tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781025358855188363.post1363293668036433938..comments2024-03-01T00:32:54.623-08:00Comments on McGahey's McMusings: On Atomizing and Creating Biblical ModelsJames McGaheyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10989740777303666667noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781025358855188363.post-22003899683991328202012-05-25T06:19:16.588-07:002012-05-25T06:19:16.588-07:00Thank you!Thank you!James McGaheyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10989740777303666667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781025358855188363.post-23507578189982561122012-05-24T18:09:14.907-07:002012-05-24T18:09:14.907-07:00Hi, your blog really touches me, have been reading...Hi, your blog really touches me, have been reading it for a while... Just wanted you to know about a website i started ReadYourBiblesChurch.com... It's a place for Bible study guides.. I also put a forum in that can be viewed from a mobile device.. I couldn't find where to contact you privately so I'm commenting, hope that is okay. :) God Bless!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781025358855188363.post-16875826815135115712012-05-23T14:51:33.397-07:002012-05-23T14:51:33.397-07:00I understand. I am still living with the financial...I understand. I am still living with the financial consquences of a graduate education I started 33 years ago--and it isn't pretty. The solution has to reside at the local church level (I would say denominations, but independents nd Baptists view everything at the local level). The problem is that most Xians don't really understand what is involved in serious Biblical study because everything is presented in a basic, black and white way in their sermons and sunday schools. Indeed, we are taught to leave our learning back in our studies--which is good in the sense that pomposity has no place in the pulpit or classroom, but not when we fail to educate or inform the flock of the ambiguities and difficulties of the text. There is no easy solution, but forgoing graduate theological education can't be the answer (especially for churches in the highly- educated city centers and affluent suburbs here in North America). Another problem is the rising cost of education. The extra money certainly isn't going to the salaries of the professors, most of whom are criminally underpaid. Technology and campus amenities are the main sinkholes--the former a perceived necessity, the latter so as to woo prospective students with visions of an exciting college life. Unfortunately, the problem of the cost of education isn't limited to biblical studies. It is a fact of life that wages have stagnated or gone down while the cost of living has increased substantially. There are no easy solutions, at least at the level of the free market.James McGaheyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10989740777303666667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781025358855188363.post-44023862657369975862012-05-23T14:36:12.810-07:002012-05-23T14:36:12.810-07:00Dr. M, I agree that theological education is of pa...Dr. M, I agree that theological education is of paramount importance, especially for those who are leading God's flock. I don't think the cost of such education is ever justified, however. With higher education there simply must be a market value return on investment. Sure, you can't put a price on the spiritual enrichment and benefit of theological education, however for all these students going into debt with no counseling by their parents or especially the financial aid departments at these schools, it's just insane. I am one who attended a college of higher learning in biblical studies and am now stuck with paying the bill for that education. It is a burden that has forced me to obtain education in a completely unrelated field just so I can ever hope to begin to pay down the debt. I don't think I will ever go into full time ministry as I intended. Bitterness has been a struggle, but I'm still working through that. I was an ignorant kid who thought I was doing a good thing by both attending college and seeking to go into ministry. There needs to be an overhaul in how churches seek to educate those within their congregations in rigorous theological studies, and I think sponsorship needs to be a part of that. $25,000 a year on a bible degree is unacceptable. It is financial suicide and no one without substantial wealth or sponsorship could ever afford it. What good are Christians in the U.S. who are saddled with debt to the point where they have no resources to give to the poor let alone the church. This is not only a growing concern for the secular world, but it is a ticking time bomb as it relates to the church.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com