasons. One, because much of theology has been predicated on them – they were that influential! - and to understand historical theology one must understand the Fathers. Two, because they continue to shape contemporary philosophical thought which in turn shapes culture. Anyone who has studied Augustine can perceive how he has shaped the deconstruction of Derrida, the critical approach of Zizek, and the phenomenological love of Marion to name a few. Third, because, many people, including scholars, have misconceptions about the Fathers. Why? Because they have never read them. On several occasions I have heard my professors cite and refer to the Fathers pejoratively only to discover that their assessment of them was completely inaccurate. As a student how are you able to adjudicate this and correct your professor if you have never read the Fathers and only rely on the same caricatures from secondary sources that your professors do? Finally, a seminarian should have a thorough knowledge and understanding of the Fathers because they are a rich source of devotion and worship. As a systematic theologian I can state confidently that no one writes theology like the Fathers did. Have you ever read Augustine’s Confessions? The student will worship and do theology differently after reading the Fathers.
Ramsey’s book is a wonderful classic that introduces the reader to some of these Fathers and their positions on particular doctrines and subjects. It is an easy read, accurate in its delineations, and splendid reference for exploring how the Fathers agreed and disagreed on topics.
//Robert Louis Wilkenson – The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: Seeking the Face of God//
This is by far the most enjoyable book I have ever read on the Fathers. A prominent patristic scholar wrote it but don’t let that deter you; it is both engaging and precise. I highly recommend it albeit it is not as referentially conducive as Ramsey.
//Kallistos Ware – The Orthodox Way and The Orthodox Church//
Another subject that most seminarians are ignorant of is Eastern Orthodoxy. My introduction to and intrigue in Eastern Orthodoxy was engendered by my study of the Fathers. After I read the Cappadocian Fathers and Maximus I was presented with language and articulation for what I already knew and believed. I was Eastern Orthodox before I even knew what Eastern Orthodoxy was. It was at this stage that I realized although I am an Evangelical I have Orthodox predilections and sensibilities. Lamentably, Fuller, the institution I am matriculating at does not have a heavy Orthodox presence (there was a Orthodox priest and theologian who was an adjunct instructor here but he has not returned in the past few years) but thankfully, the student still encounters Orthodox thought in all three of the required systematic theology courses.
These two books by Ware are exceptional introductions to Eastern Orthodox theology and history. Ware is the titular (by title only) Metropolitan of the Ecumenical Patriarch in Great Britain. They are precise and accessible for the incoming seminarian. I was so enthralled the Orthodox Way I couldn’t put it down reading it in four hours.
//Christopher Hill – The History of Christian Thought//
In addition to ignorance of the Fathers and Eastern Orthodoxy most incoming seminarians have no concept of the history of Christian thought. They are acquainted with several figures like Calvin, Wesley, Luther, and Bonhoeffer but they have no notion of the historical developments and cultural milieus that engendered their particular theological ruminations and arguments. I am of the opinion that even a cursory understanding of the history of Christian thought would be indispensable for an incoming seminarian. They would be able to locate figures in particular cultures and epochs and understand their thought in its context thereby having the appropriate means to constructively critique them. I have heard several of my peers scoff at and deride the thought of a particular theologian only to watch them heuristically discover they have not even begun to understand the theologian’s thought because they have not located them within a particular historical framework to understand their ruminations and arguments. Or, even worse because they have never read them. Last quarter I had a student opine that Karl Barth was a universalist (ergo a “heretic”) because he was influenced by Gregory of Nyssa who was a Neoplatonist. In other words, the student was asserting that anyone who is a Neoplatonist is a “heretic.” Look out David Bentley Hart!
This introduction to Christopher Hill rectifies this ignorance in an entertaining manner. He presents a fascinating synopsis of significant figures and their contribution to Christian theology while locating them within their particular historical epoch. His critiques are quite generous and appropriate. I read this work before I came to seminary and I will most likely use it as an undergraduate text in the future.
