After 2-century of mission history, development of churches are stagnating and negative evaluations on Christianity is added. At this point of time, it is necessary to assess whether schools that were established for evangelization are properly doing their works. Especially, since seminaries are education organization with special purpose, one ought to assess if curricula are running under the initial purpose. Based on this, present paper will attempt to find the general theory of Christian colleges and seminaries. Evaluation and analysis will be made from YTUS under denomination of Presbyterian Church of Korea(Tonghap)
The word college derived from ‘collegium,’ a form of dormitory in medieval age. This illustrates that university study was in the form of communitarian lives of teachers and students in dormitory. Universitas was made as students and teachers formed association following guild system that was made for interests of merchants in medieval era. Form of Seminaries has its root in medieval times. Originally, the word ‘seminary’ derives from a Latin word with meaning of ‘small patch of land selected to grow saplings.’ In Renaissance this was developed as ‘place for training to guard special traditions and further the meaning was settled as ‘place for theological education for clergies with special mission’ in modern era.
Seminaries were influenced from churches, monasteries, and universities. Their ministerial formation was influenced from church tradition while spiritual formation and academic formation were influenced from monastery tradition and university tradition respectively. In early times, Martin Luther divided theology education into oratio, meditatio and tentatio and exerted only the combination of these three can lead to holistic theology education. Likewise, today’s seminaries can make a firm theoretical education when they do not lose the tradition of monasteries, churches and universities and keep them balanced.
Based on such educational tradition seminaries ought consider conditions of today’s Korean churches and develop new curricula. Since there are overloaded pastors who are more than demands one ought to develop new ministerial model and reflect it to theoretical education as alternative. New interests in recent years such as “tent making ministry” or “business and ministry” will also have to be led to new phase of ministry on well-established theology. Also, leaderships that consider unified Korean churches will also have to be cultivated.