Weekly Email: October 26, 2026

Weekly Email

Oct 26

We are now in Week 4 of the Fall 2 term. This week I want to talk about why new concepts feel so hard at the beginning of seminary and what that early work is building in you.

In this email:

Student Tip: Mental Models
Program News: Accessing Books at the Library

Student Tip: Mental Models

One of the beautiful things about being a parent is seeing your child grow in so many different ways, especially in learning. Over the years, I've absolutely loved watching our son, Jax, grow in his reading and his math. In both, it's obvious that the learning builds up and compounds. You can see things start to get easier and then he'll push himself a little more with different kinds of reading, math, science experiments, and more. Each thing builds on the one before it and it all gets easier and easier.

This is true of seminary as well. Depending on your background, new concepts are going to be more difficult in your first year than they'll be in your second, third, or fourth.

This was true for me when I first started seminary here at Southern. I remember sitting in Church History I with Dr. Nettles and not understanding who anyone was. At that point in my life, I hadn't even thought about the history of the church, especially the early church. I remember wondering who Augustine was. And when I heard names like Tertullian or Ignatius, I just figured that was some Catholic person.

On top of that, I was sitting next to two guys who went to Bible college. Their foundation was well beyond anything I had with an accounting degree. We were all hearing the same names in the same lecture but they were hearing them through everything they already knew and I was just hearing names. But as the semesters wore on, the concepts in church history became easier. I had a foundation to build on.

Later, I took a class on Augustine at the doctoral level. The work was obviously more difficult. We were learning more advanced concepts and getting into the nitty gritty of the history. But in some ways the mental challenge was easier, because I wasn't building a foundation from nothing anymore, with no other concepts to grab onto and everything seeming completely new. The mental world I'd built over other semesters, in classes like church history and systematic theology, gave me a framework and connections to build on so I could do better work.

The same goes for reading, both how much you comprehend and how quickly you can read. When you're reading a book where many of sthe concepts are completely new, it takes longer to build that initial foundation of thinking. You may have come in having read some of these things on your own but reading them in a more academic way can still be more difficult while you're setting that foundation.

So as you're going through this week, especially if you're at the beginning of your seminary journey, know that the hard work you're putting in now isn't going to waste. Laying these initial foundations is difficult, whether it's new concepts, reading academically, or maybe it's just managing a different schedule. There are intangibles you're building right now that will serve you in the years to come.

Program News: Accessing Books on the Library's Website

As a student here at Southern you have access to everything at the library's website. One of the great features is getting access to eBooks from the publisher. These can be used for writing a paper, studying for a class, or even if you're preparing a lesson for Sunday school or a class at church.

It can be a great resource without having to purchase additional books or request a physical book. I made a short 2-minute video on how to access digital books on our library's website.