Scholars with questionable degrees?

I don't know and I don't care. I rarely list my degrees, although they are respected. I always thought it to be a bit off the mark to focus so much on the letters after one's name.

 

Ditto!

I'd say let the man list any letters he wants after his name, I'll have my own opinion before he's half way through his sermon.

 

I would suspect that many in a number of religious circles of a certain kind would be found guilty of questionable ethics in regards to degrees.

 

Hmmm! Hmmmm! This post is worth two pauses, I believe! Surely you would not be talking mostly about Baptists, now, would you??

'Cause somehow that idea just 'hit' me, considerin' this is a 'Baptist Only' Forum. :tonofbricks:

Give me some 'real' 'preachers' and 'scholars', not just a bunch with some phony conferred Doctor's degree, I would say, here. Would y'all agree or disagree with me?

Ed

 

==Dr Caner is now the President of Liberty Theological Seminary at Liberty University. I thought I heard him say he had a Doctorate in history? Middle ages or something like that. Maybe that was his brother? I don't know I will have to do some research.

==I don't know, maybe you should ask him directly. Personally I don't think it should be listed. After all I doubt his employment at Liberty is in any way based on that degree.

 

==Yes, I think it is Emir Caner with the PhD in History

from the College at Southwestern's website...

I don't know what Emir's PhD is in, however. Univ. of Texas at Arlington only has one PhD in history and that is in Transatlantic History.

 

Why does "life experience" allow a person to cut down on the length of their thesis? I have never heard of such a thing. A thesis is about scholarship not life experience.


Sounds like a degree mill to me.

 

If he earned it...let him list it.

Sincerely,
Bobby Daniel: AA, BA, MDiv, ABC, EFG, ADHD, ASAP, ESV, TTFN :laugh:

 

Now, the question is whether Ergun Caner lends credence to this school by listing their D.Min. on his vitae? As a respected member of academia, is it his responsibility to uphold academic standards by distancing himself from anything that smells of a degree mill or substandard? Would Dr. Caner’s seminary accept credits or degrees from Emmanuel? What do you think?
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I think you are right!

 

:applause: :laugh:

You forgot one! I once knew a believer who was brilliant, though he lived in a tent by the side of a road. He signed his name BaC. When I asked what that was he grinned and said, "Born Again Christian!"

 

The only degree I care about is my B.A. (born again) and it was not earned, it was awarded by divine election and grace.

When I open my mouth, the people will know where I am coming from and where I am going, and no number of letters behind my name will alter that.

Cheers,

Jim

PS. Have we in these times created the degree mill out of demand and expectation?

 

I think the process was:

1. Citified sophistication created the demand for educated ministers
2. Bad schools produced bad graduates
3. Lax congregations tolerated them and denominations went bad
4. Separatists pulled out and focused on practical education
5. New Evangelicalism reintroduced high academics (but it became What David Wells documented in No Place for Truth)
6. Conservatives, whimpering over their insulted self-image, tried to ape the New Evangelical academics, but weren't up to it
7. Degree millerites saw an opportunity for a fast buck and manufactured the product.

So, yeah, I think they arose out of demand. A Laodicean church--pastors and parishoners--hungering for a kind of respectability that can't be gotten by just serving and pleasing God.

Let me add a disclaimer: I have nothing against degree mills so long as they do not mislabel their products. It's a free country. Let them teach, let them offer their services to the highest bidder, and let them certify what happened while the student was there...but don't call it a degree such as a regular school offers.

It's against the law to sell sherbert and label it as ice cream.

 

If students fail in their academic integrity the punishment is swift.

Therefore, the accrediting agency should place Liberty on immediate probation, pending a full investigation and a two year moratorium of accreditation for Liberty and ALL CURRENT students.

If there is no bite, then why are any degrees accredited?

 

:applause: :applause: :applause:

 

I don't believe Liberty would accept credits from Emmanuel. Emmanuel looks too much like Andersonville and Bethany. They have some value -- more than a mill -- but they lack academic rigor. I don't think he should list it.

 

one of the looming issues of crisis in the current SBC is the plethora of individuals with degrees from questionable institutions. Currently at SWBTS the student body is being led by several individuals with terminal degrees from University of Texas at Arlington and other insitutions which degrees have little to do with their professorships. It is a rather unique position for the leadership since they are so hardcore about certain peripherial theological issues and demand doctrinal purity over so much, but are willing to accept and give prime positions for people who have degrees from questionable sources.

imho, we've recently seen one pastor of a significant released from his employment because of false degree information on his resume...if we did a denominational wide audit we'd probably have a significant number of people in unemployed situations.

btw, if we even think this is considered an issue at Liberty we're kidding ourselves. Nothing will happen, the same people will continue to fill the same posts. Welcome to the machine

 

If a football coach faked his degree - the punishment would be swift (has been). If the university let the degree be published and knew it was a fake - the punishment would be swift and they would be on probation.

I say, be swift put them on probation. Revoke their accredited status to grant degrees immediately. Tell them officially that they must remove any and all paid staff that have fake degrees. Make an appointment to review their progress in 2 years. Revoke the accredited status of ALL degrees until after they have been reviewed and it is determined that they have removed ALL fake degreed professors.

We say that we want real degrees. We say that we want accredited standards.

When students plagiarize - we ruin them for a failure in academic integrity.

Schools need to be treated in the same manner. IMHO.

Will it happen? I ain't holding my breath.