Temple Baptist Seminary

Hello, Heavenhlpr. Welcome to the BB.

I am a TTU grad and had a year at TBS (graduated elsewhere) many years ago, and have tried to keep track. First of all, they have a good program academically. The teaching is usually good and they are TRACS accredited. I understand that their distance education program is good, but I haven't taken any classes through it.

Having said that, a few things bother me. Take a look at the list of faculty. Among the full time faculty you have Dr. Roger Martin, a great teacher who has been there since 1970. I took "Life of Christ" under him in 1977--and okay, he's my uncle so I'm prejudiced! :smilewinkgrin:

Kevin Woodruff has been there since 1996. He's a friend of my sister's, and I've corresponded a little with him about a book which the author gave permission for me to have in PDF. He's a good guy, but I don't know what kind of a teacher he is.

Other than Martin and Woodruff, all of the full time faculty are very recent additions: Lovett (2005), Stephens (2002), Jones (2005), Owens (2006), Hall (2006), Choi (2006). That's 5 out of 8 who have come since 2005, or in other words since Lovett showed up. That really bothers me.

Consider the part time faculty. Dr. Fred Afman is a great teacher, and he has been there since forever. Kemp I don't know, but he's been there only since 2000. Then you have Elliot (2006) and Lockerman (2005)

Where are all the long-time TBS faculty members? I'm really bothered that only 3 out of 12 are long timers. Noted Hebrew scholar Dr. James Price recently resigned from the full-time faculty (still listed as adjunct). I know a little bit about the reason, but I'm not going to write it on the Internet. This means that you will have to ask a current student how the faculty is. Alumni will not know.

Another interesting point about Temple is that a couple of weeks ago I was in the States, and three of us old time TTU grads (1970's) stopped on campus to reminisce. We were in front of the gym when the new athletic director walked up to us and asked what we were doing--a little bit of a rocky start. He turned out to be a nice guy after all, but then it got a little strange.

He's a Southern Baptist, and informed us that the school seems to be headed in the SBC direction. When he found out two of us were IFB (our other friend recently joined an SBC church) he asked, "What are independent Baptists all about?" Wait a minute. He was appointed directly by Dr. Lovett to be athletic director of an IFB school, and he doesn't know what an independent Baptist is? What's up with that?

 

There has clearly been some contention between some of the folks who ran the school over the past 10-15 years and the "New Day" direction taken under Lovett. Some of the staff who leaned toward the IFBx crowd have been taken aback by some of the music and relaxation of some the dress code.

But theologically the school hasn't changed a bit from the old glory days 30-40 years ago under Dr. Roberson. The school had been in a long steady decline and Dr. Lovett came over from Liberty to help right the ship.

Do you think Roger would still be around if there was any real movement on the theological front?

 

I'm sure there hasn't been any movement on the theological front. Men like Roger Martin and Fred Afman are quite straight in that department and I'd know about it if there was a theological decline.

Can you tell me what happened to all the other old timers? Why are 3 out of 12 of the seminary faculty brand new?

 

I should have said that 9 out or 12 of the seminary faculty are brand new.

 

Thanks for the info John...one question though: would you recommend TBS to anyone?
I'm considering a DMin and looking at any and all distance programs, especially those who are accredited.

 

I've heard good things about the TBS distance program, though I've never taken any courses through it. The old profs are excellent, the new profs look to have good qualifications. It's accredited and affordable. I'd say give it a try if it meets your needs. However, I'm currently taking a wait-and-see attitude concerning residency. :type:

 

Typical muscle-head!:laugh: They obviously didn't hire him for his knowledge of denominations.

Seriously speaking however, Can't much of the turn-over be attributed to the aging of the faculty members?

I don't know much about the rest of the new Seminary faculty, but I do know Dr. Kemp. My son had him for his Bible classes and he was very impressed- it was literally a life-changing experience for him in that he started taking his Bible reading and study to a deeper level.

 

This could be for some of them, but not for all. (I have some private knowledge about one.) It just doesn't sound right to me when 3/4ths of the seminary faculty are hired by the new president.

This is good to hear. We'll assume the rest to be innocent, good men of God until proven otherwise. :thumbs:

 

Maybe you know the answer to this, I don't... were previous faculty 'let go' or did they just choose to move on? To me, that would seem to make a difference.

 

I was in the States for 10 days last month and saw two of the former faculty members at a supporting church. To my knowledge one of them had friction with the new president. I don't know about the other one, but he greeted me warmly and seemed in fine shape, though he's aged. I didn't get to talk to him about the seminary. :type: