Bible college

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A Bible college, sometimes referred to as a Bible institute or theological institute or theological seminary, is an evangelical Christian or Restoration Movement Christian institution of higher education which prepares students for Christian ministry with theological education, Biblical studies and practical ministry training.

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Bible colleges primarily offer undergraduate degrees, but may also offer graduate degrees, lower-level associate degrees, certificates or diplomas in specialized areas of Christian training where a full degree is not required.

History

Spurgeon's College, London Former Falkland Park, South Norwood Hill - geograph.org.uk - 1777086.jpg
Spurgeon's College, London

Bible colleges differs from other theological institutions in their missionary perspective. [1] In Europe, the first schools that could be classified in this category are St. Chrischona Theological Seminary (affiliated with Chrischona International) founded in 1840 by Christian Friedrich Spittler in Bettingen, Switzerland, and the Pastors' College (affiliated with the Baptist Union of Great Britain) established in 1856 by Baptist Pastor Charles Spurgeon at London in the United Kingdom.

In the United States and Canada, the origins of the Bible college movement are in the late 19th-century Bible institute movement. [2] The first Bible schools in North America were founded by Canadian Pastor A. B. Simpson (Nyack College in 1882) of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, and D. L. Moody (Moody Bible Institute in 1887). Many were established as a reaction against established theological colleges and seminaries, which conservatives believed were becoming increasingly liberal and undermining traditional Christian teachings, such as Biblical inerrancy. [3]

The American Bible college movement developed in reaction to the secularization of U.S. higher education. The "Bible institute/college movement" has been described as "a protest to the inroads of secularization in higher education and as a base for the education of lay workers and full-time Bible teachers, evangelists, and pastors". [4] As one historian put it, "It is not a coincidence that the Bible institute movement grew up during the very period when the philosophy of naturalism became prevalent in American education". [5] Between 1882 and 1920, 39 Bible schools were founded in the United States. [6]

In 1995, a campus of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in the United States was established at the Louisiana State Penitentiary following an invitation from the prison warden, Burl Cain. [7] The school has contributed to a significant reduction in the rate of violence in the prison. [8] In 2016, Cain founded the Prison Seminaries Foundation, an organization that has various member seminaries in American prisons. [9]

Programs

Bible colleges generally confer bachelor's degrees, most often in biblical studies and various divisions of Christian ministry, pastoral ministry and worship ministry or church music. [10] Some Bible colleges offer degree programs in ministry-related areas that also have secular application, such as Christian education.

Beyond the undergraduate level, some others have established seminaries and graduate divisions.

At some Bible colleges, associate's degrees, diplomas, or certificates are available. These programs are generally designed for laypersons (such as Sunday school teachers) who neither want nor need a bachelor's degree to perform their Christian service, but who desire additional training in such areas as Bible studies or the teachings and practices of their denomination.

Many Bible colleges offer correspondence or online training. [11] [12]

Many Bible colleges in the United States and Canada that offer intercollegiate athletic programs are members of the National Christian College Athletic Association or the Association of Christian College Athletics.

Accreditation

The International Council for Evangelical Theological Education was founded in 1980 by the Theological Commission of the World Evangelical Alliance. [13] In 2015, it would have 1,000 member schools in 113 countries. [14]

Affiliations

Bible colleges are usually associated with evangelical, conservative, Christian fundamentalist denominations. [note 1] Their primary purpose is to prepare people for roles in Christian ministry. [3] The Bible-centered curriculum is typically supplemented by structured programs of Christian service. [15]

Professor salary and teacher-student ratio

In the United States the average salary for a full professor at a Bible institute was around $49,000 in 2012. The student-to-faculty ratio is around 13 students to one instructor. [16]

See also

Notes

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moody Bible Institute</span> Bible institute in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.

