Fundamental Doctorate Program

I am a Youth Pastor in Central Illinois, and I am thinking about going back to school to earn my Masters and Doctorate. However, I do not want to leave my church to do so. I am looking for a fundamental seminary that provides distance learning at a reasonable price. Is there anyone out there that knows of such a one? I would really appreciate the help.

 

Liberty sounds like it would be right up your alley.

 

Luther Rice and Liberty are your best bets..... I didnt see Liberty as a fundamental though......... I went with Luther Rice...... I looked at liberty, but didnt like their program for a Bachelor........ But I do plan on going to Liberty for my Masters of Divinity...

 

You can get a master of biblical studies online through Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Virginia Beach.

 

Education

Just curious, should the emphasis of a seminary program be educational or indoctrinational?

 

You could checkout Rockbridge Seminary. They are DE and not too expensive. TEDS offers a lot of DE and has an extension site in the south suburbs of Chicago, but they are a little pricey. After you complete a master's degree, then you can worry about a doctorate. Central Baptist in Minnesota and BBS in Pennsylvania both offer a doctoral degree that does not require residency I believe.

 

Rockbridge is not yet accredited. Do not go there if you want to pursue further education.

 

Stefan, I totally agree. I also don't recommend a DE M.Div. (which Rockbridge offers without language requirements), and I don't recommend Ph.D. programs that don't require residency either (get a D.Min. if you don't want to move). It all depends on what you want out of your formal degrees.

I honestly know little about Rockbridge except a friend of mine got a degree there that was relatively cheap and DE. TEDS would offer a better education and it's not too far from middle Illinois, but it is much more expensive than other places I bet. One of my former schools, BBGST, is also near central Illinois and offers a lot of module classes and some DE, and would be cheaper than TEDS too (it is also fundamentalist).

 

==How far are you away from Deerfield? I ask because Trinity Evangelical Divinity School is located there. It is not a "fundamentalist" school but it is a fine institution. You can earn your MDiv and Phd through Trinity (on-campus).

If you must stick with distance education I would say your best "bets" would be Temple Baptist Seminary or Luther Rice Seminary. Which ever route you choose make sure it contains languages. A MDiv without languages is like a car with no seats. It is incomplete. That is why I would not suggest Liberty Seminary's online MDiv. I am not sure if Temple offeres a full MDiv online. You might be required to do some on-campus time at Temple. Not so with Luther Rice's MDiv.

As far as a PhD is concerned. There are no "real" PhDs offered online in the fields of theology/biblical studies. If you want a PhD you will have to go on-campus. If you want to do a doctorate online/distance I would suggest you look for a DMin program. Even then, however, you are going to have to do some work on-campus. Liberty Seminary's DMin, Luther Rice's DMin, and Temple's DMin are all options.

If you are wanting to teach at a seminary/college I would suggest you talk with someone who is already teaching in your field of interest. That way you can get an idea about the job market (etc). They can also help you pick a good PhD program.

 

That is actually incorrect. Baptist Bible Seminary in Clark Summit, PA, offer an online, no-residency PhD program. They are RA and ABHE. Also, there are a few other institutions which have research docs programs that can be completed without residency (e.g. SATS).

 

It's not completely without residency. You must take on campus modules.

 

==Actually Baptist Bible Seminary's PhD program does have an on-campus aspect. I quote from their website:

"The BBS Ph.D. program utilizes a creative external and internal residency that blends face-to-face, one-week, on-campus modules with pre- and post-module Internet interaction in the student’s home or ministry setting." - SOURCE

That is more of a blended approach and not an online approach. Regent University's Divinity School has the same type of blended PhD program.

As for schools like SATS, I just don't know enough about their programs to recommend them to anyone. Research only doctorates have a long history. In fact SATS makes it clear that "there is NO coursework in our DTh programme". That history includes both good and bad. Someone who would earn a ThD from SATS through the distance/research only method would have to be very dedicated and very experienced in doing primary research. I would therefore caution people who are thinking about such a program to make sure they are ready to engage in indepedent, advanced, primary research. For those who are ready for such a task SATS offers a program of study that is, for now, accepted by Universities and Seminaries in the United States. However that is only for those who are ready for such a task.

Why do I say "for now"? Because non-resident, research only PhD programs have a interesting history. A principle of mine from middle school had one of these non-resident, non-resident research only doctorate degrees (in education). At the time the program was accepted by the Department of Education and she was hired by a North Carolina county to teach and lead a school. There were also supervisors, etc, who had simular doctorate degrees from the same program. Several years later the state "changed its mind" and said those degrees would no longer be accepted. So I would caution people about programs like SATS. Not only because of the course work but also because the long term acceptence of such doctorate programs may or may not continue long into the future.

 

Piedmont Baptist College

Check out the Ph.D. program at Piedmont Baptist College (http://www.pbc.edu/ps/ps_ac_mdp.aspx) in Winston-Salem, NC. They are accredited and the Ph.D. (http://www.pbc.edu/ps/forms/PhD.pdf) is distance ed.

 

I work with SATS and value "our" programs, but there are public universities in South Africa, and elsewhere too, where a doctorate may be earned by distance in religion studies.

I did mine through Unizul in Systematic Theology in about 3-4 years at a cost , then, of $3000. SATS charges $8000.

 

I stand corrected. Thanks

 

I have degrees from Liberty. Here's my two cents...

They are conservative to be sure, but I would not call them fundamental - though many of the profs are and a fundamentalist would likely be comfortable with their distance learning programs. I looked at Luther Rice but chose Liberty... both are good schools.

 

We are almost neighbors I think... I Pastor First Congregational Church of Peru, Illinois (www.1stperu.org). I am pretty new here but I think that Bloomington is close by... I need to look at mapquest... :type: Yep, almost neighbors!

May the Lord bless your decision of where to study. This was a huge decision for me. I used to really agonize over it because I wanted to make the right choice. I prayed a lot about it and talked it over with my wife and eventually went with Liberty all the way through the B.S.R., M.A.R. and now I am wrapping up the M.Div. They have a GREAT faculty, wonderful financial aide office, and the advisers are wonderful!

Blessings all over your ministry and my prayers are with you for whatever program you decide to pursue!

 

BTW,

Liberty is regionally (SACS) and TRACS accredited. This makes a big difference depending on what you want to do in the long run with the degree. In many local church settings I have found that calling and experience are foremost and an accredited degree is not as important as having biblical knowledge and obvious calling BUT this is certainly not always the case. Most Dallas Seminary Grad types are going to question unaccredited degrees regardless!

There are other things to consider though. For example, I may pursue chaplaincy with the VA Hospital system when I am much nearer to retirement. The Federal Government wants to see accredited degrees though I suspect that ATS (Association of Theological Schools), Regional Accreditation, ABHE (Association for Biblical Higher Education), DETC (Distance Education Training Council), or TRACS (Transnational Associaiton of Colleges and Schools) would all be acceptable so long as they are recognized by CHEA (Council for Higher Education Accreditation).

 

ABHE is now accrediting Masters' degrees.