Distance learning Bible colleges

Those professors that I know who were doing those kind of classrooms have quit. It was an enormous amount of work and the students did not receive the interaction among other students.

So much of what you learn is not just in the books but also the interaction in class and outside of the class with other students.

 

Thanks for asking Plain Old Bill. I was just about to post the same question. C'mon y'all give us some leads here.

Always searching,

Brian

 

I have thought about enrolling in the "Liberty Home Bible Institute" it cost $1250 in 24 easy, low monthly payments of $41.67 on your credit card with a $250 downpayment, or $950 if you pay your tuition in full.

http://www.lhbi.org/

Liberty University also offers the "Institute of Biblical Studies" which is a survey of the entire Bible for $249 with free spouse enrollment. All students who have completed the Institute of Biblical Studies course will have the opportunity to participate in the graduation ceremonies in cap and gown at the beautiful campus of Liberty University.

http://www.instituteofbiblicalstudies.com/

 

Gulf Coast Bible Institute

http://www.gcbi.org/

Low cost, Baptist.

 

Luther Rice Seminary (Baptist, pretrib/premill)

Luther Rice Webpage

Tyndale Theological Seminary

Tyndale Webpage

 

DD:

Tyndale seems to be okay, except it's premillenial. Do you know of one that is Calvinistic and Amillenial ?

 

I like:

The seminary extension program of the SBC seminaries. You can find them at

Http://www.seminaryextension.org/default.asp

I took several classes this way, top of the line material and good response from the teachers who are all professors at one of the seminaries. I had professors from Southern, Southeastern, and Southwestern. They offer a certificate program for completing 16 classes but no degree programs. They are fully accredited and will transfer to most other schools. Depending on where you live your local association may offer classes through this program with real instructors and classrooms. I also took classes this way when we lived in South Carolina.

After taken many classes this way I transferred my credits to Calvary Baptist Bible Institute in Eufaula OK. They gave be full credit for extension classes and my earlier resedint college experience. I completed my Bachelors degree with them and am currently working on my Masters. You can find them at

http://www.oecadvantage.net/mbaptist/McDonald.htm

 

Don't mean to be disrespectful to ya'll, but, where in the Bible does it say that the man of God must have Bible college degrees and all them Ph.D.'s and M.A.'s and what all ?

 

It doesn't say that anywhere in Scripture. On the other hand, it doesn't forbid it either.

I don't know of a single church that teaches the preacher boys greek and hebrew. That is something a seminary does. Well, it is supposed to. The KJVO colleges (which can hardly even be called colleges), don't bother with what God said. They just trust the popish, baptist persecuting anglicans.

 

Wow DanielDavid,

That attack wasn't even on-topic....lol....not to mention so general that it cannot in any way be called true.

KJVO colleges do indeed "bother" with what God says. That is their whole point for being KJVO...they want to be able to look at a Bible and say "Here is God's inerrant, infallible Word." Regardless of whether you agree with KJVO or not, please do not just outright discount a Bible college simply because of this view. The colleges I know of that hold to this belief also hold the Word of God in the highest possible regard, checking any word of man against it and judging every doctrine they are taught according to what the Bible says.

 

Pinoybaptist asked:

Of course the Bible does not say that the man of God should have a degree, but it does say in II Tim 2:15

God does approve of our study. Any Christian who is serious about his witness should be serious about his study of God's word and college classes whether they lead to a degree or not can be a large part of that study. Some would argue that our study should be limited to the Bible but the study of other subjects also helps us in our witness.

I don't even know where DanielDavid's attack on the KJVO colleges came from, he obviously has an ax to grind there. Calvary, where I earned my Bachelor's is a KJVO school but I am not KJVO. I think we should study Greek and Hebrew, but there are a lot of other things you can learn in college also. Things like speech, dynamics of teaching, teaching methods, pastoral leadership, counseling, and leading music. I had many bible classes from surveys to individual books, to individual subjects as well as things like systematic theology. I also had one very interesting class on the architecture of church buildings, it was called something like, "design for worship." I have never built a church building yet, but someday I might.

I know where your coming from pinoy when you question the value of a degree, I have known plenty of PhD's without the sense God gave a stink bug, but I think the Bible is clear that we should study and prepare for God's calling.

 

Why be lazy when God expects you to be diligent? One thing about a degree program is that it forces you to study things that you probably wouldn't on your own. One of the best classes I took was church history. If it were left up to me I wouild not have taken it. But because it was required I did. I am glad I did because I use that information a lot.

Take a look at Eccl. 12:9-11, "In addition to being a wise man, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge; and he pondered, searched out and arranged many proverbs. The Preacher sought to find delightful words and to write words of truth correctly. The words of wise men are like goads, and masters of these collections are like well-driven nails; they are given by one Shepherd."

If you don't believe in seminary then what are you doing at the church level to train others to disciples they are leading to Christ? The ministry is not about degres but about using the gifts God has given to train others to do the work of ministry. The seminary uses men who are particularly gifted to train others to lead others who will lead others.

Seminary and degrees should never be about inmtellectual knowledge only. It should be about knowing God better and helping others to know Him better because of what we have learned.

Which is more costly ignorance or education?

