What careers are there having to do with Scripture?

TreeOfLife123 · #1 Jul 4, '12, 3:49 am

What careers are there having to do with Scripture as the topic?

I would say as I've gotten older much of what still interests me is the Scriptures. A lot of other things don't anymore. Such as things I studied in school. So I want to make a career out of the Scriptures. But I don't know what my options are. Are there any careers regarding Scripture other than teaching it? And what is teaching it like?

Michael Mayo · #2 Jul 4, '12, 6:41 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by TreeOfLife123

What careers are there having to do with Scripture as the topic?

I would say as I've gotten older much of what still interests me is the Scriptures. A lot of other things don't anymore. Such as things I studied in school. So I want to make a career out of the Scriptures. But I don't know what my options are. Are there any careers regarding Scripture other than teaching it? And what is teaching it like?

Religious education would be one and RCIA.

But also the slightly different direction of language. To really know scripture you would need to know Greek and Hebrew. Mastery of either one of those can be a full-time lifetime endeaver and involve teaching & translating.

TheRealJuliane · #3 Jul 4, '12, 6:54 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by TreeOfLife123

What careers are there having to do with Scripture as the topic?

I would say as I've gotten older much of what still interests me is the Scriptures. A lot of other things don't anymore. Such as things I studied in school. So I want to make a career out of the Scriptures. But I don't know what my options are. Are there any careers regarding Scripture other than teaching it? And what is teaching it like?

Priest.

Brother.

Theologian.

Seminary teacher.

Religious Ed. teacher.

Religious writer.

Yes, I know you said "other than teacher."

Do you feel you have a call to a religious vocation?

feed me · #4 Jul 4, '12, 7:38 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheRealJuliane

Priest.

Brother.

Theologian.

Seminary teacher.

Religious Ed. teacher.

Religious writer.

Yes, I know you said "other than teacher."

Do you feel you have a call to a religious vocation?

What about any careers that are paid, as in you can support a wife and kids off of?
And how would you go about getting a job in the chuch doing that?

TreeOfLife123 · #5 Jul 4, '12, 1:48 pm

Fascinating.

Michael Mayo,
Why do you think one needs to master ancient Hebrew or Greek in order to understand Scripture very well?

TheRealJuliane,

Thank you for the list of ideas. I will take note of this entire thread.

And feed me,

I look forward to the responses others will give you.

TreeOfLife123 · #6 Jul 4, '12, 2:10 pm

TheRealJuliane,

I don't know if I'm being called to a religious vocation. Sometimes I think I might be. But I don't know.

TheRealJuliane · #7 Jul 4, '12, 2:26 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by TreeOfLife123

TheRealJuliane,

I don't know if I'm being called to a religious vocation. Sometimes I think I might be. But I don't know.

It would be good for you to get a spiritual director. He can help you listen to the Holy Spirit.

Michael Mayo · #8 Jul 4, '12, 2:41 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by TreeOfLife123

Fascinating.

Michael Mayo,
Why do you think one needs to master ancient Hebrew or Greek in order to understand Scripture very well?

It provides deeper insight. We can still have very good understanding of scripture but knowing the original langauges really puts us into that world better.

**Joe 5859** · #9 Jul 5, '12, 6:41 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by feed me

What about any careers that are paid, as in you can support a wife and kids off of?
And how would you go about getting a job in the chuch doing that?

It would probably help to get a Masters in Theology if you wanted to pursue it as a full-time career. Some people are naturally gifted in studying Scripture and/or theology, and so they might be able to forgo the formal education and carve a niche for themselves as freelance speakers and writers. But a lot of things have to line up to go that route, IMO. Having an interesting conversion story helps.

When conceiving of potential jobs in service of the Church, I tend to first look at potential employers. There are parishes, Catholic elementary and secondary schools, diocesan chancery buildings, Catholic universities, Catholic non-profit apostolates (like Catholic Answers), Catholic publishing companies, national Catholic associations, Catholic hospitals, etc., etc.

From there, you can figure out the types of positions that would be available. Take a Catholic school. Within a school, there is more than just teachers. There is administrative staff, library staff, maintenance staff, development staff, alumni relations, etc., etc. And each of those positions carries with it its own set of qualifications a potential candidate would need.

