Is There a Place for Female Professors at Seminary? A Response to John Piper
(This article was first published in French at www.toutpoursagloire.com).
Last year, Pastor John Piper answered the following question in an episode of his podcast, Ask Pastor John: "Is there a place for female professors at seminary?" In the days following the episode, the internet was flooded with lively debates on the issue!
Time does not allow me to debate all the points in his argument, but I would like to address the main points. According to Piper, "The role of seminary is to prepare men for pastoral leadership in a church." Piper believes that seminaries are most effective when they focus on training pastors.
It seems to me, in all humility, that this is a narrow view of the purpose of theological training. I understand Piper's desire to limit women's access to seminary faculties. But his argument, which must be understood in the context of his vision of the role of theological education, seems to exclude women at all levels.
I appreciate John Piper. He has been a huge influence in my life through his books and podcasts. And in this article, Pastor John states, "The the issue is not whether women should attend seminary in one of its programs and get the best biblical grounding possible." Yet, from his perspective on the role of seminary, it seems that there would be no place for women on the faculty, nor for women who feel a call to ministry.
Why is that? Because Piper argues that "The proper demand on the seminary teacher is to be an example, a mentor, a guide, an embodiment of the pastoral office in preparing men to fill the pastoral office." He goes on to say, "The more one succeeds in distinguishing the seminary teacher from the pastor teacher, the more one fails to provide the kind of seminary education enriched by the modeling of experienced pastor-mentors."
I understand his reasoning. The danger is that our evangelical theological faculties become ivory towers where theology is transmitted without discipleship or mentoring, which only an experienced minister of the gospel can give. But if theological faculties prepare men and women for various service opportunities, why not include specialists in a variety of ministries?
I received my master's degree from a conservative seminary, Moody Theological Seminary (MTS). I went there on the advice of my mentor at university, a professor at The Master's Seminary - you can't get much more conservative than that! About half of the students at MTS were women, and I didn't know of any who were preparing for the pastorate. Moreover, a lot of the guys weren't necessarily there with the ambition of becoming pastors either. Many of the girls felt a strong call to missions. Others had a heart for the ministry to women or children in the local church. Still others felt called to sports ministry, urban ministry, Bible translation, biblical counseling, chaplaincy, etc.
As a complementarian, I am not advocating for women to teach theology at the seminary level. No women did so at my seminary. But we had a professor who taught research methods, and other conservative seminaries have women who teach biblical languages, missiology, and other such disciplines.
Most of the female students at my seminary opted for a two-year master's programs. Being the nerd that I am, I chose the 3-year MDiv, a more academically rigorous program that required two years of Koinè Greek and one year of Biblical Hebrew. Not surprisingly, I was one of a very small minority of such women.
My experience as the only woman in quite a few of my classes convinced me of the importance of a female presence in seminary, since without the presence of women, pastors in training will only hear the male perspective of things. I will give just one example.
In one of my preaching courses, a student preached a sermon in which he illustrated his point by telling a rather negative story about his wife. I asked him about it and the well-meaning brother said, "But it all turned out well, and she learned a valuable lesson." It seems to me, however, that the wife of a pastor is already sufficiently the target of easy criticism without her husband providing new ammunition! If I hadn't been there, I'm not sure that the men in this class would have thought of making such an remark...
This and similar experiences as one of the only MDiv chicks has made me thankful. First, for the fact that the doors to theological education were opened to us decades ago. And secondly, for the opportunity to be a voice in the lives of future pastors and leaders.
In my last two years in seminary, 90% of my classmates were men, because of the structure of the MDiv program. These brothers respected me and gave me a place at the table, whether in the cafeteria or in the classroom. And I'd like to believe that in a way this camaraderie contributed to the way these men view women in their current ministries.
I believe that in order for pastors to hear the voices of women in their churches today, it is to their advantage to hear them throughout their training, whether it's from female faculty members or from female students. Because whether it's in the academy or in the church, when men hear only men, the sound is monotone. But when a diversity of voices speak, the beauty of the kingdom of God is more like a harmonious choir.
