Thread by @BenjLesLantz

I just finished an audiobook of “A Church Called Tov” by @scotmcknight and @laurambarringer. Almost all I could think about was my seminary experience @BCS_MN. Speaking as an alumni, I would not recommend Bethlehem College & Seminary to *anyone.* Buckle up. I’ll tell you why.

I knew instinctively that I had spent four years in a toxic Christian culture. But this book gave me a framework and vocabulary to describe why it felt toxic.

Scot and Laura aren’t necessarily writing about a seminary’s culture, but Bethlehem’s seminary culture is so intertwined with the church culture that the book applies to both, in my opinion.

What are warning signs of a toxic culture, according to Scot and Laura? 1) Narcissism and 2) Power through fear. Both of these signs are present in spades at BCS. Virtually everyone is drawn to the school because of Piper’s influence and theology.

And there’s HUGE pressure to agree with the contours of BCS reformed theology. It’s assumed you will fall in line doctrinally, and if you don’t, then better shut up about it or you’ll be exposed as immature, and your profs will grade you accordingly.

Literally a month into my program, I realized I just could not bring up my questions and reservations about Calvinism, for example, because profs assumed (and implied—in classrooms) that whoever questioned it was simply incorrect.

I spent four years of my life, stuffing away many of the theological and biblical questions that I cared about most. I knew I couldn’t bring them up at my seminary, so for the most part I just shut up about them, and followed the implicit “rules” at BCS.

Now what does it take to build a goodness culture? First off, empathy. But forget that at BCS. The new president has explicitly (and notoriously) called empathy “a sin,” and the profs by and large give the same impression implicitly.

Since there are literally no females on the faculty of the seminary (and there never will be) the women of BCS bear the brunt of this lack of empathy most. Unless you’re willing as a woman to sycophantically “nurture” the men, you’re regarded as suspect. Oh, could I tell stories!

What else leads to a culture of goodness? Scot and Laura say putting people first. But the weight of BCS’s collective narcissism insures that the interests of the institution will always be put ahead of individual’s interests. Again, the women, the “SemWives” have it worst here.

What else is part of a goodness culture? Truth-telling. Yes. But BCS nurtures a culture of “loyalty” that stifles and suppresses truth.

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