How liberal is too liberal for Divinity/Theology/Seminary?

[Joncantarero]

I think almost everyone can agree that our undergrad years opened our eyes drastically, namely with respect to tolerance and faith. My questions is when this liberal mindedness leaps over onto a seminary setting. Do you think you can be "too liberal" as a seminarian? I'm talking specifically about places like Union, HDS, YDS etc.

Seems like many faculty members seem to care more about making their theology fit with their progressive views and not if their views are inline what their religious beliefs would have been, separate from those views. I'm all for open-mindedness, but can some schools be reaching too far? I Know we can all give examples of schools being too conservative.

[marXian]

If you're asking this question, then for you, the answer is almost undoubtedly going to be "Yes." People who attend the places you mentioned and apprecaite the theology being taught there probably feel as though those institutions/faculties are on the right track, in general, with regard to their theology.

I went to Fuller Seminary--a post-conservative evangelical institution. I grew up in an evangelical environment, so I knew the ropes, but for me, it was frustratingly conservative at times, and I found that what you're saying about making theology fit "views" (I'm not sure if you're talking about politics here or what) was true for students but not faculty--and true in the opposite sense in that their theology fit their conservative political agenda. (You can imagine which issues were at the forefront over the last three years.) Faculty, however, never engaged in that sort of thinking in my experience. If I were a conservative evangelical, however, I probably would not have felt that way about those students. See what I'm saying?

Fuller considers itself to be in the middle of the spectrum (Dallas people say we're a pack of heathen communists, while GTU people say we're all right-wing fundie wackos), and for me, I've found that to be mostly true. But it's really relative. Maybe finding a school that seems to feel that way for you would be good if this is something you're worried about. But definitely don't choose a seminary by trying to match up its theology exactly with yours. Seminary is a place to have all of your theological answers questioned--not have your questions answered. No matter where you go, expect to hear something that challenges your theology--which is good.

[Balatro]

I doubt you could be "too liberal" at Union or HDS - there is, at Yale, a minority voice of students and faculty that want to "redefine" Christianity for a modern world (or as Spong's book is titled, Reclaiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World) that has some interesting and thought provoking conversations but they're a minority for now.

[Stringfellow]

Jon, since you asked specifically about seminary settings, I presume you are intending to pursue or at least wanting to keep your options open for a career in ministry? When I asked one of my undergraduate professors who had earned his Ph.D. at Chicago whether it was a good school to attend to prepare for ministry, he said it was not and that I would do better to go to seminary at a denominational institution. Harvard has the same reputation. Both are seen as schools that approach religious studies more from the perspective of examining religions from the outside rather than living them from the inside. However, I think at Yale, Vanderbilt, or Candler--to name a few other places I have some experience with--you would find a lot of faithful people (among both students and faculty) struggling with the same questions you might be asking and working to come to terms with academic challenges. I'm a generally liberal person, but there are some progressive views I can't accept. Still, outside of an institution that is very focused on a religious studies approach to the field, I think a fair number of schools can be comfortable places for people of most ideological persuasions--provided they are open to asking and answering questions about their faith.