REASON #1

The proper name of the game in theological education is ORTHODOXY (meaning "correct teaching"). There is no good reason for seminaries to be what they have often been in Church history, namely, the founts of novel and often heretical ideas. Heidelberg Theological Seminary is absolutely committed to the Bible as the infallible and inerrant word of God, and to the Three Forms of Unity (the Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic Confession and the Canons of Dordt) as being accurate summaries of the true teachings of the Bible. These creeds do not declare teachings that are peripheral to biblical Christianity, but are lists and summaries of the teachings that are central to real Christianity (the Westminster Standards are held as parallel Reformed creeds) Heidelberg Theological Seminary is so named to emphasize the fact that the historic Reformed and Presbyterian creeds determine the curriculum and the content of classroom teaching.

REASON #2

THEOLOGICAL RESPONSIBILITY

The teaching of the Bible often comes in conflict with the philosophical and religious ideas of the unbelieving world. At these points the Bible calls Christians to be the "salt of the earth," by holding to biblical teaching, while rejecting the ungodly ideas of the world as "the leaven of unrighteousness Christians have therefore taken a large number of unpopular stands against the ideas and practices of the world. These stands include the creation of the heavens and earth in six days, male leadership in family and church, the rejection of abortion as infanticide, and the sanctity of marriage. In these and the vast majority of other similar issues, the Christian Church has been correct in its understanding and teaching of Scripture. Heidelberg Theological Seminary is committed to such biblical standards of the application of God's laws to human conduct, and in fact teaches them as the better way of life compared to the ungodly ways of the unbelieving world. This holds true also for biblical counsel as the answer to human problems, rather than the nostrums of unbelieving psychology and psychiatry.

REASON #3

ECCLESIASTICAL RESPONSIBILITY

Too often seminaries become the institutional tails that wag the denominational dogs of the synods under which they supposedly operate. Heidelberg Theological Seminary is firmly bound to the idea that theological education is the business of the Church (1 Tim. 2:2), local as well as broader, but seeks to truly be subservient to the church. Therefore our Board has bound us to labor under the direct supervision of the ruling council of the elders of Zion Reformed Church at Menno, South Dakota, a congregation of the Reformed Church in the United States (RCUS). The RCUS is a long time (273 years) resident of North America and is one of the most conservative Reformed denominations in our country today.

This connection with a local board of elders provides not only a direct local oversight of our finances, activities and teaching, but also an opportunity for our students to serve in an actual church situation.

REASON #4

CONCEPT OF PASTORAL TRAINING

A competent seminary will provide three basic parts in its educational curriculum: 1) graduate school quality academic standards, 2) vocational technical training in ministry, and 3) advanced catechization to help students grow into mature Christian men able to lead in the Church of Jesus Christ in accordance with the requirements of 1 Timothy 3.

The professors at Heidelberg Theological Seminary are and will be men who have themselves excelled at academically sound seminaries during their own training, and have shown themselves to have sound abilities as scholars Dr Warren Embree and Rev. Robert Grossmann, the founding professors, are both graduates of thoroughly Reformed and academically sound theological seminaries, and have pursued graduate studies since obtaining their seminary degrees.

Our professors are also required to have lengthy and successful pastoral experience, as well as great zeal for the preaching ministry. For example, the first two professors have a total of 55 years of pastoral experience between them. Both also have extensive teaching experience in college and seminary settings.

In order to catechize students into mature Christian men, the professors themselves must exemplify such behavior and teach the principles of Christian manhood. The teaching at Heidelberg Theological Seminary emphasizes manly and decisive leadership by using biblical examples of such living standards. Since courage and self-sacrifice are not only related, but are necessary parts of Christian manhood, these traits will be taught to the students by biblical example and numerous positive and negative instances observed in the experience of the professors.

REASON #5

TRAINING TO PREACH

Since the apostle Paul declares that Christ sent him "not to baptize, but to preach the gospel ... lest the cross of Christ should become vain' (1 Cor. 1:17); the central emphasis in competent theological education must be upon how to preach these things. Professors themselves must be excellent preachers, too often a great lack these days, and they must know how to inculcate an organized method of exegeting the biblical text and preparing sermons based on sound exegesis. Indeed, every theology and New and Old Testament course must be taught with a view to enabling the student to preach the riches of the biblical text before him.

At Heidelberg Theological Semi-nary the hermeneutics and homiletics courses present step-by-step methods of exegesis and sermon preparation. Graduates will be encouraged to develop and improve upon the methods they have been taught, but students are not left to their own devices in these critical areas of the preaching ministry.

REASON #6

LOCATION AND COST

These two items are, of course, closely related. Institutional costs at Heidelberg Seminary are held down by the very low-cost use of the local church building of Providence Reformed Church of Vermillion, South Dakota. This building was designed to be a student center one and one-half blocks from the campus of the University of South Dakota. Vermillion is a small city of 10,000 inhabitants in easy commuting distance of larger metropolitan areas in Sioux Falls, SD, and Sioux City, IA. It is surrounded by small farming communities where housing is quite reasonable in price, as it is in Vermillion. Tuition is less than average for seminaries in the U.S.

REASON #7

PRACTICAL CLASS SCHEDULE

Classes at Heidelberg Theological Seminary run from 8-11 a.m. Mondays through Thursdays and lead to an M. Div. degree in four years. This way a student may have at least a part-time job and still have time for family as well as seminary work. Regular employment for various shifts is available in Vermillion as well as in cities 23 to 50 miles distant. Heidelberg Seminary provides all the training excellence of larger institutions in a reasonable package to suit the majority of students who are married and may have begun a family. Call or write for more information.