Glorifying God in Every Sphere of Life
The Lifelong Value of Classical Christian Education in Any Calling or Career
Also: Walking in the Good Way on Ancient Paths: Greek, Hebrew, and Latin Studies Remain Core at Bethlehem
From the President
No Greater Joy
“For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” (3 John 3–4)
Third John is the shortest book of the Bible—it has only 219 words in Greek and takes an average reader just two minutes to read in English translation. One commentator writes, “This is a letter with which seasoned ministers should resonate. There are no frills.” It is this brief, no-frills book that informs my year-end reflections on God’s faithfulness to Bethlehem College and Seminary because of its focus on truth, discipleship, and joy.
Walking in the Truth
Third John refers seven times to “truth” or what is “true.” The apostle’s testimony is true, he loves believers in truth, and he calls for the church to walk in the truth and work together for truth. At Bethlehem, we seek to proclaim the truth, to praise the one true God, and to prize his trustworthy and true Word. We aim to teach what is true and lasting, not what is trending and fleeting. Every one of our academic programs includes courses in biblical Greek and systematic theology to equip students to read, understand, and believe the greatest Book in all the world, God’s inerrant Word. I love to study the Scriptures with Bethlehem students and rejoice that so many of our graduates are faithfully proclaiming the truth to their children, their churches, and their coworkers.
Face to Face
Third John is a remarkably personal letter. The apostle expresses deep affection for the beloved Gaius, he longs to “talk face to face” with him, and he concludes with the exhortation, “greet the friends, each by name.” Likewise, Bethlehem faculty and staff are personally invested in the lives of our students and view education as a vehicle for discipleship. We not only want students to grasp course material but to grow into mature men and women ready to witness for Christ. As more and more institutions have expanded their online programs, Bethlehem continues to offer intentional, interactive, in-person classes taught by godly, mature, seasoned teachers. No Greater Joy
At Bethlehem, our tagline is “Education in Serious Joy.” The Bible summons us to “rejoice in the Lord,” who alone satisfies our thirsty souls with the rivers of his delights. Finding our supreme happiness in the one true God is no individual quest but a community project. That’s why the apostle expresses delight in the news that his friend Gaius and other spiritual children “are walking in the truth.” That is, they continue to believe the true gospel of Jesus Christ and put what they’ve heard into practice.
Reflecting on these truths from 3 John makes me think of our many former students who are now pastoring churches, teaching at Christian schools, excelling in the marketplace, raising children, and spreading a passion for Jesus Christ among the nations. I have been very encouraged by conversations with our alumni over the past year at Serious Joy: The Bethlehem Conference for Pastors and Godward Life conference, and on other occasions. I reconnected with one seminary graduate who brought a team of lay elders from his church in Wisconsin. I learned that one of our college graduates recently accepted an associate pastor role alongside one of our early seminary graduates who pastors a small church in Minnesota. At a recent gathering of Bethlehem College alumni, it was delightful to see our former students with their spouses and children and to hear stories of God’s faithfulness as they started families and careers, completed graduate school or seminary, persevered through suffering, served in their churches, and continued to pursue the Lord. Multiple alumni told me that they still treasure the friendships forged during their collegiate studies and they remain deeply grateful to God for the formative education they received at Bethlehem. Our alumni have also begun to reinvest generously in the institution in
We aim to teach what is true and lasting, not what is trending and fleeting. Every one of our academic programs includes courses in biblical Greek and systematic theology to equip students to read, understand, and believe the greatest Book in all the world, God’s inerrant Word.
various ways. For example, alumni have funded at least thirty-six Serious Joy Scholarships to enable current students to receive a Bible-saturated, academically rigorous education at unusually low tuition so that they too can launch into life and ministry without the burden of student loan debt. Thanks be to God for his good gifts!
In this issue of Serious Joy, our semi-annual report to the friends of Bethlehem College and Seminary, you will have opportunity to learn of how we are cultivating in our students the “Habits of Mind and Heart” that Chancellor John Piper has so long championed; indeed which he has made the focus of his newest book, Foundations for Lifelong Learning, excerpted here for your consideration. Perhaps, more importantly, you also be treated to some vignettes of how our college graduates are putting this classical, Christian education to work in a variety of rewarding vocations. Truly, I have no greater joy than to hear that our former students are walking with the truth.
