I find it quite difficult to convey the extent to which I believe the four years I spent at NBS enriched my life.  I have no hesitation in describing my choice to attend seminary, and to attend at NBS, as one of the most beneficial of my life.

 

At no time in my life prior to graduating college had attending seminary even been a blip on the radar screen of my consciousness.  I received a degree in history and moved home to work off the vestiges of collegiate financial obligation.  Two of my closest friends were at that time attending NBS and were recounting its virtues to me.  I had an interest in Biblical languages and was conscious of my own inadequacies in Biblical study, but seminary?  Seminary is for pastors or people like that.  I was not conscious of any pronounced draw or call to the ministry.  Why voluntarily undertake more schooling?   However, God saw fit to encourage me along this path, and I became more amenable to the idea and more intrigued with the idea of learning how better to study God's word. 

 

I wound up at NBS a bit vague about my reasons for attending and with a marked degree of curiosity.  I found it to be an institution focused on fidelity to the Scriptures and on living faithfully in personal terms.  Lest one think that seminary is a multiplication of the academic at the expense of the relational, any interaction with the faculty at NBS would quickly disabuse him or her of such a notion.  It is the school's faculty that is its greatest strength.  I believe I can truthfully state that what I imbibed from their conduct, attitudes, and demeanor was more effective in what progress I have made toward Christ-likeness than any other factor there.  To be sure, I studied the concomitant specifics of a seminary degree, and profited much thereby, but without the personal relationships developed with the professors, such an education would have remained lacking. 

 

This is not to say that NBS does not place priority on academics – quite the contrary, as anyone who has had the pleasure of being on the pointy end of senior orals can affirm.  Given that the Bible is our only source of reliable knowledge about God and our responsibilities to him, NBS rightly emphasizes the development of abilities and skills for accurate, responsible, and meaningful study of, and communication about, God's word.

 

I suppose one of the questions that a seminary graduate must face is "so what is a seminary degree good for?"  I am not sure that quantitative terms are an adequate way to express it.  The education I received has informed all of my interaction with life.  It had a role in helping to develop my worldview, critical thinking skills, Biblical studies competencies, and communicative abilities, just to name a few.  But I think that all that pales somewhat alongside the simple fact that seminary was really, really good in helping me to know God better.

 

Josh Michael