Looking at their website they do not appear to be Fundamentalist like BJU, Pensacola, Northland, etc.. They appear to be very contemporary. Is this correct? What do you say of them? When I went to BJU, Liberty had a bad reputation and BJU would not even play them at sports.
They do have Christian rock concerts on campus, so their music is much more contemporary than BJU.
We're looking into this college for our dd as it offers a lot of good degree choices.
I'm not so happy with their music standards and
some of their chapel speakers.
One thing we've noticed is that Liberty seems to have very happy, friendly students who really care about prospective students.
This has not been the case with Pensacola Christian College or BJU, as far as we're concerned.
We'd rather our kids attend a more liberal Christian college that actually demonstrates LOVE than a rigid one that emphasizes rules as a form of godliness.
Since then Liberty has changed a great deal for the better.
One of the most telling things is that Thomas Road Baptist Church became a part of the SBC.
They are not fundamentalist in this "fundy" sense of fundamentalist.
I usually don't post in the Fundamentalist forum because I'm not one and I don't want to cause undue controversy.
That said, per the OP, Liberty is not a fundamentalist school any longer.
When I was there in my undergraduate days it absolutely was fundamentalist. Now, and I've been there several times over the past year, it has moved to a conservative evangelicalism but it is not fundamentalist. In fact, I've heard speakers and professors talk about things that aren't fundamentalist issues. This is represented in how they've modified their student handbook.
I don't think these changes are entirely bad, but the school is much different now than it was. If you've a self-identified fundamentalist, looking for a like minded fundamentalist school, Liberty probably isn't what you're looking for. BJU, Pensacola, Baptist Bible College, etc are more in your view of things.
Liberty is positioning itself as a the university of choice for evangelicals across the world. Dr Falwell Sr began this transition in the late 90s. It is really being accomplished at a high pace now. The university is very successful, and a good school, but it has certainly moved.
Fundamentalism is DOCTRINE and Liberty holds 100% to them.
The extraneous man-made issues (separation, music, evil SBC, etc) have NOTHING TO DO with fundamentalism.
Think the school would probably be more comfortable labeling itself as "Evangelical", trying to divorce itself (ah, divorce, another man-made 'funny-mental issue) from the lunacy that often passes for fundamentalism.
And yes, I have look on my wall and note a piece of paper framed there with Jerry's signature on it!! :)
Probably because BJU practiced separation, that is, separation from the humiliation that inevitably would have ensued from playing LU (or LBC, depending on when you went to BJU).
Gulf Shores is right up the road from PCC so I know a little about them. I don't know what kind of academic record they have, but the stories I've heard from some who have attended are downright scary. They run it more like a cult than a college.
There are some things about Liberty that rub me the wrong way, such as inviting a Mormon (even though, in this case, it happens to be a Mormon I like) to be a graduation speaker, but I just couldn't see subjecting my children to PCC and, to be honest, I don't think PCC would want our children, anyway. I think they're looking for students who can't get along without such strict supervision and authoritarianism.
It's also been my understanding that Liberty is aggressively anti-Reformed.
I had heard years ago BJ found people betting on the games - so it was stopped.
Can anyone confimr this?
I dont have a problem with that at all - in fact sometimes we as Christians shield ourselves too much from the world.
And besides, I would like to think the Fawell boys had a chance to be a witness to Glenn Beck
As an Alumni of Liberty I can say that they are not anti-reformed. In fact there are a few reformed professors. But I do have the perception that they work to keep it at arms length.