Scripture in Seminary

[brycehecht]

What is the Scripture curriculum like in the seminary?

 

[Dave_Noonan]

What is the Scripture curriculum like in the seminary?

Programs vary pretty widely, so it’s difficult to generalize. A few require study in biblical languages, but the vast majority don’t. Fifteen to eighteen units (5-6 classes) are pretty standard.

Maybe if you could be more specific I could help.

 

[Gorgias]

A few require study in biblical languages, but the vast majority don’t.

Latin is a Scriptural language; it’s required for Catholic seminarians.

Greek and Hebrew? Not so much. At the very least, they’ll be offered, if not required.

If you’re talking about the guidelines for U.S. seminarians, the Program for Priestly Formation is a good place to look. Among other things, it states, "n Scripture, the core should include the study of the Pentateuch, the historical, prophetic and wisdom (especially the Psalms) books of the Old Testament, the Synoptic Gospels and Acts, Pauline and Johannine literature, and the Catholic epistles" (#199).

 

[Theophorus]

Latin is a Scriptural language; it’s required for Catholic seminarians.

Greek and Hebrew? Not so much. At the very least, they’ll be offered, if not required.

If you’re talking about the guidelines for U.S. seminarians, the Program for Priestly Formation is a good place to look. Among other things, it states, "n Scripture, the core should include the study of the Pentateuch, the historical, prophetic and wisdom (especially the Psalms) books of the Old Testament, the Synoptic Gospels and Acts, Pauline and Johannine literature, and the Catholic epistles" (#199).

Greek is compulsory in most if not all places now-a-days(It’s sometimes done during Philosophical studies though). Hebrew is generally optional but some places I know are bringing in a compulsory “introduction to Hebrew course” so that you at least have a basic understanding of it.

 

[Dave_Noonan]

Latin is a Scriptural language; it’s required for Catholic seminarians.

Greek and Hebrew? Not so much. At the very least, they’ll be offered, if not required.

If you’re talking about the guidelines for U.S. seminarians, the Program for Priestly Formation is a good place to look. Among other things, it states, "n Scripture, the core should include the study of the Pentateuch, the historical, prophetic and wisdom (especially the Psalms) books of the Old Testament, the Synoptic Gospels and Acts, Pauline and Johannine literature, and the Catholic epistles" (#199).

It’s a misconception that Latin is generally required of Catholic seminarians. It’s true of a few seminaries but not many.

 

[Gorgias]

It’s a misconception that Latin is generally required of Catholic seminarians. It’s true of a few seminaries but not many.

It’s a misconception that Latin is only generally required. From the PPF, #182: “Particular attention must be given to ensure that before entering the theologate all seminarians can demonstrate that they have acquired that ‘knowledge of Latin which will enable them to understand and make use of so many scientific sources and of the documents of the Church,’ according to the insistence of the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council.”

Now, whether seminaries meet that burden is a different question; but whether the requirement exists is unquestioned…

 

[Gorgias]

Greek is compulsory in most if not all places now-a-days

Are we talking about U.S. seminaries? Definitely not ‘all’, and I don’t know about ‘most’, either…

 

[TimothyH]

Latin is a Scriptural language; it’s required for Catholic seminarians.

Greek and Hebrew? Not so much. At the very least, they’ll be offered, if not required.

What does “Latin is a Scriptural language” mean? And how can it Latin be more scriptural than the languages with which Scripture was actually written?

I don’t really understand what most people mean when they say that such-and-such is “scriptural.” Someone else this evening posted that gold is scriptural. If gold is scriptural because it is found in scripture then so is famine and pestilence.

-Tim-

 

[Gorgias]

What does “Latin is a Scriptural language” mean?

Not that Scripture was originally written in Latin, of course.

However, it means that the Catholic Church still looks to the Vulgate as one of the important translations of Scripture; it means that knowing how to read the Vulgate is important for someone who wants to delve deeply into the Church’s Scriptural traditions, especially in the context of theological works written in Latin which quote Scripture in that language…

And how can it Latin be more scriptural than the languages with which Scripture was actually written?

“More scriptural”? Who said “more scriptural”? Oh… you.

 

[Dave_Noonan]

It’s a misconception that Latin is only generally required. From the PPF, #182: “Particular attention must be given to ensure that before entering the theologate all seminarians can demonstrate that they have acquired that ‘knowledge of Latin which will enable them to understand and make use of so many scientific sources and of the documents of the Church,’ according to the insistence of the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council.”

Now, whether seminaries meet that burden is a different question; but whether the requirement exists is unquestioned…

Yes, you’re absolutely right about the requirement. But you follow Fr. Z’s blog for any length of time at all, you will learn that few seminaries actually follow through.

 

[Dave_Noonan]

What is the Scripture curriculum like in the seminary?

It would be helpful to know if you are just looking for information, or whether you are looking for a more rigorous program, or whether the potential of language work or something else is causing you hesitation here.

 

[Gorgias]

Yes, you’re absolutely right about the requirement. But you follow Fr. Z’s blog for any length of time at all, you will learn that few seminaries actually follow through.

LOL!

Certainly, few implement it in the way that Fr Z would like – especially since, I think it’s fair to say, he would like to see all seminarians be able to walk out of seminary and celebrate the EF Mass – but, that isn’t what the PPF asks. Rather, it simply asks that the grasp of Latin be sufficient to read Church docs. (Analogously, grad students are often required to have ‘reading knowledge’ of a language relevant to their discipline; but, this doesn’t mean that they should be able to walk into a pub in Paris or Munich and carry on a conversation… )

 

[zippy2006]

…you will learn that few seminaries actually follow through.

Tally up the various “requirements” from the PPF and then calculate how long it would actually take to accomplish them all. There are some countries that have 12 or 14-year seminary programs beginning with high school seminary, but this is not generally the case in the United States. When 8-year tracks are the norm, something has to be cut.

 

[Theophorus]

Are we talking about U.S. seminaries? Definitely not ‘all’, and I don’t know about ‘most’, either…

Really? I’m sorry to hear that. Most of the European and all of the Roman seminaries definitely do. I know several American seminarians who studied Greek in the US as part of their formation and I was lead to believe its was a common thing.

 

[Gorgias]

I know several American seminarians who studied Greek in the US as part of their formation and I was lead to believe its was a common thing.

It’s common to study it, yes, I’d agree. Were they saying “I studied Greek” or were they saying “I was required to study Greek”…?