Degree or Not Degree? That is the Question
Exploring the relationship of the Orthodox Church to academics, especially in seminaries.
“A true theologian is one who prays” - Evagrios of Pontus
At time of writing, most Orthodox jurisdictions in America require candidates for the Priesthood to have completed a Masters of Divinity at an Orthodox seminary. Here in the UK, we don’t have the same requirement, we don’t even have any seminaries. All that is available to candidates for the Priesthood, or other interested parties, are a few online courses, or a degree in theology from a secular university. For me, this begs the question; what does the academy have to do with the Church?
Now it should be said that studying formal academic degrees is useful for something. It demonstrates to others that one has gained sufficient knowledge of a subject, and can communicate that knowledge (usually in written format). A degree certificate is a place holder for the statement; “trust me, I know stuff”. This is all well and good for secular subjects, especially the sciences, but does this really have any place in the Church?
In her book ‘Thinking Orthodox’,1 Dr Jeannie Constantinou (an academic herself), outlines the general Orthodox approach to education;
“While we maintain that the theologian is “one who prays”, this maxim must not be misconstrued and distorted to mean that no education is need to teach theology or answer theological questions. One can be illumined with knowledge of God through prayer alone, but this is exceptional, and such Saints did not spout their opinions on the internet or casually discuss theology in other settings… It was the educated Saints, the Fathers of the Church, who wrote treatises and scripture commentaries and responded to questions about complex matters of theology.” (Page 252)
St Gregory the Theologian also notes;
“[Theology] is not for all people, but only for those who have been tested and have found a sound footing in study, and more importantly, have undergone, or at the very least are undergoing, purification of body and soul.” (On God and Christ, Oration 27)
It seems then that those who in the Church who are ordained to teach, whether as clergy or not, should receive some sort of education in Orthodox theology. I would contend however that the modern seminary model (which only started in the 1960s), existing within academia more broadly, doesn’t achieve this very well.
There may be those who wish to become academics, but the average Priest or catechist, in my opinion, should not be expected to complete a masters level degree in theology at a seminary. My reason are as follows;
A masters degree is a very high level of education for the duties and pay of the average Priest (especially given the fact that many Priests, the majority in the UK, are not paid).
It requires one to have already obtained a bachelors degree, usually in a subject that is not related to theology, which is an unnecessary and inapplicable additional burden.
Masters degree require a certain level of interaction with purely academic literature, including the completion of a research dissertation, which has no practical bearing on the life of a parish.
One’s ability to write academic papers has no import in the duties of a pastor.
Having centralised seminaries mean that candidates have to leave their parish context, sometimes uprooting their entire family, to move across the country (again at great expense), with no guarantee of employment at the end of the process.
Given the fact that Orthodoxy in the Western world is going through somewhat of a clergy crisis,2 it may be time to reassess our approach. It’s my opinion that it is profoundly unimportant for clergy to be able to explicate the Christological metaphysics of St Maximus the Confessor or assess the effects of the neo-patristic movement in the twentieth century. It would be my suggestion that candidates for the Priesthood need only demonstrate they are competent in the following subjects;
The fundamental dogmatic tradition of the Church, as expressed in the Ecumenical Councils (and subsequent universal councils).
The mainstream patristic tradition, both East and West.
The Holy Scriptures, in particular, the Gospels.
This seems to me more than enough education to be able to fulfil one’s Priestly duties. Those that wish to read further, can do so, by either completing academic degrees, or with self-guided study. Of course one also needs spiritual, pastoral, and liturgical formation, but that can take place in one’s own parish, with the oversight of a senior Priest. There is no need for higher degree programmes in centralised seminaries to achieve this. Clergy education could be completed through mentorship programmes or non-academic online courses.
Seminaries may have been a good idea at the time, and met the pastoral needs of the Church of that period, but today they seem pretty expensive, excessive, and obsolete. They also yoke the Church to the requirements of the broader academic establishment. It’s my opinion then, that whilst academics can be useful, it should not take such a centralised place in the training for the various Church ministries.
NB: Everything expressed in this article is merely my opinion, and should not be taken as authoritative in any way. I am not a bishop, nor a saint, nor an academic, nor a spiritual father. If anything I say contradicts the teachings of your bishop, ignore me, and follow him. Additionally, all my articles are living documents, and so may be updated or refined over time, as I learn more, or discover better ways of articulating my points.
I have criticised this book before for it’s anti-Western sentiment and I stand by those comments. However, despite it’s flaws, the book is still an excellent read to get an idea of how the Orthodox Church approaches theology.
An interesting article. I observe that in my country, Germany, the effort to become a priest is much too high to take advantage of the potential that arises from the fact that trust in the national churches is low. People, disillusioned with the churches but spiritually hungry, are actually open to sound Christian teaching. Instead, churches are being closed, and Orthodox Christians remain hidden, so that I often call them Christian ninjas—churches without email addresses, without websites in our language, and often not even information about when they are open. Evangelization does not take place at all.
I understand this, considering that the churches are funded by foreign groups to support their spiritual needs. However, it seems to me that we are not yet in a time where Western Europe is the target of Orthodox evangelization. Instead, it is "a foreign territory where we build fortresses to support those who already believe." Through all my conversion, I never met an Orthodox nearby who went out of their way to talk to me, or anyone in that matter. I think it is time to go beyond that.