Should You Be a Professor or a Pastor? Thinking Through the Options

Since I am a professor at a seminary, it is not unusual (indeed, it is very common) for students to come to me for advice about whether they should enter the pastorate or seek to be a professor.  While many of these students may have entered seminary with the intention of entering pastoral ministry, they have found themselves falling in love with a deep study of theology and the Bible.  And so, they think, perhaps the academic world is right for them.

I confess that I am often torn when students come to me with this question.  On the one hand, I want to discourage students from pursuing the Ph.D./professor …

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