Bethany In Dothan

==I don't, but I do have something to say about Bethany (I know, big surprise). If someone desires or needs a seminary education, and for whatever reason cannot relocate to a campus, Bethany is one of the last schools I would recommend. It is not accredited nor does it have any high profile graduates to prop it up. There are plenty of very good accredited programs that are Bible based for those interested in higher Christian education. I would recommend Liberty University first, then schools like Moody Bible Institute, Luther Rice University, Temple Baptist Seminary, Southern Evangelical Seminary, and accredited schools that allow students to earn from half to most of their degree programs online. I think about schools such as Dallas Theological Seminary, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. In my opinion, there is no reason for anyone to spend their money and time earning degrees from schools that have not taken the time and effort to seek out real accreditation.

 

Amen! I would add, btw unless they are extremely inexpensive/free. Certainly LBU, who is still comparatively costly, would not qualify for this exception.

 

I know a handful of godly dedicated men who have graduated from Bethany. I don't know if any of them call themselves "Dr.", so I am not sure if they completed graduate work w/ Bethany or simply undergraduate. I know of one who is a solid missionary over seas, another who is a great pastor in Georgia, and another who has a great work among the elderly in Nursing Homes.
I spoke with Rick Walston from Columbia Evangelical Seminary about Bethany and LBU. He told me over the phone that Bethany was "a good school". He said the same about LBU and would allow someone with a bachelors degree from Bethany or LBU to enroll in a Masters degree program through CES. I spoke to Dr. Walston about a year ago concerning the matter.

 

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Um....Rick has one of his three (?) docs from Bethany. I wonder if that affects his view? Will we expect Rick to say, "I got my doc an easy way" ?

PhDs or ThDs are academic docs, for which in my opinion, a high level of academic expertise should be required. Godliness relates to understanding God ; degrees relate to understanding subject matter--IMO.

BTW, as far as I know, Rick is not a recognized accreditor. Why not ask TRACS about Bethany?

And, why would Rick wish an accredited faculty for CES to make his CES "good," if Bethany is good without that???

 

Some years back Bethany applied for regional accreditation. Word is the accreditation committee told Bethany they would accredit everything except the ThD and PhD programs.
Bethany is a KJO school and does not teach languages (that is the problem the committee had),rumor has it that lack of languages was the big glitch. Bethany refused to drop the ThD and PhD programs and was dropped for consideration. I am sure there is more to the story that I know but I thought I would share that with you.
Bethany is far from a degree mill but would fall in the less than wonderful category. Let me take part of that back. There are many little church run bible Colleges and Seminaries which are run by unqualified instructors that do not hold a candle to Bethany. Bethany is also far ahead of many other correspondence schools. I think TCG has called it right.