What Dietrich Bonhoeffer Can Teach Us about Seminary Education
A Most Treasured Vocation
As recent bestselling biographies by Eric Metaxas and Charles Marsh indicate, Bonhoeffer is usually remembered as university professor, pastor, spy, and martyr. Yet he served as a seminary director from 1935 to 1940, longer than he did in any of these other important roles.
Seminary work was his most treasured vocation. He returned to it from America in 1939, and stayed in it until he had no other option. As director, he insisted on face-to-face, community-based pastoral formation for theological reasons he gives in The Cost of Discipleship and Life Together, which he wrote during these years. As I survey the landscape of seminary education these days, especially as practiced by evangelicals, I pray that Bonhoeffer the theologically-driven seminary director will be taken seriously.
Rooted in Ecclesiology
Bonhoeffer’s commitment to face-to-face, community-based pastoral formation grew from his understanding of the church, the subject of his first two books. In those books he argued from Scripture and sociological theory that the church is a living community of practicing believers. This community is a flesh-and-blood body—the body of Christ on earth. This body moves, speaks, and takes up space. It is not abstract. It is not invisible. Thus, where there is no body there is no church.
Bonhoeffer believed that a seminary shaping future pastors is a ministry of the church, not a credentialing service selling credits. So it must include the hearts, minds, and bodies of students, teachers, staff members, and church people. All are responsible to their brothers and sisters in Christ. Jesus and Paul shaped ministers this way, and so should all who wish to be biblical.
Bonhoeffer's Seminary Vision
Paul R. House
Exploring a neglected facet of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s life and legacy, this book examines his work training seminary students for pastoral ministry, arguing for personal, face-to-face education in response to today's rise of online education.
A Powerful Warning
Bonhoeffer’s accurate understanding of the church and its seminary ministry offers a powerful warning to us. Where there is no body, there are no disciples, no church, and thus no seminary. Since a body cannot exist on a screen or online, neither can churches or seminaries. Being physically present is essential for ministerial preparation.
As we mark Bonhoeffer’s death, let us celebrate Christ’s body by giving up disembodied seminary education. Let us help donors see the importance of supporting face-to-face formation. Let administrators and teachers commit to in-person education. Let students insist seminaries provide biblical formation. Let mission boards send people—not videos—to international seminaries.
Let us all commit to costly discipleship and life together for Christ’s body’s sake.
