John Piper answers that question in three and a half minutes (transcript | audio | video):
My initial response yesterday after reading and watching Piper’s answer was this:
I think I understand where Piper is coming from here, but it seems to me like he devalues his PhD without sufficient warrant. Did the PhD not help him hone his ability to think and communicate clearly and carefully?
I just read Dane Ortlund’s response to Piper’s answer. It’s excellent. (Dane just completed a PhD in New Testament at Wheaton under Doug Moo.)
Update: Just for the record, I certainly don’t think that all pastors should get PhDs. (But that’s not the point of this post. I am questioning whether we should devalue them so much.)
Andy, it might be worth pointing out where Carson, Grudem, and Beale got their doctorates.
I think PhDs should pastor, at least for a little while. But you knew that already. =)
I agree with John Piper. His veteran wisdom shines through with the right perspective about Ph.D.s. They’re probably overrated for the sake of the kingdom.
This is interesting, but without specific names of programs that do such a thing, I am left wondering…
Though it may seem strange to plug a specific institution, I don’t find anything wrong with making some suggestions. It is really hard to discern this kind of thing from a website, so it would help to hear from people who have experience and intimate knowledge of these things.
Anyone have suggestions?