Students Gather for Labor Day Module
Over Labor Day weekend, students gathered at Covenant Baptist Theological Seminary in Owensboro, KY for this year’s Labor Day modular course—a weekend of theological study, fellowship, and worship together. The course was taught by Dr. Dewey Dovel on the History of Christian Philosophy, a course examining the development of Christian philosophical thought from the early church through the modern period.
Studying the History of Christian Philosophy
Beginning with the early church and its encounter with Greco-Roman thought, the course traced major developments through the medieval and Reformation periods and into the modern era. Students studied figures including Augustine, Anselm, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, Cornelius Van Til, and others while also considering important intellectual movements and challenges that have shaped Christian thought.
The course provided students with an opportunity to develop an understanding of the historical and cultural contexts that shaped Christian philosophical ideas and their relevance to modern philosophical discourse, cultivating critical thinking, analytical skills, and a nuanced appreciation of the rich heritage of Christian philosophy.
More Than a Classroom
While the weekend included many hours of concentrated classroom instruction, the opportunity extended well beyond lectures.
Students enjoyed meals together, worshipped together on the Lord’s Day, and spent time in conversation and fellowship throughout the weekend. The format also provided substantial opportunities to interact personally with Dr. Dovel, both during dedicated question-and-answer sessions and outside the classroom.
These times together are a particularly meaningful part of CBTS intensive courses. Students who ordinarily study from different churches and communities have an opportunity to gather in person, strengthen existing friendships, form new connections, and spend extended time with the professor.
The result is a unique and intimate educational experience in which theological education takes place within the context of Christian fellowship. Students study together, but they also eat, worship, converse, and enjoy one another’s company as brothers in Christ.
The Purpose of CBTS Modules
Intensive modules are an important part of the educational experience at CBTS, particularly considering that most CBTS study is completed online.
One of the seminary’s purposes is to assist men who cannot study full time. The combination of modular in-person classes and online distance learning are suited for such students. By concentrating a course’s lectures into three days of in-person instruction, modules provide opportunities for sustained in-person engagement with professors and fellow students.
Equipping Christians for Christ’s Church
Covenant Baptist Theological Seminary exists to help the church to prepare men to undertake the full range of pastoral responsibilities they will face in serving Christ and His kingdom and to equip Christians for effective service in the church.
Our vision is not simply to make theological education available, but to cultivate serious, confessional, church-centered theological study that can serve Christians and churches wherever the Lord has placed them.
The Labor Day weekend provided a small but meaningful picture of that purpose. Students came together to study the Christian intellectual tradition under the instruction of an experienced professor, but they also prayed, worshipped, shared meals, asked questions, built friendships, and enjoyed Christian fellowship.
We are grateful for the students and auditors who joined us and for the opportunity to spend the weekend learning together for the service of Christ and His church.
