Episode 25: Must Pastors and Church Leaders Go to Seminary? Is Online or In Person School Better? Plus: 666 OR 616: The Mysterious Mark of the Beast and the Earliest Manuscript of Revelation

Pastors and Church Leaders: MUST You Go to Seminary? NO! But, Why SHOULD You? Why Should Pastors or Church leaders consider a seminary degree? All about Gateway Seminary, Bay Area Campus. What makes in person seminary training better than online seminary or online classes? Incarnate ministry training vs. online ministry training. The benefits and drawbacks of fully online seminary or graduate school. Upcoming Bay Area theology symposium on how churches should receive immigrants and deal with illegal immigrants. Seminary is not necessary, but why should pastors and leaders go? Seminary helps fill the gaps in training people to be competent teachers of the Bible and pastors in areas where some local churches don't have the capacity to train. Dr. Cameron Schweitzer is at Gateway Seminary as the director of the San Francisco campus and associate professor of historical theology. Today you will hear him talking about doing theology in the Bay Area, Jonathan Edwards, probably the best theologian America has produced, and his radical story of salvation. Early on in the podcast, you heard Pastor Christopher and Dr. Schweitzer talk about the Mark of the Beast, 666, and then Dr. Schweitzer said something enigmatic when he said, or 616." What was that all about? I know it was a light-hearted comment, but it is worth discussing in a slightly deeper way, because I myself am pretty fascinated by eschatology, or the study of the last things/end times. That number - 666 or 616 comes from Revelation 13, and then Revelation 14 describes its significance. Let's read: 11 Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. 13 And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people. 14 Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. 16 It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, 17 so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name. 18 This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666. Revelation 14:9-12 9 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: "If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, 10 they, too, will drink the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name." 12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus. If you are an amillennialist, you probably aren't very concerned about 666 or 616. The amillennialist view holds that the 1,000-year reign of Christ mentioned in the Book of Revelation is not a literal future earthly kingdom, but a symbolic representation of the present church age. In this perspective, Christ is