Greetings from a prospective student of theology!

[Psalm_40]

Hey guys, i'm getting close to college time and want to study theology. I want to go far with it, to get a doctorate. I live in south africa and the nearest universities are stellenbosch and capetown, and there are a couple of bible colleges around. What i need is advice. What kind of courses should i take, should i go to a bible college or a secular university, what kind of degrees can i get for practical theology, and any general advice would be greatly appreciated. i know extremely little about all this and feel a bit lost.

 

[Blazin Bones]

Well, there are a few things to sonsider at first. One of them is what would you do with your degree? Theology is useful, but it is made more useful when we know what God wants us to do with that degree. You can consentrate on areas like Apologetics, teaching Theology, of just ministry and theology.

 

[Psalm_40]

Well the dream that i believe god has placed on my heart is to plant a church that will impact the whole world for him, and to teach at various churches and conferences and seminars around the world, basically the same kind of ministry as john piper or mark Driscoll, or paul the apostle.

 

[Blazin Bones]

Let me say this, when I started my time at a bible college, I wanted to be the next Billy Graham. I thought I would be the perfect man to fill his shoes. I would love to preach to thousands at a time and impact countless lives for Christ. It's a noble dream, one many Christians should pray for others if it's not ultimately God's will for their life. However, we must keep one thing in mind. God calls us to be who we are, not any one else. We are to be Christ like not Graham like, Driscoll like or any other person God has used to grow His church.

This is not said to discourage you, but to suggest that you pray for God's prespective on your life to be clear and that you would be content to serve him in any way He decides to use you. He might meet you at you desires, or He might tell you to foollow him a completely different dicrection. Our part is to be willing to do whatever it is God would call us to do. The more I prayed over my dream, the more I wanted the fame or the respect the great Christians have gotten over time. Now, I see that God will use me as he sees fit and that will be better than anything I could have dreamed.

Now, with this said, it appears that you would like to teach the word of God to others in this world. So, a degree in apologetics or just general theology would be practical for your ambitions. Again though, ultimately, God's calling must be the one we cling to.