Dr. Brian J. Tabb Interim President
NEWS & EVENTS
EVENTS
Serious Joy: The 36th Bethlehem Conference for Pastors
January 29 - 31, 2024 Saint Paul RiverCentre, St. Paul, MN
Winter and Spring Preview Days
February 16 and April 12 2024
Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis bcsmn.edu/event/preview
14th Annual Commencement Exercises Friday, May 17, 2024 7:00 p.m.
LEADERSHIP UPDATES AND NEWS
The trustees, faculty, staff, alumni, students, and contributors of Bethlehem College and Seminary express their effusive gratitude to God for the long, sacrificial, and fruitful service of Mr. and Mrs. Jason Abell.
Jason Abell, M.B.A., Liberty University, left a successful career as a civil engineer in Washington state in 2005 to join The Bethlehem Institute (TBI) as a pastoral apprentice. He volunteered as an administrator of TBI, and later became Bethlehem College and Seminary’s Vice President of Administration at the school’s founding. In the early years of the school he also taught Greek. He was named Chief Financial Officer in 2019. His responsibilities were expansive as he oversaw the school’s financial affairs, information technology, facilities, admissions, and events.
Amidst it all, Jason and his wife, Wendy, made ample time to interact with students and faculty, providing glad hospitality to many at “The Abell Table” where Jason’s culinary gifts were displayed as “unto the Lord” to the amazement and delight of their guests. From 2015-2020, Wendy served as the school’s coordinator of events.
God has called the Abells to a new season of life in closer proximity to their children and grandchildren, a church-planting endeavor, and, for Jason, a new vocational assignment. They are spreading a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ. Faithful, as always.
Godspeed, Jason and Wendy Abell.
Dr. Brian J. Tabb, Interim President, Bethlehem College and Seminary
Living in a Christ-exalting Way for the Rest of Your Life— Whatever the Vocation.
“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Ps. 19:1). “Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these?” (Isa. 40:26). And God says to Job, if you would be properly humbled before your God, open your eyes and consider the oceans, the dawn, the snow, the hail, the rain, the constellations, the clouds, and lions, and ravens, and mountain goats, and wild donkeys, and oxen, and the ostrich, and horse, and hawk, and eagle (Job 38–39).
In fact, think about the way the prophets and apostles and Jesus himself used language. They used analogies and figures and metaphors and similes and illustrations and parables. In all of these, they constantly assume that
Excerpted from Foundations for Lifelong Learning: Education in Serious Joy, by John Piper, 2023, Wheaton, Crossway.
In Foundations for Lifelong Learning, longtime pastor John Piper portrays Christian education as the process of growing in our ability to navigate God’s word and world. Piper introduces readers to six vital habits — observe accurately, understand clearly, evaluate fairly, feel appropriately, apply wisely, and express compellingly.
Education is a happy quest informing the habits of our minds and the affections of our hearts.
John Piper, Chancellor, Bethlehem College and Seminary
we have looked at the world and learned about vineyards, wine, weddings, lions, bears, horses, dogs, pigs, grasshoppers, constellations, businesses, wages, banks, fountains, springs, rivers, fig trees, olive trees, mulberry trees, thorns, wind, thunderstorms, bread, baking, armies, swords, shields, sheep, shepherds, cattle, camels, fire, green wood, dry wood, hay, stubble, jewels, gold, silver, law courts, judges, and advocates.
In other words, the Bible both commands and assumes that we will know the world, and not just the word. We will study the general book of God called nature and history and culture. And we will study the special book of God called the Bible. And the reason is that God has revealed his glory in both—and means for us to see him in both, and savor him in both, and show him to the world through both.
The well-educated person is not the one with degrees, but the one who has the habits of mind and heart to go on learning for a lifetime. Specifically, to go
Jackson Gray, B.A. ‘21 Apprentice Electrician
Never took an Engineering class
I went to Bethlehem College before entering a trade. I learned at Bethlehem how to solve problems in the best, most logical, and joyful manner. I encounter different problems today than I did in college, but I solve them the very same way with a joyful disposition. I loved reading stories my whole life. Bethlehem was a place where I was taught by professors who had read the stories before and understood them better than I did, and in the process I learned to understand and share them better myself.