Last year, Pastor John Piper answered the following question in an episode of his podcast, Ask Pastor John: "Is there a place for female professors at seminary?" In the days following the episode, the internet was flooded with lively debates on the issue!
Time does not allow me to debate all the points in his argument, but I would like to address the main points. According to Piper, "The role of seminary is to prepare men for pastoral leadership in a church." Piper believes that seminaries are most effective when they focus on training pastors.
It seems to me, in all humility, that this is a narrow view of the purpose of theological training. I understand Piper's desire to limit women's access to seminary faculties. But his argument, which must be understood in the context of his vision of the role of theological education, seems to exclude women at all levels.
I appreciate John Piper. He has been a huge influence in my life through his books and podcasts. And in this article, Pastor John states, "The the issue is not whether women should attend seminary in one of its programs and get the best biblical grounding possible." Yet, from his perspective on the role of seminary, it seems that there would be no place for women on the faculty, nor for women who feel a call to ministry.
Why is that? Because Piper argues that "The proper demand on the seminary teacher is to be an example, a mentor, a guide, an embodiment of the pastoral office in preparing men to fill the pastoral office." He goes on to say, "The more one succeeds in distinguishing the seminary teacher from the pastor teacher, the more one fails to provide the kind of seminary education enriched by the modeling of experienced pastor-mentors."
I understand his reasoning. The danger is that our evangelical theological faculties become ivory towers where theology is transmitted without discipleship or mentoring, which only an experienced minister of the gospel can give. But if theological faculties prepare men and women for various service opportunities, why not include specialists in a variety of ministries?
I received my master's degree from a conservative seminary, Moody Theological Seminary (MTS). I went there on the advice of my mentor at university, a professor at The Master's Seminary - you can't get much more conservative than that! About half of the students at MTS were women, and I didn't know of any who were preparing for the pastorate. Moreover, a lot of the guys weren't necessarily there with the ambition of becoming pastors either. Many of the girls felt a strong call to missions. Others had a heart for the ministry to women or children in the local church. Still others felt called to sports ministry, urban ministry, Bible translation, biblical counseling, chaplaincy, etc.
As a complementarian, I am not advocating for women to teach theology at the seminary level. No women did so at my seminary. But we had a professor who taught research methods, and other conservative seminaries have women who teach biblical languages, missiology, and other such disciplines.
Most of the female students at my seminary opted for a two-year master's programs. Being the nerd that I am, I chose the 3-year MDiv, a more academically rigorous program that required two years of Koinè Greek and one year of Biblical Hebrew. Not surprisingly, I was one of a very small minority of such women.
My experience as the only woman in quite a few of my classes convinced me of the importance of a female presence in seminary, since without the presence of women, pastors in training will only hear the male perspective of things. I will give just one example.
In one of my preaching courses, a student preached a sermon in which he illustrated his point by telling a rather negative story about his wife. I asked him about it and the well-meaning brother said, "But it all turned out well, and she learned a valuable lesson." It seems to me, however, that the wife of a pastor is already sufficiently the target of easy criticism without her husband providing new ammunition! If I hadn't been there, I'm not sure that the men in this class would have thought of making such an remark...
This and similar experiences as one of the only MDiv chicks has made me thankful. First, for the fact that the doors to theological education were opened to us decades ago. And secondly, for the opportunity to be a voice in the lives of future pastors and leaders.
In my last two years in seminary, 90% of my classmates were men, because of the structure of the MDiv program. These brothers respected me and gave me a place at the table, whether in the cafeteria or in the classroom. And I'd like to believe that in a way this camaraderie contributed to the way these men view women in their current ministries.
I believe that in order for pastors to hear the voices of women in their churches today, it is to their advantage to hear them throughout their training, whether it's from female faculty members or from female students. Because whether it's in the academy or in the church, when men hear only men, the sound is monotone. But when a diversity of voices speak, the beauty of the kingdom of God is more like a harmonious choir.
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