Moody Bible Institute (MBI) is a private evangelical Christian Bible college in Chicago, Illinois. It was founded by evangelist and businessman Dwight Lyman Moody in 1886. Historically, MBI has maintained positions that have identified it as non-charismatic, dispensational, and generally Calvinistic. Today, MBI operates undergraduate programs and Moody Theological Seminary at the Chicago campus. The Seminary also operates a satellite campus in Plymouth, Michigan. Moody Aviation operates a flight school in Spokane, Washington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dallas Theological Seminary</span> Theological seminary in Dallas, Texas

Dallas Theological Seminary(DTS) is an evangelical theological seminary in Dallas, Texas. It is known for popularizing the theological system of dispensationalism. DTS has campuses in Dallas, Houston, and Washington, D.C., as well as extension sites in Atlanta, Austin, San Antonio, Nashville, Northwest Arkansas, Europe, and Guatemala, and a multilingual online education program. DTS is the largest non-denominational seminary accredited by the Association of Theological Schools.

Tyndale University is a Canadian private interdenominational evangelical Christian university in Toronto, Ontario, which offers undergraduate and graduate programs. Tyndale students come from over 40 different Christian denominations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Covenant Theological Seminary</span> Seminary of the Presbyterian Church in America

Covenant Theological Seminary, informally called Covenant Seminary, is the denominational seminary of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). Located in Creve Coeur, Missouri, it trains people to work as leaders in church positions and elsewhere, especially as pastors, missionaries, and counselors. It does not require all students to be members of the PCA, but it is bound to promote the teachings of its denomination. Faculty must subscribe to the system of biblical doctrine outlined in the Westminster Standards.

New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (NOBTS) is a Baptist theological institute in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Missions and evangelism are core focuses of the seminary.

American Accrediting Association of Theological Institutions (AAATI) is a Christian nonprofit organization based in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. It was founded by Cecil Johnson, president of Christian Bible College, a distance education Bible college based in Rocky Mount North Carolina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prairie College</span> Christian post-secondary school in Canada

Prairie College is an interdenominational Christian College located in the town of Three Hills, Alberta. Founded as Prairie Bible Institute, classes began on October 9, 1922, on the property of the McElheran family farm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clear Creek Baptist Bible College</span>

Clear Creek Baptist Bible College (CCBBC) is a private Baptist Bible college in Pineville, Kentucky. It is affiliated with the Kentucky Baptist Convention. CCBBC provides a Bible-based education focusing on Christian service. The college is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and the Association for Biblical Higher Education. CCBBC was founded by Lloyd Caswell Kelly in 1926.

Horizon College and Seminary is a multi-denominational Evangelical Christian College in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Cornerstone Theological Seminary of Cornerstone University is a private interdenominational evangelical Christian seminary located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. CTS is an accredited member of the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada, The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, and is authorized by the Michigan State Board of Education to grant advanced theological degrees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Baptist Theological Seminary</span> Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, USA

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) is a Baptist theological institute in Louisville, Kentucky. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. The seminary was founded in 1859 in Greenville, South Carolina, where it was at first housed on the campus of Furman University. The seminary has been an innovator in theological education, establishing one of the first Ph.D. programs in religion in the year 1892. After being closed during the Civil War, it moved in 1877 to a newly built campus in downtown Louisville and moved to its current location in 1926 in the Crescent Hill neighborhood. In 1953, Southern became one of the few seminaries to offer a full, accredited degree course in church music. For more than fifty years Southern has been one of the world's largest theological seminaries, with an FTE enrollment of over 3,300 students in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luther Rice College & Seminary</span>

Luther Rice College & Seminary is a private Baptist college and seminary in Lithonia, Georgia. Through the college and seminary the institution offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in leadership, counseling, apologetics, Christian worldview, Christian studies, and Christian ministry. The school is recognized as being theologically conservative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ambrose University</span> Christian seminary in Calgary, Canada

