Nine Disciplines of a Successful Seminary Student

One discipline I would add is to let the Bible challenge your preconceived beliefs.

Many undergraduate students have their faith formed primarily from their parents, pastor(s) in their youth, and bible teachers in college. It is not generally until after the undergraduate studies (and sometimes a few years more life experience) that most people today really form proper critical thinking skills and the “guts” to really question their own beliefs that were learned mainly from these prominent people in their lives. So forging a real foundation of knowing from the Bible why you believe what you believe, or if you even should be believing what you believe, is important, but it takes the discipline of questioning yourself against the Bible to forge that foundation.

And that discipline should remain.

Somehow I’d reorder the list as:

1. Personal relationship with God (and all that ought to entail)

2. Relationship with family

3. Languages (Hebrew, Greek)

4. Logic/exegesis

5. Rhetoric/hermeneutics/etc..

….and then go from there. It’s along the lines of Scott’s challenge “do you have what it takes to question your own assumptions?”, as far too many are taught what to think instead of how to think. It’s a dangerous reality in the church today.