I have taken it as my goal as a Christian in the workplace to be different, the best I possibly can be in the work while in the society of others. People see that quickly. It’s a witness for Christ. People are more willing to listen to you, to rely on you.
My high school peers were mostly headed to farming or construction work. I could have gotten my high school diploma and then entered immediately into trade apprenticeship. I went to college to learn how to learn among Christians, to gain something that would bless me from my first day as a freshman all the way to my death bed many years from now.
Bethlehem has impacted every aspect of my life. I’ll eventually be a master electrician—the so-called ‘smartest guy on a job site’—but I wouldn’t have gained the wife, children, love for Christ, his word, and his world that I now have by virtue of having dedicated those years of my life to studying at Bethlehem.
The Lifelong Value of Classical Christian Education in Any Calling or Career.
Josiah Young, B.A. ‘17 Attorney at Law
Never took a Pre-Law class
My preparation at Bethlehem for law school and eventually legal practice was excellent. I was challenged intellectually. My mind was expanded and my abilities extended. I engaged with ideas from a wide variety of authors: Christian, secular, creative, and historical. I learned how to engage with writers and thinkers who don’t necessarily share my own presuppositions, and how to then evaluate the truthfulness of their claims.
About 90% of my work today is researching, writing, and shaping arguments. Bethlehem College took my own then-nascent research and writing skills to a whole new level. I was forced to engage in both research and writing that was far more substantial than I had ever been obligated. If you’re going to pursue the law, it is really important in college to take difficult courses taught by demanding instructors. Challenges in real life and employment are—no surprise—more difficult than what you’ll face in a career, especially one in the law. I’m grateful that my Bethlehem education tested me in this manner.
Amanda Maveus, B.A. ‘19
Licensed Realtor®️
Never took a Sales class
I did learn how to research thoroughly, manage my time well, and communicate clearly and effectively. These skills are invaluable and have helped me provide the best possible service to my clients while growing my business in the Twin Cities and the burbs.
David Skinner, B.A. ‘14 Entrepreneur
Never took a Business class
I own and operate a brokerage firm in Boston, Massachusetts. When I came to Bethlehem College, I had no idea that I would be in business. At Bethlehem, we read the Bible, history, many other important primary sources, learned a lot of languages, read a lot of theology and a lot of very complicated material. Some of the most valuable skills in the world are the ability to exegete the world around you and how to learn how to learn. Learning how to read complicated material written 500 years ago, and then be able to opine on it yourself is a skill relevant to nearly every contemporary field of work.
Every profession has its own vocabulary, grammar, and constructions. By reading Greek and Hebrew at Bethlehem, I became substantially more capable of meeting and mastering the language of contracts, offers, disputations, and the other documentary concepts of business.
We don’t become godly for the sake of success. But, being shaped at Bethlehem to live a godly life does cause respect, confidence, trust, and cooperation to flow in whatever endeavors we undertake.
on learning what we need in order to live in a Christ-exalting way for the rest of our lives—whatever the vocation.
The two books of God are not on the same level. The Bible has supreme authority, because God gave the Bible as the key to unlock the meaning of all things. Without the truth of the Bible, the most brilliant scholars may learn amazing truths about nature. And we may read their books and learn from them. But without the special revelation of God, they miss the main point—that everything exists to glorify Christ. Not just some generic deity, but Jesus Christ, God’s Son, the eternal second person of the Trinity. Without the special revelation of the gospel of Christ through Scripture, we remain blinded by sin. We do not see that we need a Savior and that Christ came into the world to save sinners. We do not see that the whole universe gets its ultimate meaning in relationship to him. When we miss the main reality, everything we think we have learned is skewed.
So, for Christians, lifelong learning—education in serious joy—is permeated by the study of the Bible. The Bible gives the key that unlocks the deepest meaning of everything else.
If we are going to spend a lifetime focusing on the glory of God revealed in these two books—the word that God inspired and the world that God made—what should we do with these two books? We hope that you put out of your mind the
Grace Lawrence Lawrence, B.A. ‘23
Consulting Firm Chief Operating Officer
Never took a Strategy class
I was trained by the most impactful professors in the history of the world, immersed in the Great Books, and learned how the fingerprints of Kant and the prophecy of Nietzsche impacted our culture forever. Now that I understand where we’ve come from, I better understand how the Kingdom of God can help our culture and build a better future for our children. After graduating, my task was clear. If we want to change the culture we must build a more beautiful culture that the opposition can’t help but want to join.
