Why go to seminary? Why not just take a qualified man and give him a pulpit or send him out as a church planter? One word: Greek.

Greek is needful for someone who will be held accountable for the souls of his people; he needs to be able to handle the word of God carefully. Yes, there have been great men who did not know Greek (A.W. Pink and John Bunyan come to mind) but we are not all of that same quality.

Greek is necessary, but it is also difficult. If it is a rare man that can carefully handle the word of God without knowing the original languages, it is an even more rare man who can adequately train himself in Greek or an exceedingly rare pastor who has the talent and time to train men in this. We need seminary professors to train us in this. I am a crummy language student and I need all the help I can get.