Ambrose University is a private Christian liberal arts university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Elmer Leon Towns is an American Christian academic, pastor and writer who co-founded Liberty University alongside Jerry Falwell in 1971. Towns is also a prominent Christian leader and speaker on the principles of church growth, church leadership, Christian education, Sunday school, and prayer and fasting. He has written over 170 books, eight of which are listed on the Christian Booksellers Association Best Selling List. In 1995, his book The Names of the Holy Spirit received the Gold Medallion Award from the Evangelical Christian Booksellers Association for Book of the Year in Biblical Study. Most recently Towns has served as Dean of the B. R. Lakin School of Religion, Dean of Liberty University Baptist Theological Seminary, and Distinguished Professor of Systematic Theology at Liberty University. In fall 2013, Towns announced he would be taking a sabbatical from his teaching and administrative duties to focus on speaking and writing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asia Theological Association</span>

Asia Theological Association (ATA) is a Christian organisation of seminaries in Asia. It is a member of the International Council for Evangelical Theological Education. The headquarters is in Quezon City, Philippines.

Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary is an independent Baptist seminary in Allen Park, Michigan, operated in association with the Inter-City Baptist Church in Allen Park. The institution, which was established in 1976, enrolls men for graduate programs in preaching and pastoral theology, leading to the Master of Divinity (M.Div) and Master of Theology (Th.M.) degrees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heritage College & Seminary</span> Canadian evangelical institution in Ontario

The Heritage College & Seminary is a Baptist theological institute in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. It is affiliated with the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada.

References

  1. ↑ David Emmanuel Singh, Bernard C. Farr, Christianity and Education: Shaping Christian Thinking in Context, Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2011, p. 173
  2. ↑ History: Biblical Higher Education Archived 2011-07-24 at the Wayback Machine , American Association of Bible Colleges website (accessed November 19, 2007)
  3. 1 2 Bible Schools, in The Canadian Encyclopedia (1st page in online version of article)
  4. ↑ Larry J. McKinney, "THE FUNDAMENTALIST BIBLE SCHOOL AS AN OUTGROWTH OF THE CHANGING PATTERNS OF PROTESTANT REVIVALISM, 1882–1920", Religious Education: The official journal of the Religious Education Association, 84:1, 589-605. Page 594
  5. ↑ Frank E. Gaebelein, quoted in McKinney (1989:590)
  6. ↑ McKinney (1989:599)
  7. ↑ Erik Eckholm, Bible College Helps Some at Louisiana Prison Find Peace, nytimes.com, USA, October 5, 2013
  8. ↑ Michael Hallett, Joshua Hays, Byron R. Johnson, Sung Joon Jang, Grant Duwe, The Angola Prison Seminary: Effects of Faith-Based Ministry on Identity Transformation, Desistance, and Rehabilitation, Routledge, Abingdon-on-Thames, 2016, p. 234
  9. ↑ Grace Toohey, Why is retired Angola warden Burl Cain traveling the world now? Unique non-profit, nola.com, USA, May 12, 2018
  10. ↑ Michel Deneken, Francis Messner, Frank Alvarez-Pereyre, La théologie à l'Université: statut, programmes et évolutions, Editions Labor et Fides, Genève, 2009, p. 61
  11. ↑ Abby Perry, Non-Traditional Seminary Students Are Changing the Church, christianitytoday.com, USA, January 7, 2020
  12. ↑ Christianisme aujourd'hui, École biblique ou fac?, christianismeaujourdhui.info, Switzerland, March 24, 2008
  13. ↑ Bernhard Ott, Understanding and Developing Theological Education, Langham Global Library, UK, 2016, p. 23
  14. ↑ Brian Stiller, Evangelicals Around the World: A Global Handbook for the 21st Century, Thomas Nelson, USA, 2015, p. 170
  15. 1 2 Bible Schools, in The Canadian Encyclopedia (3rd page in online version of article)
  16. ↑ Todd C. Ream, "Protestant Bible Institutes in the United States", in The International Handbook of Protestant Education, ed. William Jeynes, David W. Robinson, Springer, 2012, pp. 123-136.

See also

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