Josh Carlson, B.A. ’18 Teacher
Never took an Education class
The best lesson I was taught about teaching was, “The burden of learning is on the student.” In college it’s important to equip the students to understand how to have conversations with each other, the authors they read, and their teachers to reach the conclusions they are trying to reach. I was prepared to be a teacher by the quality of professors on the faculty at Bethlehem, teachers whom I have sought to model.
I gained a holistic view of the world through ancient, classic, historic, and literary texts all considered with the Scriptures right alongside them. The program did a fantastic job of showing me all that God has been and is doing, so that his people will one day be the perfected Bride. I came to know things with clarity, rather than vagueness and generalities—a foundation that I could build upon.
So much of Bethlehem’s classical approach to education has influenced my own classroom teaching. We read rich literature, analyze texts, consider historical and cultural contexts, and look to the Scripture to illumine it all. I have been able to directly and fruitfully apply my college education to my job as an educator and to my students.
thought that lifelong learning is about getting degrees behind your name (whether BA, MA, DMin, or PhD). They are incidental to real learning. We also hope that you don’t think of education mainly as acquiring money-making skills. Of course, skills that enable you to function productively in your calling are important. But that is not mainly what lifelong learning is about. That is not mainly what we want you to do with God’s world and God’s word. Our aim is to help you grow in the habits of mind and heart that will never leave you and will fit you for a lifetime of increasing wisdom and wonder through all the sweet and bitter providences of life. The well-educated person is not the one with degrees, but the one who has the habits of mind and heart to go on learning for a lifetime. Specifically, to go on learning what we need in order to live in a Christ-exalting way for the rest of our lives—whatever the vocation.
Austin Balken, B.A.
‘18 Digital User Experience Designer
Never took a Technology class
Today, I work to craft helpful and meaningful experiences for users across a wide array of both digital and non-digital touch-points. I’m tasked with understanding the desires and needs of a user and crafting an experience that helps them satisfy them. Bethlehem prepared me by providing an extremely rigorous space for developing Christian character and an understanding of myself. I work today among unbelievers which, for missional purposes, is where I’d rather be. I have the opportunity to show a watching world the excellence of Christ in all that we do.
After college I had to become certified in this technical field. The instructor said, “Brace yourself. There’s a lot of reading in this preparation.” There were four pages! You can imagine my relief when I compared it to the 400 pages per week with which I had become familiar at Bethlehem. I was prepared for my vocation by the rigor of the Bethlehem program.
It’s harder to do half-hearted work in a school that still dares to demand character. The program is something of a forge that refines a student’s ability to go on to do work “as unto the Lord.”
Bennett Williamson, B.A. ‘18 Marketing Manager
Never took a Marketing class
My formal education at Bethlehem College didn’t give me a skillset in marketing, it gave me something that’s of far more value: it equipped me to live as a Christian in a broken world. My faith was deepened and grounded in God’s Word. My faith became my own and I saw spiritual realities for myself. I chose Bethlehem knowing it probably wouldn’t open up a lucrative career for me. I chose it because I believed that the spiritual realities and challenges I would face in life were more important to prepare for than a career.
Losing my daughter Jane was incomprehensibly harder than finding any job. In that moment of utter loss and grief, I knew how firm a foundation I had in Christ. My degree didn’t give me a career, it gave me more of Jesus—who is infinitely able to provide for all of my needs.
Amelia Schueman, B.A. ‘15 Mother
Never took a Child Psychology class (or for that matter Logistics, Budgeting, Sanitation, Conflict Resolution, or Medical Treatment)
Before entering into the serious responsibilities of adulthood, I wanted to go to college learn more about the Bible, about God, the world in which I’ve been placed, and to be more certain about my faith. Our culture values college education as preparation for an occupation while at the same time de-valuing motherhood as an occupation. God has placed women on the front line of cultureshaping in roles as mothers. Why shouldn’t a would-be mother be every bit as educated?