 

Like I said, no disrespect intended. I appreciate that ya'll had to go thru years of study, pro'ly missed meals and stuff to get yourself through school, and I appreciate the fact that ya'll believe sincerely in what ya'll are doin', or have done.
I graduated from Bible College myself, back in my ole' country, a small speck inside a small dot in God's vast universe, only to discover later that most of what I been taught there don't square up with the Bible once we all put it up against the light of what the entire Bible says.
True, Scripture says 'study to shew thyself approved', but I take that to mean studying by one's self, with much prayer and supplications to the Holy Spirit, who alone is the revealer of Truth. The Bible itself tells us to 'compare Spiritual with Spiritual', 'a line here, a line there, precept upon precept'.
My question about formal Bible education stems from my observation that each Bible college necessarily reflects the teaching of the denomination it belongs to or which it favors.
For example, Pentecostal pastors who believe that the apostolic signs are still applicable today necessarily came out of Pentecostal Bible Colleges of which the majority of doctrines will be rejected and even considered heretical by 'mainline' Baptist and Protestant Churches.
Now, 'mainline' Baptist and Protestant Churches will necessarily have pastors that were graduated from seminaries and colleges that reflect their beliefs and traditions, and then these churches will have two camps - Calvinist a.k.a. Reformed, and Arminians, both camps trying to prove each other wrong.
Church History for example, depends on who is teaching what to whom. Pentecostals have a different version of church history, so do Catholics, and Baptists cannot even agree which church history is correct or even just accurate, and so on.
Of what value is it in discipling if it teaches that one's church is the only true church, except to inculcate pride ?
My own church will not even go to the extreme of claiming we were descended from the Jerusalem church directly as some Baptists claim. We stop at Wales, and guess what, somewhere in this board, if not the internet, I think, is a thread that says that is not true and correct.
We disciple by teaching converts the Gospel which brings life and immortality to light, and the Gospel is intended to save one, not eternally for that was done by Christ, but, from false doctrine and erroneous, heretical teachings. The Gospel is in the Bible, not in Bible seminaries, and its revelator is the Holy Spirit, which the Lord told His disciples, will guide them into all truth.
Why should Bible seminaries now replace the Holy Spirit in guiding God's true children to all truth ?

 

There is no general promise for the Holy Spirit leading you into all truth. Christ was telling his disciples that the Spirit would lead THEM into all truth (ultimately their teaching became the New Testament).

John tells us that we have no need for a teacher because the Spirit teaches us. Seminary doesn't prove that a person will be scripturally qualified. However, it will allow the person to think through various theological issues.

 

Seminary allows a person to do what Daniel David said, to think through various theological issues and be presented with (hopefully) a broad ciriculum centered around the investigation and education in the languages whereby we get the Scriptures.

While there is no require Scripturally that says, "Thou shalt have an undergraduate and graduate degree lest ye fall into ignorance." The qualifications for a shepherd (or however you interpret 1 Tim 3) are to be apt to teach and to not be a novice. The word for novice is the same word we get neophyte from. I fully believe that a person, if properly mentored and educated by a pastor-theologian, can assume a church pastorate without seminary degrees. Yet we must have a foundation of knowledge in order so we aren't: 1) leading the flock astray with crazy teachings; 2) presenting a pseudo-Gospel; 3) not easily puffed up.

I was reading some theological tripe that a person I met on the internet had sent me several months ago and realized why we need this education. The author had created completely false analogies, was teaching a false doctrine, misquoted Scripture, did not have a clue about the Greek and Hebrew he was attempting to use, and was very arrogant in his approach. (For starters he had a Greek Bible verse on the cover that was mispelled and missing several words) This man had attended a small, unaccredited, backwoods Bible college and was puffed up with arrogance about a position he was teaching falsely. At the moment that I tossed the book into the trash I realized how important it is to have a legitimate educational background.

BTW: My church will be teaching Greek and Hebrew, once I graduate seminary.

 

Not trying to be rude, but can we stay on topic, here. Some of us are genuinely seeking a way to further our understanding of the Bible when Bible college, seminary, or some other program is not possible.

Thanks to those who gave recommendations.

Brian

 

We are all in the learning process. I can only reveal what I know and have learned already in that process.

Remember it was God who gave the gifts. One of those gifts is teaching. The purpose of the gifts is not for personal gain or greed, but for the person who has the gift to equip others for the work of service.

You are right many Bible schools reflect their own biases. Who is without any bias? There are schools that take the position that they have the truth and so just teach what they believe only. So they only teach a narrow view without ever exposing their students to other viewpoints. I found it helpful to know other viewpoints and then hear the professor comment on them. It helps me to know where another person is coming from. What I noticed is that those professors who were well studied would often tell their students they didn’t know all the answers. But too often young teachers and preachers like to come across as though they know. I remember the first time I heard a professor tell the class, “I don’t know” to a question I asked, I was surprised. I had come to get answers and here was the brightest professor saying that he didn’t know. That is a learning experience itself.

In the seminary I graduated from were professors who were excellent students who did not always maintain status quo. Some will maintain the status quo to secure a job, others will teach the Word. I think you will find that in every denomination.

I think the best way to learn is to communicate with others and put your theology out there and be exposed so that others can correct you. If we are don’t then we are in danger of developing an elitist attitude with a theology that is wrong. I find evangelism helps me a lot in this way also.

 

The same chapter and verse that says we must have church buildings, Sunday Schools, youth groups, camping ministries, seminars, retreats, etc. I don't recall exactly where it is. Could you please help me out?