These guys should have stayed in school.

September 8, 2006 7:41 AM

Famous Divinity School Dropouts
posted by caddis (24 comments total)

Match the names to the reason for dropping out:

*Delusionally believes he's God
*Thought he was God, and possibly had a point
*Irrationally believes the President is Satan
*Possibly might have been Satan incarnate
*Is definitely married to Satan incarnate
posted by nthdegx at 8:44 AM on September 8, 2006

Allegedly.
posted by nthdegx at 8:44 AM on September 8, 2006

I don't see the point behind this FPP, but that might just be me.
posted by Vindaloo at 8:58 AM on September 8, 2006

So, these people, they failed to become gods, then?
posted by gurple at 9:02 AM on September 8, 2006

Missed David Ferrie.
Gore I can see as a priest. Cruise seems like he'd be a bit too on edge. Although he'd be great as one of those crusading anti-liquor ads in the ghetto kinda priests with all that energy.
posted by Smedleyman at 9:04 AM on September 8, 2006

Mmmmm.....divinity.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 9:08 AM on September 8, 2006

Smedleyman wins. hahhahahaha....
posted by ryran at 9:10 AM on September 8, 2006

What about famous jazz singer Kurt Elling, formerly at the University of Chicago Divinity School?
posted by kenko at 9:10 AM on September 8, 2006

Wildly popular with celebrities, Scientology is the path of choice to "clarity" for everyone from John Travolta to the guy who played Parker Lewis in Parker Lewis Can’t Lose.

You mean Corin Nemec?

(I just like to say "Corin Nemec.")
posted by cribcage at 9:18 AM on September 8, 2006

Also, I believe that as a child Hitler had dreams of becoming a priest. (oops, did I just Godwin my own thread?)
posted by caddis at 9:27 AM on September 8, 2006

I saw "Corin Nemec" and thought 'Surely, this must be the name of a minor Star Trek character....'
posted by Floach at 10:07 AM on September 8, 2006

Hermann Hesse?
posted by koeselitz at 10:09 AM on September 8, 2006

Charles Darwin!
posted by sciurus at 10:20 AM on September 8, 2006

My favorite blog quote sighting of this week:

Derision is facile. Pumping - iron, water, faith - takes devotion to an appropriate method to obtain the right result. Devotion is not facile.

I’d rather be Pope Arnie than a seven-stone k nocker with the brain weight of one of Pam Anderson’

Truer words, my friends, truer words.
posted by illovich at 10:24 AM on September 8, 2006

Wait a minute.

Tom Cruise (1962 - )

In 1976, a deeply religious child named Thomas Cruise Mapother IV enrolled in a Franciscan seminary in New Jersey. Within five years, he’d ditched the church, dropped the Mapother, and landed a part in Endless Love.

I wasn't aware you could enter a seminary at 14. In my experience, seminary is a post-bachelor's degree affair. Although a Bachelor's degree is not totally necessary, they're generally more interested in adults at least (According to Canon Law, the minimum age is 25^), and I think you still need to get a BA from the seminary if you're accepted.

I'm totally not an expert, and unwilling to research it further. But I'm calling bullshit on the claim that Tom Cruise is a divinity school dropout, in the same way that the others are. I think it just makes good copy for his publicity bio sheets.

Related:

How to become a Catholic Priest

Becoming an Eastern Orthodox Priest
posted by illovich at 10:37 AM on September 8, 2006

If we're going to speculate, something like this could've happened.
posted by Gnatcho at 11:06 AM on September 8, 2006

I saw "Corin Nemec" and thought 'Surely, this must be the name of a minor Star Trek character....'

I think he's starring in one of SciFi's series based on Stargate.

In other words, "Yes."
posted by cribcage at 11:24 AM on September 8, 2006

I wasn't aware you could enter a seminary at 14.

The article also says that Michael Moore started at seminary "as an eight grader in 1967."
posted by MrZero at 12:02 PM on September 8, 2006

The best way to imagine those seminaries Michael Moore and Tom Cruise attended, since I know I've read Michael Moore quoted as saying he wanted to become a priest in other places (I think he mentions the Berrigan brothers influence), is as priest prep schools. Also, the modern divinity school does not necessarily lead to ordination.
posted by Gnatcho at 1:30 PM on September 8, 2006

Van Gogh?
posted by Alt F4 at 2:42 PM on September 8, 2006

Heidegger dropped out of a seminary, if memory serves. The extensive reading of mediaeval philosophy required is an important influence on his rereading of the modern philosophical project (and philosophy as a whole).
posted by Pseudoephedrine at 4:42 PM on September 8, 2006

Wasn't Kierkegaard training to be a minister? or was it just that his father wanted him to?
posted by notsnot at 7:48 PM on September 8, 2006

John Betjeman, on the other hand, "“Failed in Divinity! O, towers and spires!/ Could no one help? Was nothing to be done?/ No. No one. Nothing." - or not. (Note: this was a compulsory part of his degree, not his intended career.)
posted by paduasoy at 1:30 AM on September 10, 2006

I'm not famous, but I am a divinity school dropout (Duke Divinity School to be exact).
posted by UseyurBrain at 7:28 AM on September 10, 2006