I emerged from college with my heart and mind shaped in ways that have equipped me to shape my childrens’ minds and hearts. I’m still learning. I understand my children better, I think. But I understand well that there is a God, and that I’m not him. I’ve been equipped to be faithful and to point my kids to God.
The rigor of study at Bethlehem was the hardest thing I’ve ever done—including since having given birth to three children. It gave me stamina. I came to see when God calls us to something he gives us the help to do it, whether that’s community, professors, classmates, church family, small groups, and even little children.
GREEK, HEBREW, AND LATIN STUDIES REMAIN CORE AT BETHLEHEM
t a time when many American colleges and universities, both public and private, are eliminating ancient language studies from their curriculum, Bethlehem College and Seminary remains steadfastly committed to these studies as core to all of its programs: college, seminary, and evening degrees.
“The cost of losing language education is parochialism,” says Dr. John Beckman, Associate Professor of Old Testament. “It is a paradox that at a time when we are being encouraged to understand one another, get along, and embrace multiculturalism that we so readily neglect the obvious—that understanding someone else’s language is required to do all of those things,” he adds. “This has huge social implications and, of course, profound implications for the advance of the Gospel.”
“Language study here is rooted in our conviction that the Bible is God’s word; inerrant, authoritative, originally revealed in human language, particularly Hebrew and Greek,” says Dr. Joshua Greever, Associate Professor of New Testament and Director of Seminary Programs.
“We believe those original words and constructions that God revealed through the human authors of the Bible were the very words that we needed to know in order to understand him to the degree that he, God, wanted us to understand him.”
The rediscovery of ancient languages in the late Middle Ages and Renaissance was integral to the Reformation and the resulting assertion of scripture itself as the ultimate authority over all of life, Christian or otherwise. “It was no accident that the ancient Greek and Hebrew languages were rediscovered by 16th century Reformers,” says Greever. “We want our students to consider God’s word as Luther and Calvin themselves considered it, as if it were flowing from the quills of Peter, Paul and the prophets of ancient Israel,” he added.
Thus says the Lord: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls…”
— Jeremiah 6:16 ESV
Bethlehem Seminarians are subjected over four years to rigorous vocabulary, orthography (letters and alphabets), and grammar study—in both Greek and Hebrew—for the sake of making them biblical “first handers,” shepherds of God’s word who can meet scriptural texts in the languages used by the original biblical authors.
“If one’s main ministry, activity, or work is to be studying and teaching the word of God, one needs to learn the languages,” says Dr. Beckman. “Wrestling with biblical texts without knowledge of the original languages leaves one entirely at the mercy of other translators and commentators and then exegetical controls are lost. The most faithful shepherds of God’s people simply must be original language first-handers.”
Professor Greever also has an exhortation for all would-be ministers of the gospel. “What you’re doing now as a seminarian is going to have ramifications for what you are able to do later,” he said. “If a future pastor doesn’t give himself hours to the study of the languages while in seminary, then he’s going to have put the same work in on the backend, when he’s preparing sermons and dealing with what the text says at a deep level. Put the work in now, and you will save yourself forty hours a week in sermon prep year from now.”
Stephen Clayton, a fourth-year seminarian, in a recent Serious Joy prayer letter wrote:
The musician who takes the time to carefully study the notes that a composer wrote can more powerfully convey to his audience the feelings the composer intended them to experience. As the music moved him, the musician brings the audience along in thinking the composer’s thoughts and feeling his affections after him. Likewise, the preacher who diligently studies the divine “notes” can more powerfully lead the people in thinking the Composer’s thoughts and feeling his affections after him.
“Whether the student is a seminarian or college student we want them to see things in God’s word that they wouldn’t otherwise see in even a superior English translation,” says Dr. Jared Compton, Associate Professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology. “Grappling with these texts in the original languages necessarily obligates the student to slow down as they
consider the words, phrases, and arguments. There’s something about both that pace and the language’s originality that can’t help but bless the student both as language scholar and as a disciple of Jesus Christ.”
Tim Johnson, an evening degree student in transition between a successful business career and a new season of discipleship and ministry says, “The ethos of Greek class is Christ-centered and encouraging. Learning a new language is a challenge. My aim in learning biblical Greek is to know the Bible text better and thus to know God better. Lord willing, I’ll realize those goals.”
