opinions of NOBTS

Dave,

Just out of curiousity, where are the extension classes being held these days?

 

We were in Atlanta (now it's been years ago) and some of the classes were held at Roswell Street which is where we attended church while we were there. The pastor, Nelson Price, was a NOBTS grad.

Your post made me feel a bit nostagic, so I thought I'd ask.

 

I am an NOBTS alumnus and my my husband is almost done with his PhD in New Testament there. We know several folks who attended the extension center and had a great experience. Since Katrina, many of the professors have moved there temporarily and are starting to trickle back as their homes are getting ready. I think you can get a wonderful education there, and I highly reccommend it! :thumbs:

 

Dave

NOBTS is one of the better overall seminary programs that you will find at the Master's level. They have focused upon making their degree usable. In light of that, they have many degree programs. I won't even begin to try to list them all. They also have mini classes that you can take at the main campus.

They have (I know that they had) several programs focused upon research. One of those programs focused upon producing the Greek New Testament database. I understand that program is now being included in at least one commercial Bible program.

Their job board has routinely connected churches with ministers. I understand that the minister relations office performs well when compared with any of the other SBC seminaries.

 

I took several MDiv classes at the North Georgia Campus of NOBTS during 1995-96. Classes were held in a church in Decatur given to the seminary.

Frankly, I was disappointed with the quality of instruction and the lack of rigor required. At the same time, I also took courses from Southeastern's extension which were held in Augusta, Georgia. The courses with SEBTS had much higher requirements and the quality of instruction was better, IMO.

I was ministering in the same south Georgia town with a then-recent NOBTS alum, and he said that the extension classes were much easier than on campus classes.

You must remember, though, that my experience is from ten years ago. I hope that the rigor is higher at all NOBTS extensions, and it may well be.

Bill

 

Broadus,

I, too, took the extension classes in Augusta from the fall of 1995 until it closed. I completed 45 hours of the M.Div. there. I wasn't disapointed! I tried to continue on at the Charlotte campus, but the drive was just to far.

I've got a good friend in TN who graduated from NOBTS in the early 2000's. He was ver pleased.

 

So we would have been taking classes at Augusta for two semesters, since I was there Fall '95 and Spring '96. I had Galiotti (OT Intro), Lanier (NT Intro), a music intro class, ethics, and Page for leadership. I transferred to Southern the fall semester of '96.

Did your NOBTS friend go to the North Georgia campus of NOBTS or the New Orleans campus? A lot of folks liked the North Georgia campus, but several commented how easy it was, while others complained about too much work!

Blessings,
Bill

 

I recieved my MDIV at NOBTS in 2000. I know the school is going through a lot of transition right now due to Katrina, but here's what I liked about it. It leans very much toward the practical and I understand that they have continued to move in that direction. At the time I was there, a lot of degree programs were getting a make-over to be more practical. The idea was that many churches hold certain expectations of seminary graduates that extend far beyond knowledge of the Bible and theology. So, the degree programs were reworked in order to reflect certain competencies.

That's not to say that the academics are lacking. I think a student can chart just as much a scholarly education there as with any other seminary. The bottom line is that they are preparing a wide variety of students for a wide variety of ministries.

The campus is really a great community. Again, Katrina will have changed things, but I found the close-knot community of the school to be as beneficial in my training to the classes. Also, the professors are very invested in the lives of the students. They become more than instructors, they are pastors, mentors, and friends.

I have my problems with them too, mainly coming from some decisions made by the president that seemed more influenced by business than what is right when I was there. However, I realize that its a fine line to walk, a line I would not want to be charged with walking, and thus, should offer more grace than criticism.

Anyway, that's my $.02 on NOBTS

 

Broadus,

My mistake. I started the Spring of '96. I had Lanier's NT class, the music class and the ethics class.

My friend did his NOBTS on campus, He loved it!

 

Why did ya take that quality SEBTS base and go to Southern?:smilewinkgrin: Going by the names of the profs you lised above you did indeed have some of our SEBTS best. Likewise, here on campus my fellow students and I get to sit under the teaching of such great scholars as Dr. John H. Sailhamer (there is no better OT & Hebrew man anywhere), Dr. Andreas J. Kostenberger (top notch NT scholar), Dr. David Alan Black (NT Greek :thumbs, and Dr. David P. Nelson (great Systematic Theology Prof.).

 

You'll get a good education/preparation at NOBTS, but it won't be as good as what you'd get at Southern, of course :smilewinkgrin:

 

Hi BB,

When I was looking at re-locating to do on-campus work, SEBTS did not have its PhD program finalized, if I remember correctly, so I went Southern because I didn't want to make two moves. I ended up doing a PhD in church history under Dr. Tom Nettles, the premier Baptist historian of our day, IMO. Danny Akin, BTW, was on my doctoral committee.

Do well at SEBTS.

Blessings,
Bill

 

Just FYI the extension center had moved to First Baptist Atlanta for a year and now is meeting at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church.

I like NOBTS and if you're in ATL you should use the extension, it is a good extension. NOBTS main campus will not be really usable for another year or two imho. Good school though

 

It'll be ready sooner than that, I spent a week down there in January helping get the campus back in shape for classes to begin again. The majority of the Main Campus classrooms, administration, and the chapel were not too bad off. It was the campus housing that took such a beating. SEBTS sent over 400 of our students, facualty, and staff down there during four different Operation Grace mission trips to help restore the NOBTS campus and work in the greater New Orleans community.

 

It will be fully operational...if not as big...in time for the Fall semester. As has been noted, the issue is housing.

More to the point of the thread...If I lived in Atlanta, felt called to the ministry, felt called specifically to teach, and was Southern Baptist, I would think the NOBTS extension is a no-brainer for three reasons:
1)Cost.
2)To teach, one needs an advanced degree anyway. It matters little where one did his or her Masters degree.
3)Given the ratio of PhD grads to available teaching positions, a well-rounded M.Div could prove valuable should the search for a teaching position take a year or two longer than expected.