More questions about Andersonville Theological Seminary

[SonoftheLivingGod]

Andersonville Theological Seminary is not for those who limit God's Abundant Joy!

After reviewing several post about Andersonville Theological Seminary, I have to agree with the sentiment, the semantics of who accredits is not worthwhile discussion. Personally it is more important to judge the fruits of a man/woman and that is HOW God is working in their lives. Too many churches have hired Pastors based on accreditations and have been literally stolen from and robbed. The whole person criteria needs to be applied in judging preachers who aspire to become Pastors.

For example, my father made me very proud 7-years ago when he graduated with his Masters and Doctorate of Ministry from Andersonville. God didn't limit his utility -- he pastors a large church in NC, voted vice moderator of one of the NC Baptist Associations, and has a vibrant teaching ministry with a dedicated flock of Christians. He has not been limited or held back as a pastor. In fact, God has filled his life with an abundance of Love, Wealth, and Joy. No one has attempted to discredit him for what he preaches, or what he has learned. Affectionately he is a Doctor bringing Christ to the unsaved -- the Lord has used him as a tool which is the purpose I assume.

The notion that a person graduating from Andersonville may limit them is nothing but the devil's talk in my book. Satan places fear in places that deserve no attention and offers discouraging advice to gain a foothole in the lives of Christians.

No matter what the degree and what the aim, living according to God's purpose is what will define us -- not where you graduated. I went to Boston University and had friends who went to seminary at that prestigious school -- it was alarming to me to hear confessions of attending the school of theology to one day pastor at their father's church. Some said they were not saved but over time they would be. They looked at the degree from a worldly perspective -- and regardless of what school they attended in my book -- God's calling for their ministry was not apparent. They degreed only to be employed in a lucrative career field.

I have opted to learn under Andersonville because I have learned much from what my Father has shown me.

I have the courses and the lectures and I know they are high quality and cannot be completed without meaningful time, effort and prayer. I can say the coursework is just as challenging as my undergraduate work at Boston U, as challenging as my Masters of Science from Chapman U, and more thought provoking than my Masters of Arts at the George Washington University.

I am thinking hard how to encourage my children to incorporate this program into their lives so they can benefit from God's Word. As in any major decision, pray on it and believe me, if the Holy Spirit is incorporated in your decision making HOW CAN YOU GO WRONG?

Andersonville may not be for everyone, but it is definitely for some. But do it for the right reasons and KNOW God doesn't limit those who He has called. For those who raise the debate, ask God is this important to Him.

 

[Plain Old Bill]

When the accrediting team went to Bethany, Bethany was approved accept for it's PhD and ThD programs and that due to a lack of any language training. I agree with the accrediting team because Phd's and ThD's are research degrees. In order to do proper Biblical research one needs extensive knowledge of greek, hebrew, and aramaic, as well as knowledge of latin and german.
LBU is recognized by the BBFI which is a body of about 1500 local NT churches. Bethany also works with many churches. Although they are not Ivy League I would think it correct to say thier ministry degrees are valid.

Andersonville teaches 2 years of greek and 2 years of hebrew both are valuble but hardly at the level required for research as well as missing 3 other important research languages.I have'nt taken any courses from Andersonville but from time to time I recieve little nuggets of information and get mixed messages, so I hold my piece.

I do think all three of these schools do a better job than Covington and some others and they seem to fit in with some groups.

I would be interested to know where Andersonville gets off track doctrinally ? I ask that because someone brought it up earlier.

 

[Martin]

I would be interested to know where Andersonville gets off track doctrinally ? I ask that because someone brought it up earlier.

==I'm not sure if they are KJV-Only or not. If they are KJV-Only, that would be the only problem I am aware of. I don't know of any doctrinal problems with Andersonville.

 

[Martin]

After reviewing several post about Andersonville Theological Seminary, I have to agree with the sentiment, the semantics of who accredits is not worthwhile discussion.

==Accreditation is a very worthwhile discussion and for several important reasons. It affects the transfer of credits and degrees, the graduate's job search, and in some states the legality of the degree program. While it is true that there are some good schools that do not hold some form of offical accreditation, accreditation is still important. Just ask the lady who tried to enter a MAT (Master of Arts Teaching) program but was denied because her BA degree was from an unaccredited Christian college. She had to start over from square one. So it does matter. It may not be a major issue for your father or for yourself, but for others it is a very big issue that will affect their lives for years to come.

The notion that a person graduating from Andersonville may limit them is nothing but the devil's talk in my book. Satan places fear in places that deserve no attention and offers discouraging advice to gain a foothole in the lives of Christians.

==That is going a bit too far. Earning a degree from Andersonville, and any other non-accredited school, may very well limit some people. It may very well limit their further educational goals and their job prospects. That may not have been true for you or your father, but it is true for others. We don't bang on the accreditation drum around here just to scare people. Rather we are trying to caution folks so that they make well informed decisions. For some a non-accredited degree will be fine, for most a non-accredited degree will only cause problems.

They looked at the degree from a worldly perspective -- and regardless of what school they attended in my book -- God's calling for their ministry was not apparent. They degreed only to be employed in a lucrative career field.

==A degree program is a wordly thing. The Bible never talks about degree programs and one does not need to have a degree to be a Sunday School teacher, nursery worker, choir leader, pastor, missionary, etc. The purpose of any degree program is to prepare a person for a certain career/job. I would hope that every Christian would earn a degree in the field they believe the Lord is leading them.

I am thinking hard how to encourage my children to incorporate this program into their lives so they can benefit from God's Word. As in any major decision, pray on it and believe me, if the Holy Spirit is incorporated in your decision making HOW CAN YOU GO WRONG?

==I would not disagree with any of that. However one does not need to enroll in Bible College/Seminary to learn the Bible and to benefit from God's Word. People who simply want to learn more of God's Word should enroll in a Bible study group or something like that.

God bless you in your studies...:thumbs:

 

[justinpastor2youth]

Andersonville Baptist Seminary/College

Andersonville Baptist Seminary/College was a great learning experience for me.
I have studied at Regionally accredited schools and found that Andersonville Baptist College's courses were just as challenging as ones from regionally accredited schools.

Sure it's not Princeton, but the education received at Andersonville will serve a local pastor, youth pastor or Christian Ed. director well in their career. It is not a diploma mill by any means, this is REAL work. I think some confuse diploma mills with legit Christian schools that do not seek Government accredidation because they want to just strickly teach the bible. Regionally accredited schools require alot of general courses ( which are good) but aren't required for pulpit or program ministry.

I wouldn't say this if the courses weren't thorough and well put together. I will say though that they could work on their presentations for their courses. Some of the lectures were so distorted and poorly recorded that it would be hard to make out at times. But.. this was only a small percentage of the time.

I beleive that the staff and teachers at andersonville are concerned about people getting a quality education. So, if it's affordable and you don't mind studying strickly from the King James version, then go for it. It will give you a good preperation for ministry.

 

[Ryiguy28]

Hello all,

I'm writing this as a recent ex-student. I enrolled in in Doctor of Christian Education program two months ago. I'd like to describe the program and why I withdrew.

After paying the initial $300, I received in the mail a small package with about 7 CDs inside. One of the CDs was Dr. Jimmy Hayes books all in PDF format. Another CD was all the instructions and "tests." The other discs were the audio courses for a few of the classes. My program had 5 courses in audio format, which was just lectures and then I filled in answers to extremely simple questions on a worksheet or "test." The remaining courses where textbooks that you read and did the same type of answering. There is no dissertation or thesis for this program.

Midway through the first course, Doctrine of Christ, I sent my withdrawal into ATS. I was very disappointed with the lack of academic rigor. The audio lessons were basically sermons and not academic, seminary-level lectures. And the "tests" were so elementary that it was laughable. My wife has only a Certificate in Ministry and could answer all the questions without listening to the lectures.

I could not in good conscience call myself a "doctor" of anything by taking this course from Andersonville. I gave ATS the benefit of the doubt and it bit me hard. I am now enrolled in a fully accredited DMin program in a seminary on the mission field where I am serving.

 

[TCGreek]

Thanks for this personal input.

People need to leave schools like Andersonville alone. It's not worth the time and money, unless you're desperate for degrees behind your name.

 

[Broadus]

Hello all,

I'm writing this as a recent ex-student. I enrolled in in Doctor of Christian Education program two months ago. I'd like to describe the program and why I withdrew.

After paying the initial $300, I received in the mail a small package with about 7 CDs inside. One of the CDs was Dr. Jimmy Hayes books all in PDF format. Another CD was all the instructions and "tests." The other discs were the audio courses for a few of the classes. My program had 5 courses in audio format, which was just lectures and then I filled in answers to extremely simple questions on a worksheet or "test." The remaining courses where textbooks that you read and did the same type of answering. There is no dissertation or thesis for this program.

Midway through the first course, Doctrine of Christ, I sent my withdrawal into ATS. I was very disappointed with the lack of academic rigor. The audio lessons were basically sermons and not academic, seminary-level lectures. And the "tests" were so elementary that it was laughable. My wife has only a Certificate in Ministry and could answer all the questions without listening to the lectures.

I could not in good conscience call myself a "doctor" of anything by taking this course from Andersonville. I gave ATS the benefit of the doubt and it bit me hard. I am now enrolled in a fully accredited DMin program in a seminary on the mission field where I am serving.

Thanks for sharing this. You are doubtlessly not alone in your experience, and I can't say I'm surprised. Such places are really detrimental to the cause of Christ. Graduates are not prepared and holding the degree opens them up to questions about their integrity. Plus, there are many solid choices for real distance-education theological training available now.

 

[Crucified in Christ]

Hello all,

I'm writing this as a recent ex-student. I enrolled in in Doctor of Christian Education program two months ago. I'd like to describe the program and why I withdrew.

After paying the initial $300, I received in the mail a small package with about 7 CDs inside. One of the CDs was Dr. Jimmy Hayes books all in PDF format. Another CD was all the instructions and "tests." The other discs were the audio courses for a few of the classes. My program had 5 courses in audio format, which was just lectures and then I filled in answers to extremely simple questions on a worksheet or "test." The remaining courses where textbooks that you read and did the same type of answering. There is no dissertation or thesis for this program.

Midway through the first course, Doctrine of Christ, I sent my withdrawal into ATS. I was very disappointed with the lack of academic rigor. The audio lessons were basically sermons and not academic, seminary-level lectures. And the "tests" were so elementary that it was laughable. My wife has only a Certificate in Ministry and could answer all the questions without listening to the lectures.

I could not in good conscience call myself a "doctor" of anything by taking this course from Andersonville. I gave ATS the benefit of the doubt and it bit me hard. I am now enrolled in a fully accredited DMin program in a seminary on the mission field where I am serving.

I have heard this sort of thing before. The truly sad thing is that the majority of attendees have literally no shame in calling themselves Doctors.