Piety and Plurality

I began studying American theological education in the 1970s, and Piety and Plurality is the third of three studies. In Piety and Intellect, I examined the colonial and nineteenth-century search for a form of theological education that was true to the church's confessional traditions and responsible to the intellectual demands of the age. In Piety and Profession, I described how that model was modified under the impact of the new biblical criticism and by the American belief in professionalism. In this volume, I have tried to bring the story up to date. Unfortunately, I did not find one unifying theme for the period. Rather, theological education seemed to move forward on a number of different levels, each with its own story. Here I have tried to capture some of the dynamics of this movement and to indicate how theological educators have struggled with the plurality in their midst. In the process, theological education has learned to live with its contradictions and problems. As important as the stories are, however, there is also the story of the schools' struggles to live in the midst of a constant financial crisis that checked development at every stage. ""Piety and Plurality completes Glenn Miller's comprehensive and informed history of American Protestant theological education. With compelling argument and winsome storytelling, Miller rightly identifies the sources and movements that have resulted in a grand diversification of theological education since the 1960s. This era has many stories that unfold in different plots, and even though few have come to their definitive conclusion, Miller deftly explicates each of them with precision and accuracy."" --Daniel Aleshire, Executive Director, Association of Theological Schools, The Commission on Accrediting, Pennsylvania ""Glenn Miller has written the single most important, comprehensive history of American Protestant theological education. Piety and Plurality is the culmination of his magisterial three-volume series. . . . In this rich and discerning final volume, Miller charts the emergence of theological education's new pluralism and the struggles and achievements that have brought it into being. He sheds light on all the key issues and challenges as well as the promise inherent in our current situation. Miller's whole history is essential reading, and this book is the capstone."" --Craig Dykstra, Research Professor of Practical Theology, Duke Divinity School, North Carolina ""Throughout their histories, theological seminaries and schools have shaped and reflected America's religious ferment. In his third volume, Piety and Plurality, Glenn Miller demonstrates yet again that he is the best guide. Here he deciphers the increasingly varied and contentious enterprise of theological education in the last half century. Miller's intellectual rigor, institutional wisdom, and candid appraisal drawn from long experience make Piety and Plurality an essential read."" --Christa R. Klein, American religious historian, former President, The In Trust Center for Theological Schools, Delaware Glenn T. Miller is the former Dean and Waldo Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Bangor Theological Seminary. He has served churches in both the Southern Baptist Convention and the American Baptist Convention. Miller's books include Piety and Intellect (1990) and Piety and Profession (2007).