Faith Goes to Divinity School (in the late 60's)

Third Monday of Easter

After college, my big choice was between going to Union Theological Seminary in New York or going to Duke Divinity School.  I loved New York, had been there many times. Union, at that time, had the top reputation nationally among divinity schools and seminaries. What it ultimately came down to was my being a home boy. Duke was very much my home. 

The late 60's was a most unspiritual time to be in Divinity School (I was there '67-'70). Everything centered on the Vietnam War and our opposition to it. There were regular demonstrations. Many Divinity students, though not I, took leadership roles in the anti-War movement. It was also not a spiritual time. It would be hard for current Duke Divinity students to imagine. The place is so different now, so Christ centered. In the late 60's the only religious activity in the Divinity School was a once a week chapel service that was attended by about a dozen students. There were no Divinity School religious groups, no prayer groups, no small groups, no denominational groups. The Divinity students in that era were terribly afraid of being thought of as "holier-than-thou." They weren't. The Divinity School intramural tag football team was known for being the dirtiest playing, most profane talking, and most likely to get into fights of any team in the intramural league. 

I was still, of course, my same old nerdy self. I was as opposed to the war as anyone but more in pursuit of getting top grades so that I could get into a Ph.D. program. The one thing that was strikingly clear to me from the outset was that Duke Divinity was far, far easier than Duke undergraduate had been. About 95% of the Duke Divinity students could not have gotten into the undergraduate school. The work load was heavy but not anything as difficult as undergrad school had been. Whereas in Duke undergraduate I was barely in the top half of the class, in Divinity school I graduated summa cum laude and number 2 in my class. I loved the work. I started Hebrew my first year. I had already had two years of Greek in undergraduate school. I was ready for Greek exegesis courses (courses on specific books of the NT, which were not simply translating the Greek text, but studying the NT, reading commentaries and books about the particular NT authors--all based on the Greek text. No one would ever bring an English Bible to class).  

I experienced a lot of academic growth in Divinity school, but little spiritual growth. My spiritual growth came entirely through my courses. Although I was pursuing ordination, I avoided taking ministerial courses. My intent was to be a college professor in Religion. The big change came after divinity school, in the 70's. 

Faithfully,

Christian