Some well-meaning people in my home church grew concerned about me when I announced that I was called to ministry and was moving away to attend seminary. They weren’t concerned about my calling—they had already heard me preach and graciously affirmed that. They were worried that seminary might ruin me. It might kill my devotional life and lead me to over-intellectualize my faith. Some feared I might embrace liberalism. “I knew a young man who went to seminary several years ago,” one man told me, “and after a couple of years he no longer believed in the inerrancy of the Bible.”

I sincerely appreciated their concern. I knew they loved me and cared for the church and my soul. But I assured them the seminary I would be attending had recently undergone an incredible reformation and was healthy and orthodox in every way. I wouldn’t be coming home with a faulty Christology or a liberal view of the Bible. God used seminary to transform my life in many ways, but is it really necessary? Should every minister attend if possible? Will it render a God-called man unable to be practical in the local church? If you are wrestling with whether or not to attend seminary or you know a young minister who is, I hope my article dispelling five popular myths about theological education will help.