And then, of course, there is Hebrew. “Other than the writing system, grammar, and vocabulary, Hebrew is easier than Greek,” says Beckman with tongue in cheek. He observes that writing system of Hebrew is actually much harder to learn than the Greek. The characters read right-toleft, the vowels are little dots, instead of being the same size as everything else, the vocabulary is much harder, the grammar is dissimilar from IndoEuropean languages, and there are fewer words that make sense in English.
“Hebrew is a different kind of mental puzzle,” Beckman says. “It’s a different way of communicating that stretches your mind to read in different ways than you would in Latin, German, French, or English,” he adds.
But a better understanding of Old Testament Hebrew also informs a better understanding of New Testament Greek. “Some parts of the New Testament are grammatically strange as Greek, but make perfect sense if the author was thinking in Hebrew while writing in Greek,” says Professor Beckman.
“At Bethlehem College, we study Latin just like we study biblical Greek and Hebrew in order to encounter the text not second hand through a translation but as first-handers,” says Dean of College Programs, Zach Howard. “A treasure trove of theological texts from 1000 years of church history is more accessible to Latin learners. Further, mastering Latin not only equips students to better understand English vocabulary, it is also the easiest path to mastering another case language: Greek,” he added.
“The study of biblical languages is a School of Character,” says Professor Compton. “Not only are you interacting with God’s word at a slow, intimate, careful pace, but it’s teaching you to sit in a chair and read and not do other things. There is character formation that comes from both the content of what you’re studying and the process of studying something at length that doesn’t come easily.”
“I feel both more comforted by reading biblical texts in the original languages and more confronted by them,” says Beckman. “If I have some sin that God is poking at and I’m reading it in the English, I feel more able to squirm outside of it and not have God’s finger land quite so firmly on me. The Hebrew and Greek are exactly what Moses and Paul wrote—with no room to wiggle or doubt—so they more effectively corner my old man and point my new man to Gospel hope.”
“When one gets this much closer to God’s word, it is wonderful,” says Greever. “For instance, Mark 10:45 says ‘For even the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’ That phrase, ‘for many’, is wonderful in the Greek on two counts. The word ‘many’ is the same word that the Septuagint uses in Isaiah 53 to unpack the effect of the work of the suffering servant for his people—they are ‘many.’ The other is the word ‘For.’ Jesus serves us by dying for us. The Greek preposition means ‘in place of’ or ‘as a substitute for.’ The Greek preposition here preaches the gospel in a way that the more vague English ‘for’ simply can’t do as clearly or powerfully. It is wonderful,” he concludes.
By The Editors
Nicaea’s Impact on Christian Faith Today
This section features some of the best writing by undergraduate students who are studying “Great Books in light of the Greatest Book for the sake of the Great Commission.”
In this paper, I will explain that Arius taught that Jesus was lesser than the Father and that the Council of Nicaea addressed this by emphasizing the importance of the substance of the Son through their use of the Greek word homoiousius. Additionally, I will argue that the Council of Nicaea’s argument is essential to the Christian faith because of its deeply trinitarian emphasis.
Arius–(AD 256–336)–taught that the Son was not co-eternal with the Father—in other words, he posited that Jesus was one of God’s creations and therefore had a beginning. Theologian Justin Holcomb explains Arius’ teaching this way, “Arius [taught] that Jesus was not God at all, only a celestial servant of the true Most High God, who alone was […] the first cause of all things.” Holcomb emphasizes here how Arius viewed the Son, as a lesser servant of God rather than equally powerful to God and yet still human in form. Examining Arius’ teaching charitably, one may note that his intention was likely a good one—to better explain and understand the relationship between the Father and the Son. Protestants can commend him on this point. However, in looking closer at
the Council of Nicaea’s response, it becomes clear how the teaching of Arianism is heretical.
