Paul F. Stuehrenberg
Yale Divinity Librarian and Associate Professor (Adjunct) of Theological Literature
Divinity Librarian and Associate Professor (Adjunct) of Theological Literature. Professor Stuehrenberg’s areas of academic interest include the history of the interpretation of the Bible; theological bibliography, especially the documentation of world Christianity; and the role of the library in theological education. His articles have been published in Novum Testamentum, Sixteenth Century Journal, Journal of Religious and Theological Information, Elenchus Bibliographicus Biblicus, Theological Education, Journal of Pacific History, and Anchor Bible Dictionary. He is active in the American Theological Library Association and the Society of Biblical Literature.
From colonial times Protestants in North America adopted the English model for training clergy. Colleges were established for the training of leaders for “church and civil state,” in the words of Yale’s charter. For most clergy in colonial times the bachelor’s degree provided sufficient training. A minority might choose to read theology with a college professor or with a local clergyman. This practice increased somewhat after the Great Awakening, so much so that some senior clergy became what might be called “one-teacher schools,” with several students in residence at any given time. The rise of Unitarianism in the beginning of the nineteenth century led to the perceived need to have better trained clergy, which led to the creation of theological seminaries, beginning with Andover in 1808. Within the next two decades the number of theological seminaries and divinity schools mushroomed. Many of the smaller seminaries were “poorly endowed, inadequately staffed and under-enrolled.” There are three indicators of the relative strength of the schools: the size of faculty, the number of students enrolled, and the size of library. “Although the number of books in the library was not an absolute guide to the quality of education, a rough correlation existed between library acquisitions and educational standards,” for the availability of an adequate library was the major factor supporting the professional development of faculty.
B.A. Concordia Senior College
M.Div. Concordia Seminary (St. Louis)
S.T.M. Christ Seminary
M.A., Ph.D. University of Minnesota
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