Or take a Catholic publisher. They need sales representatives, editorial staff, secretarial staff, marketing staff, design staff, IT people, etc., etc.

If a person is serious about serving the Church full-time, they need to pray earnestly about where their gifts are and where God might be calling them to serve. When they have an idea of where their niche might be, then they need to research it and find out what places hire people like that and exactly what qualifications they need in order to be a qualified candidate for such positions. A person needs to be willing to do the leg work, and even potentially get some training (perhaps even involving going back to school). If that seems like too much work to bother with, then I would question why they want to work in service of the Church at all.

Joannm · #10 Jul 5, '12, 4:29 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by TreeOfLife123

Fascinating.

Michael Mayo,
Why do you think one needs to master ancient Hebrew or Greek in order to understand Scripture very well?

.

In order to get a graduate degree in Scripture you most likely will be required to study Greek and Hebrew since those are the languages the Scriptures were written in. I know quite a number of people who studied scripture and they all studied those languages. Any serious student of Scripture needs to know the original languages.

Joannm · #11 Jul 5, '12, 4:34 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by feed me

What about any careers that are paid, as in you can support a wife and kids off of?
And how would you go about getting a job in the chuch doing that?

As far as getting paid, just know you will never get rich working for the Church. As far as money goes, a lot depends on where you work. Adjunct profs in colleges don't make much at all and tenured positions require a PhD or STD and you need to publish. Teaching in a Catholic school might be a bit better than adjunct work. I know a few people who teach theology in Catholic Schools and they are married with kids but their spouse needs to work as well.

Parish jobs don't pay well, except if your parish is wealthy and even then it's no where near the public sector jobs.

feed me · #12 Jul 5, '12, 6:29 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe 5859

If a person is serious about serving the Church full-time, they need to pray earnestly about where their gifts are and where God might be calling them to serve. When they have an idea of where their niche might be, then they need to research it and find out what places hire people like that and exactly what qualifications they need in order to be a qualified candidate for such positions. A person needs to be willing to do the leg work, and even potentially get some training (perhaps even involving going back to school). If that seems like too much work to bother with, then I would question why they want to work in service of the Church at all.

Maybe to use the gifts that God has given them, so they wont be the lazy servent before the Lord.

Quote:

As far as getting paid, just know you will never get rich working for the Church. As far as money goes, a lot depends on where you work. Adjunct profs in colleges don't make much at all and tenured positions require a PhD or STD and you need to publish. Teaching in a Catholic school might be a bit better than adjunct work. I know a few people who teach theology in Catholic Schools and they are married with kids but their spouse needs to work as well.

Parish jobs don't pay well, except if your parish is wealthy and even then it's no where near the public sector jobs.

Just enough that me and my wife(oneday

even if she has to work) will be able to live in a nice area where you don't have to lock the car doors where you live.

DaddyGirl · #13 Jul 5, '12, 6:38 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by TreeOfLife123

What careers are there having to do with Scripture as the topic?

I would say as I've gotten older much of what still interests me is the Scriptures. A lot of other things don't anymore. Such as things I studied in school. So I want to make a career out of the Scriptures. But I don't know what my options are. Are there any careers regarding Scripture other than teaching it? And what is teaching it like?

You can be a "biblical scholar"!
I've read great books written by current biblical scholars who teach at universities.

You can teach religion?
I guess you'd need to further your education with a teacher's degree for that, tho, but that's only two years I think?

TreeOfLife123 · #14 Jul 5, '12, 8:56 pm

Thank you DaddyGirl.

I might really want to pursue being a Biblical Scholar.
So far I've been reading the Bible a bit but not approaching it in a very structured way as if I were studying a topic for school. I think I need more structure and actual real study in my Bible study.

Thank you for this. I appreciate it. I should probably start tomorrow with a more structured and true study of the Bible.

feed me · #15 Jul 6, '12, 7:50 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by TreeOfLife123

Thank you DaddyGirl.

I might really want to pursue being a Biblical Scholar.
So far I've been reading the Bible a bit but not approaching it in a very structured way as if I were studying a topic for school. I think I need more structure and actual real study in my Bible study.

Thank you for this. I appreciate it. I should probably start tomorrow with a more structured and true study of the Bible.

Make sure you actually have the gift of understanding when you do this type of career. If you don't it will be very hard.