What Have I Gained

　　I graduated from the M.Div. Program in a seminary of another denomination. After ministering in a church for three years, I studied in HKBTS’s Th.M. Program and graduated in 2010. Before my application, I inquired about the uniqueness of the mode of teaching from senior fellow students and learned that the lesson is conducted through guided reading in a small class, ruling out the possibility of taking the lesson with students from some other programs. I found HKBTS’s Th.M. Program appealing.

　　I majored in theology. I remember the first subject I took was “Theological Anthropology” taught by Dr. Andres Tang. At that time, before I knew what the subject was about, I began reading a monograph on the subject which was difficult to understand. For me, this was very painful because I would have to read a single page many times and still not be able to make out what it means. But every week we had to read one chapter and each of the students had to take turns to share his understanding of the main points of the material. As it was a small class with just several students, we had many speaking opportunities and needed to discuss the contents of the book with classmates and the teacher. Therefore, we had to be well prepared for the lesson or else we would be speechless or the more we said, the more mistakes we would make.

　　This is a most precious learning process. On the one hand, doing an intensive reading of a difficult, scholarly article compels me to push forward to a higher level in order to get to the bottom of theological issues. On the other hand, it helps train my philosophical thinking and articulate meaning with substance. Being a pastor, I have experienced that this kind of learning is beneficial to sermon preaching and to my teaching ministry.