What is taught in Orthodox Theological Seminary

The Russian Orthodox Church has its own higher education institutions preparing candidates for clergy. In the Christian tradition, such educational centers are called seminaries. At present, there are several dozen such educational institutions in Russia.

Orthodox Theological Seminars are higher educational institutions of the Christian Church. The educational process can last four years (under the bachelor's program), plus a couple more years (master's system).

In theological seminaries, the basis of the educational process is the study of the traditions of the Orthodox faith and the basic Christian tenets (dogmatic and moral). We can say that in the seminary they teach the Christian life itself. But one cannot think that in such educational institutions students do not read anything except the Bible. Each seminary has several departments. Among them are the departments of theology (theology), church-historical, philological (for example, classical and foreign linguistics), liturgical, church-practical, national history and some others (depending on the specifics of the institution).

The main subjects are the Holy Scriptures of the New and Old Testaments, dogmatic theology, liturgics, patrology, church history. In addition to purely Christian disciplines, students study many secular sciences. So, the teaching of ancient languages ​​(Latin, Greek and Hebrew) may receive particular attention. Students try to delve into various types of stories, not only church ones, but also secular ones (Russian history, world history and others).

The seminaries are dominated by humanitarian disciplines. Students study religious and secular philosophy, study various branches of psychology. Special courses can be taught on the basics of working with prisoners and the specifics of teaching theology. Some seminaries have higher mathematics, as well as subjects such as science and religion, and even physical education.

A separate place in the educational process is occupied by studies of the teachings of heterodox churches (Catholic and Protestant) and sectarian studies. The ability to discuss is taught in lectures on rhetoric and oratory, and in homeletics, students are taught how to write sermons correctly.

It turns out that the person who received the diploma from the seminary is not only an expert in theology, but can also understand the basic humanities.