In AD 325, the Council of Nicaea addressed Arius’ teachings by using the term homoiousius to affirm Jesus’ divinity and humanity. To understand better the Council’s decision, it becomes important to
distinguish between what the Greek words homoiousius and homoousious mean. The Council advocated for the use of homoiousius in explaining the substance of the Son, meaning “same substance.” In contrast, followers of Arian argued that homoousious ought to be used, meaning “like substance.” In reference to this controversy, Holcomb argues, “By insisting that the Son is ‘of one substance’ with the Father, the Arian view was rejected and the council affirmed that the Father is not ‘more God’ than the Son.” Thus, the Council decided upon the use of homoiousius, bringing clarity to the debate over the Son’s divine and human natures and affirming that he is of the same substance as the Father. While followers of Arius argued that the Son was made of a similar substance as God, and thus lesser, the Council of Nicaea stood against this teaching by using the word homoiousius.
The Council of Nicaea’s argument about the Son’s nature is essential to the Christian faith because of its deeply Trinitarian emphasis. In affirming that God is one in substance,
but three in person, Nicaea explained what is now known as Nicene Trinitarianism. Trinitarianism is woven throughout the Bible and is an essential aspect of the Christian faith (cf. Mk. 12:29; Matt. 28:19; Jn. 3:16). Without an understanding of the Trinity, there would be no reason to follow the command of the Great Commission–to baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Thus, it is of utmost importance to understand Nicene Trinitarianism as it plays an important role in the command given to all believers. Rather than being abstract and detached from the Christian faith, Nicene Trinitarianism actually shapes the way in which one lives in light of the Great Commission.
By Grace Evans Lawrence, B.A. 23
Matt Crutchmer
Threading
The Story Through All
Other Stories.
The nudge against his heart in 2005 was missiological; to go, plant, and teach among Nordic peoples.
Such a calling required additional theological education and so began Matt Crutchmer’s “Education in Serious Joy” at The Bethlehem Institute, predecessor institution to Bethlehem College and Seminary, where he earned his Master of Arts in Biblical and Pastoral Studies degree in 2012.
“I came to Bethlehem to be able to one day teach as an elder in a church plant in Finland.” says Crutchmer. “Those missionary plans changed, and I started teaching here instead.”
Though Helsinki is considerably north of Minneapolis, the cities share a similar climate and many cultural connections. So, count it a providence for the professor.
He wanted to be a teacher, and by God’s grace a teacher he has become. “There is teaching within the church, and there is teaching also in the academy, and there is teaching broadly,” says Crutchmer. “It is trying to help people to do their best with the gifts they’ve been given, to think well about the world that they’ve
Alumni
been placed in, about who they’ve been made to be, and about who God has called them to be in relation to himself.”
“Professor Crutchmer’s breadth of systematic and historical theological knowledge is only matched by
the Bible has revealed to us about the world, about God, about ourselves?’ We try to imagine what must be the case for all the words of Scripture to be true.”
Any Bible college of quality would likely have such a professor of Doctrine. At Bethlehem College and Seminary, Professor Crutchmer does his teaching in the context of a classical liberal arts program that necessarily causes Doctrine to mesh with Philosophy, Literature, History, and other academic disciplines.
Ian Pitkanen, B.A. 16, reflected on his time in the Bethlehem classroom, “Professor Crutchmer is a consistent and careful theologian and mentor. His teaching in the classroom; love for theology, literature, and art; and his care for students embodies a vision for true education.”
“The Humanities, properly done, are ways in which we grow into our full humanity,” says Crutchmer. “When you are a Christian, to be growing into a human being is to be made new in Christ by the Holy Spirit. Part of the way in which that happens is by being transformed by the renewing of your mind,” he adds. Yet the so-called great books at Bethlehem are always studied in light of The Greatest Book—The Bible.
When doctrine and philosophy mesh well together, light is shed.
his depth of pastoral care for his students,” says his faculty colleague Dr. James C. McGlothlin, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Theology. “It is rare, I think, to find such academic excellence and such sharp shepherding instincts in one man. We are blessed to have him at Bethlehem,” McGlothlin adds.
As Assistant Professor of Theology, Crutchmer’s primary teaching task is focused on Doctrine, those beliefs held and taught by the biblically anchored church. “My task as a theologian or doctrine teacher, is to say ‘What sense can we make of what
“We get warnings from the Apostle Paul in the New Testament to say, ‘Don’t be taken captive by vain philosophies’,” says Crutchmer. “Yet, in that same epistle he’s using what we would classify as philosophical categories as part of the arguments about the divine nature being ‘dwelling in Christ bodily’, which I think is supposed to meet us as a strange claim, because we have some understanding of what natures are like,” he explains.
