I first encountered the theological journal Themelios some 26 years ago.  Over the years, when I have had access to a theological library, I enjoyed browsing it for interesting, well-written articles, and for its book reviews.  I often wanted to subscribe, but always found something more pressing to spend my money on.  A couple of years ago, I think, Themelios went dormant, but it has been revived by The Gospel Coalition, and is edited by D. A. Carson and Carl Trueman.  This in and of itself is good news, but it gets better: the journal is now available online (no more print version) in both PDF and HTML formats.  And it gets better yet: you can read it online or download it for free.  You can check it out at: Themelios.  Although it has high scholarly standards, its intended audience is “both theological/religious studies students and pastors.”  As a pastor I can attest to its value, e.g., a helpful and relevant discussion of the church’s mission by Keith Ferdinando, and 38 (!) pages of book reviews.  Shawn Wright, a friend of mine now teaching at Southern Seminary, is the book review editor for the History and Historical Theology category.  Highly recommended.

This New York Times article: Students Flock to Seminaries, but Fewer See Pulpit in Future - New York Times (HT: R. Albert Mohler) looks at the phenomenon of seminary graduates either deciding not to enter pastoral ministry, or entering seminary with other goals in the first place. The reporter spoke to administrators and graduates of Candler School of Theology at Emory University (United Methodist), Auburn Theological Seminary in New York, and an official from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

My question is, how representative is this sampling? Not in a pure statistical sense, but how can you get a feel for what is happening in seminaries without inquiring what is happening in the Southern Baptist Convention seminaries and three other large evangelical seminaries, Dallas Theological Seminary, Fuller Theological Seminary, and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. The last time I checked, the four largest SBC seminaries and the three seminaries just mentioned make up seven of the ten largest seminaries in the U.S.

The only mention of evanglical Christians was this: “Students who are evangelical Protestants, meanwhile, often end up at advocacy groups, sometimes called parachurches, which have defined the priorities and solidified the influence of conservative Christians.” That is not an accurate definition of “parachurches,” which includes far more than advocacy groups.

Reading this article just confirmed my belief that the mainstream media still doesn’t get evangelical Christianity in America, and doesn’t even want to try.

Hat tip to John Divito at Reformed Baptist Thinker for Covenant Seminary’s New Free Online Resource. Covenant Seminary is opening up a treasure trove of materials giving free access to course lectures on mp3 and study guides! I am looking forward to digging into some of the offerings.