//Veli-Matti Karkkainen – An Introduction to Ecclesiology: Ecumenical, Historical and Global Perspectives//
Karkkainen, my doctoral supervisor and mentor, writes the best introductions to particular doctrines. This book is a splendid delineation of historical and contemporary ecclesiologists and their postulations. It will be a valuable resource and reference for incoming seminarians. Those who read it before they matriculate will have a considerable understanding of past notions of the Church as well as contemporary ones. I recommend it for both those aspiring to be pastors and those to be theologians.
//Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger – Emerging Churches//
Whether they want to or not incoming seminarians will definitely hear references to “emerging churches.” Some references will be pejorative and others will be complimentary. Whichever these references will be students who read this work will have a basic understanding of the tenets of Western emerging churches and be able contend which are appropriate statements and which are not. That said, while the emerging church continues to emerge this is a noteworthy sociological introduction that aspiring pastors will appreciate.
//John Polkinghorne – Belief in God in an Age of Science//
The theology and science discussion is becoming more and more prevalent in seminaries and higher education institutions and it should be! It behooves pastors and theologians to be informed of contemporary scientific discoveries and how they should be critiqued or received by theological thought. Most seminarians have no idea how this should be done given that they have not formulated a theological rationality or epistemology and science’s place in it. For this reason I recommend incoming students read this short work by the quantum physicist and Anglican priest John Polkinhorne. Don’t be intimidated by his position; he is an enjoyable author who writes lucidly and presents sophisticated content in comprehendible ways. Although I do not always concur with his conclusions his mode of inquiry is constructive and his explicit Trinitarian methodology is insightful. This is a brief read with significant nuggets of wisdom. Students will be disabused of imbedded misconceptions about theology and science and thereby, hopefully, move toward a more integrated rationality that will profit them later in their seminary experience.
//Diogenes Allen – Philosophy for Understanding Theology//
Most incoming seminarians have no philosophical training and this makes theological training arduous. I have been in several courses where my professors had to instruct students in basic philosophical queries and premises before they could even teach the material relevant to the course. This is inadmissible. Seminaries should either construct a course to accommodate such needs or set up entrance prerequisites that students have to fulfill before matriculation. Reading Allen’s book will not replace such training but it is a crucial text for theologians. For those who have no philosophical training this book will be a profound introduction that might be onerous but nonetheless salutary. For those with philosophical training it will be a perspicacious explication that they will find to be crucial in their studies. Nancey Murphy and Veli-Matti Karkkainen recommended this to me a few years ago and I recommend it to incoming seminarians. Although it is formidable reading it will no doubt advance the student.
The following are necessary reference works that I would recommend to the ardent and dedicated student who wishes to advance in his or her studies:
//Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren – How to Read a Book: A Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading//
This is the hermeneutical text par excellence. I have not read a more superlative book on how to read books. Adler and Doren proffer many methods and insights into reading particular genres of texts. Including, but not limited to, biblical studies, philosophy, history, poetry and fiction. I have read this work twice and look forward to reading it again. I read it when I first came to seminary and again when I completed my second year of study. It has been extremely helpful and I surmise the same will be the case with the incoming seminarian. In my studies I have deduced that the best students are those who know how to read and how to read those who they are reading. Adler and Doren provide a means to arriving at this end.
//Lucreita B. Yaghjian – Writing Theology Well: A Rhetoric for Theological and Biblical Writers//
I discovered this book earlier this year and have not yet completed it though, ever since I purchased it I have continuously referred to it for writing all things theological. I appreciate Yaghjian’s rhetoric, logic, and argumentation. She expounds the uses of rhetoric and logic in theological argumentation and displays how the student can write cogently and professionally. I only recommend this for the advanced student.
//Nancy Vyhmeister – Quality Research Papers: For Students of Religion and Theology//
I read this, along with How to Read a Book, my first quarter here at Fuller. Since then it has been an indispensable resource for me in my studies. It is succinct and outlines the necessary guidelines for writing theological essays according to the Chicago or Turabian style of writing, which is standard for most seminaries and theological graduate programs, without all the superfluous details. I recommend this for all incoming seminarians.