“In the places at which doctrine and philosophy mesh the church has seen those categories, concepts, and
ways of thinking as useful to explicate not only the Gospel, but the identity of the God of the Gospel. They are, in one theologian’s phrase, ‘ad hoc borrowings’ that serve our Christian educational task,” Crutchmer says. “When doctrine and philosophy mesh well together, light is shed.”
Professor Crutchmer is at present completing a doctoral dissertation on the work of theologian John Webster (1955-2016). “I am investigating my favorite theologian and his understanding of God as the one who is eternally and infinitely perfect in and of himself,” he explains. “What he means by ‘God is perfect’ is something profound. My dissertation is trying to investigate his understanding of God’s eternal, infinite perfection apart from his relation to us, apart from his being our Savior and Creator, and why that makes good gospel sense.”
Crutchmer and his wife Arianne have been married for almost 23 years. They are the parents of three sons. As a family they enjoy stewarding each other’s lives as well as the land, water, and natural beauty surrounding their modest 5.5 acre plot in suburban Minneapolis. He’s a zealous soccer fan—often to the perturbation of colleagues more enchanted with American “football” or baseball. His hobbies include graphic design, carpentry, gardening and other ways to fill and form the earth, all in obedience to God’s command and as a reflection of God’s own creative example.
Oddly, the books on his well-filled office bookshelf are arranged not by title, author, or subject, but rather by color of the cover. Crutchmer calls it his own “crutch”—the only way he can remember where to find a book. When asked, “What if the graphic designers change the color in a subsequent edition?,” Crutchmer said, “That would be a problem.”
By Rick Segal, Vice President of Advancement, Lecturer of History and Political Philosophy
and the school benefits even more.
D. A. CARSON
BRIAN J. TABB, EDITOR.
DAVID M. HOWARD AND ANDREW J. SCHMUTZER, EDITORS.
As the price of higher education has risen, so has the amount of debt required to fund it, leaving many burdened with substantial financial obligations well beyond the college years.
44 MILLION AMERICANS NOW OWE $1.4 TRILLION DOLLARS IN STUDENT LOAN DEBTS.*
A Personal Ministry for Jesus Christ
Open-handed investments in securing and retaining world class faculty combined with extreme frugality in administrative expense and overhead, and an overflow of generosity from
Two-thirds of tuition at Bethlehem College and Seminary is paid by someone other than the students or their parents. Generous contributors have rallied to make this robust, academically rigorous, high-quality education available and affordable.
Graduates without debt are free to answer immediately God’s call on their lives and are made affordable to churches and ministries that need them.
IN THIS ISSUE
From the President
No Greater Joy
Glorifying God in Every Sphere of Life:
The Lifelong Value of Classical Christian Education in Any Calling or Career
Walking in the Good Way on Ancient Paths: Greek, Hebrew, and Latin Studies Remain Core at Bethlehem
In Light of The Greatest Book
Nicaea’s Impact on Christian Faith Today
To Study, Practice, and Teach Matt Crutchmer: Threading The Story Through All Other Stories.
I WILL BUILD MY
MON, JANUARY 29— WED, JANUARY 31, 2024
SAINT PAUL RIVERCENTRE ST. PAUL, MN
BCSMN.EDU/CONFERENCE
CHURCH
CHRIST'S PROMISE FOR HIS PEOPLE
We Thank God for You
One of my favorite allegations in the Bible is when some missionaries were accused of turning the world upside down (Acts 17:6). I regularly accuse Bethlehem College and Seminary of the same thing! Not only did I receive a world-class education in serious joy, but God also used Bethlehem to strengthen my marriage, surround my family with lifelong ministry partners, and equip us for a life of vocational ministry. Through the exceeding generosity of Bethlehem’s donors, I was able to graduate without any student debt and immediately begin serving as the lead pastor of a multi-ethnic church in the most diverse suburb in Minnesota. What a precious gift both to me and to my church family! On behalf of all those who are reaping the harvest of your financial generosity, “thank you” for partnering with us in spreading a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ.
Jeremiah Knoop, M.Div. ,21
Daniel, Elizabeth, Troy, Asher, Jeremiah, and Aukeem
