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Featured M. Div Question

Discussion in 'Baptist Colleges & Seminaries' started by broken4u, Apr 8, 2015.

  1. broken4u

    broken4u New Member

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    Does anyone know of a Seminary that is ATS accredited, and allows the student to do a M.Div. completely online?
     
  2. preachinjesus

    preachinjesus Well-Known Member
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    Southeastern? Maybe Southwestern.

    The ATS thing is a challenge, but I know they've relented of late.
     
  3. broken4u

    broken4u New Member

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    Thanks for your help. I pulled this off Southwestern website. "Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has received approval from the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) to offer its Master of Divinity (M.Div.) and Master of Arts in Christian Education (MACE) degrees completely online, effective Aug. 8, 2013." Also, Southeastern has an online M.Div. as well.
     
  4. reverist

    reverist Member

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    SEBTS offers five master's degrees totally online, though two are really the most popular:

    MDiv, and MA Christian Studies (36 credit hours). We also have an MA International Studies, which is 54 credit hours. The other degree is an MA Church Planting, but this degree requires you to be in a relationship with NAMB or IMB. I hope that helps!
     
  5. Allelujah77

    Allelujah77 New Member

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    Another place to maybe check out would be BBC in Clark Summit... they will soon be Summit university. Not sure if they offer the full thing online but I know they are pretty good at what they do though.
     
  6. Greektim

    Greektim Well-Known Member

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    I'm not sure they are ATS accredited.
     
  7. preachinjesus

    preachinjesus Well-Known Member
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    I would recommend SEBTS. As a SWBTS alum, I cannot recommend that school with its current leadership.

    You'll receive a better education and more generous experience through SEBTS. Let us know how we can help. :)
     
  8. Greektim

    Greektim Well-Known Member

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    Being a SEBTS alumnus, I concur!
     
  9. reverist

    reverist Member

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    Being a current SEBTS student, I "third" it! :) (At least third, I have no idea what we're on haha)
     
  10. labaptist

    labaptist Member
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    What's so horrible about SWBTS? Is it just that Patterson isn't a 5 pointer?
     
  11. preachinjesus

    preachinjesus Well-Known Member
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    Hi, we haven't met...I'm not reformed.

    The current crop of leaders at Southwestern are not only driving the institution into the ground in terms of its long standing credibility academically. The regime running SWBTS has continued to lose enrollment among Mdiv FTEs, the core of any seminary. Likewise, the seminary has become, the words of Dr Patterson, a fundamentalist institution. This is a sad turn and long gone are the days when Naylor formed the seminary in a world-class ministry education center. The students being produced are lacking significant ministry skills and are difficult to integrate into a healthy church staff. The scholarship being produced by the seminary is not robust and, if not for Broadman & Holman, it would rarely see publication among solid publishing houses. The cronyism among the staff and those in the "Patterson camp" is equally bleak. Good people who don't "toe-the-line" politically are relegated to minor positions and lose opportunities.

    This is only a brief summary. Again, I'm not reformed. I actually align with Dr Patterson on many areas of doctrine. I'm just not a theological thug and repudiate anyone who is. Dr Patterson has created a less generous institution that is not producing graduates ready for ministry. He continually takes his own pathway, including shirking the constitution and bylaws of the institution to accomplish his own agendas.

    SWBTS is amid dark days.
     
  12. sag38

    sag38 Active Member

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    Just be honest PJ. You don't like SW because it no longer fits in with your left leaning theology. They got rid of the liberal president a few years ago and to you it has been going to hell in a hand basket ever since.
     
  13. Revmitchell

    Revmitchell Well-Known Member
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    Smearing a man of God with generalized accusations on a forum is not fitting.
     
    #13 Revmitchell, Apr 20, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 20, 2015
  14. Greektim

    Greektim Well-Known Member

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    [​IMG]
     
  15. preachinjesus

    preachinjesus Well-Known Member
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    I don't care for SWBTS leadership because they've turned a once reputable institution into a fundamentalist conclave. Fundamentalism is dangerous at best.

    I personally have no problem with Dr Patterson as a person, though I am deeply concerned that he believes he can step over the bylaws of the institution to accomplish his personal plan.

    I didn't know Russell Dilday before his firing but I do respect him as a leader. Between the leadership of Naylor and Dilday SWBTS enjoyed a golden age of scholarship and was a fine seminary producing ministers ready for the field. This is not the case today. There are serious problems with the leadership of SWBTS. Dr Hemphill tried to move the seminary forward during his time and accomplished some good things, but he was a mere placeholder for Dr Patterson's eventual return.

    Attempting to turn an honest critique of the leadership of an institution into some kind of theological preference battle is silly. Unfortunately, particularly for those seeking to dismiss embarrassing criticism, when we look at the numbers we see SWBTS is a seminary on decline. That is too bad. It is a key seminary for making our churches better but it is losing ground at a remarkable rate.

    I say this as an alumni who has been well involved with the seminary whilst there and afterwards.
     
  16. sag38

    sag38 Active Member

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    Why not support the new convention in Texas and leave alone what you left behind?
     
  17. preachinjesus

    preachinjesus Well-Known Member
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    Who says I don't support the SBTC?

    What role should the BGTC have, considering they're the historical Texas Baptist convention that founded SWBTS?

    Can't we support both groups?
     
  18. Baptist Believer

    Baptist Believer Well-Known Member
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    Ken Hemphill, the flaming liberal??? :laugh: He was forced out so Patterson could take over in 2003 - 12 years ago.

    Or perhaps with the phrase, "a few years ago," you are referring to the change that occurred 21 years ago where a person who was not a leader of the so-called "Conservative Resurgence" was fired amidst quite a bit of dishonest dealings by the trustees. I was here in Fort Worth for that event as part of the seminary community and I know what I am talking about first hand.

    I am no Dilday fan, but no independent observer would claim that things were handled appropriately and honestly.
     
  19. Revmitchell

    Revmitchell Well-Known Member
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    That is a bunch of bunk.
     
  20. Baptist Believer

    Baptist Believer Well-Known Member
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    Not at all.

    The trustees said different things to the public and to the students.

    One of the most obvious lies was that they changed the locks on Dr. Dilday's office doors to keep the students out. Miles Seaborn, pastor of Birchman Avenue Baptist Church, and SWBTS trustee claimed that they changed the locks on the President's Office doors to "Keep the students out of the office."

    That's really strange since (1) seminary students are not issued a key to the office at registration - simply locking the doors would keep the students out of the office; (2) the office door was a glass door, so if the thuggish seminary students wanted to get into the office, they could simply shatter the glass; (3) there was no motivation for students to access the office.

    The real reason (and I know this through some sources who were formerly high in the seminary administration) that the personnel records were kept in the President's office and there were some incriminating files that they wanted to secure so they would not become public in the event Dr. Dilday or other persons did not take kindly to being publicly fired.

    Even if my information in incorrect - and I sincerely doubt it is because it corroborates with a number of other pieces of evidence - the trustees went on record with a position that cast the students in an extremely unflattering light.

    And that's just one example.
     
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