opinions of NOBTS

[daveatlanta]

Since attending the NOBTS seminary extension here in Atlanta is a possibility for me, tell me your opinions of that seminary. It doesn't seem to receive a great deal of attention on this message board.

Does it have a reputation in a particular specialty/area of concentration? Is it known as a scholarly seminary? Does it seem that its primary function is to train pastors?

Thank you for your thoughts!

 

[Rhetorician]

Nobts

Dave in Atlanta,

You have no idea how I appreciate your call to the ministry and also how you are trying to do the right thing about your education.

I still did not see where you answered my question about the content of your BA/BS?

Anyway, NOBTS is more or less the paradigm of my alma mater Mid America in Memphis. The majority of the founders including Dr. B. Gray Allison got their academic credentials there in years gone by.

It is a good school but probably not the top SBC seminary at the present moment. It is however difficult to assess the present state of a seminary like it is hard to make contemporary historical judgments.

I have found, also in years gone by, that it is more pragmatic rather than theological. If there was one convention school that majored on the SBC program to a fault it would be it. This is IMHO!!!!

I have one of my very best friends who is one of the profs there now. He is brilliant and an up and coming scholar. I had best not mention his name or his discipline for fear of violating any confidence. He tells me that the school is making a stride towards becoming a true academic institution of note. It is doing this while trying to hold that in tension with being a "good SBC Seminary" at the same time.

Two things of note that may have hampered this move to wards the real world academe:

First, you no doubt know of Katrina and the aftermath.

Secondly, the president has had a 4-5 year push-pull with the uppity ups of the convention for "sole trustee authority" of NOBTS. I don't know all of the ramifications but it amounts to a strangle hold much like GM would have over all of its divisions. There was something about the Louisiana law being based on the French Law rather than the English. He finally had to give into the will of the SBC at large (read the powers that be!).

Those two issues may have set it back, but I doubt that they will long term. I would not be afraid to get my master's degree from there for a "New York Minute!"

I hope this helps!:thumbs:

sdg!

rd

 

[daveatlanta]

Rhetorician, thanks for the info. By the way, I received my BA in History from USC. No, not the Univ of S. California, but the real USC, the University of South Carolina.

I'm still pondering all my options. Man, my head is spinning......

 

[mcdirector]

Dave,

Just out of curiousity, where are the extension classes being held these days?

 

[daveatlanta]

Dave,

Just out of curiousity, where are the extension classes being held these days?

I'm not sure where the classes are held, but the administrative office is at 1000 Johnson Ferry Rd. in Marietta (which is actually closer to Roswell than Marietta).

 

[mcdirector]

We were in Atlanta (now it's been years ago) and some of the classes were held at Roswell Street which is where we attended church while we were there. The pastor, Nelson Price, was a NOBTS grad.

Your post made me feel a bit nostagic, so I thought I'd ask.

 

[TaterTot]

I am an NOBTS alumnus and my my husband is almost done with his PhD in New Testament there. We know several folks who attended the extension center and had a great experience. Since Katrina, many of the professors have moved there temporarily and are starting to trickle back as their homes are getting ready. I think you can get a wonderful education there, and I highly reccommend it! :thumbs:

 

[El_Guero]

Dave

NOBTS is one of the better overall seminary programs that you will find at the Master's level. They have focused upon making their degree usable. In light of that, they have many degree programs. I won't even begin to try to list them all. They also have mini classes that you can take at the main campus.

They have (I know that they had) several programs focused upon research. One of those programs focused upon producing the Greek New Testament database. I understand that program is now being included in at least one commercial Bible program.

Their job board has routinely connected churches with ministers. I understand that the minister relations office performs well when compared with any of the other SBC seminaries.

 

[Broadus]

I took several MDiv classes at the North Georgia Campus of NOBTS during 1995-96. Classes were held in a church in Decatur given to the seminary.

Frankly, I was disappointed with the quality of instruction and the lack of rigor required. At the same time, I also took courses from Southeastern's extension which were held in Augusta, Georgia. The courses with SEBTS had much higher requirements and the quality of instruction was better, IMO.

I was ministering in the same south Georgia town with a then-recent NOBTS alum, and he said that the extension classes were much easier than on campus classes.

You must remember, though, that my experience is from ten years ago. I hope that the rigor is higher at all NOBTS extensions, and it may well be.

Bill

 

[SBCPreacher]

Broadus,

I, too, took the extension classes in Augusta from the fall of 1995 until it closed. I completed 45 hours of the M.Div. there. I wasn't disapointed! I tried to continue on at the Charlotte campus, but the drive was just to far.

I've got a good friend in TN who graduated from NOBTS in the early 2000's. He was ver pleased.

 

[Broadus]

Broadus,

I, too, took the extension classes in Augusta from the fall of 1995 until it closed. I completed 45 hours of the M.Div. there. I wasn't disapointed! I tried to continue on at the Charlotte campus, but the drive was just to far.

I've got a good friend in TN who graduated from NOBTS in the early 2000's. He was ver pleased.

So we would have been taking classes at Augusta for two semesters, since I was there Fall '95 and Spring '96. I had Galiotti (OT Intro), Lanier (NT Intro), a music intro class, ethics, and Page for leadership. I transferred to Southern the fall semester of '96.

Did your NOBTS friend go to the North Georgia campus of NOBTS or the New Orleans campus? A lot of folks liked the North Georgia campus, but several commented how easy it was, while others complained about too much work!

Blessings,
Bill

 

[Lagardo]

I recieved my MDIV at NOBTS in 2000. I know the school is going through a lot of transition right now due to Katrina, but here's what I liked about it. It leans very much toward the practical and I understand that they have continued to move in that direction. At the time I was there, a lot of degree programs were getting a make-over to be more practical. The idea was that many churches hold certain expectations of seminary graduates that extend far beyond knowledge of the Bible and theology. So, the degree programs were reworked in order to reflect certain competencies.

That's not to say that the academics are lacking. I think a student can chart just as much a scholarly education there as with any other seminary. The bottom line is that they are preparing a wide variety of students for a wide variety of ministries.

The campus is really a great community. Again, Katrina will have changed things, but I found the close-knot community of the school to be as beneficial in my training to the classes. Also, the professors are very invested in the lives of the students. They become more than instructors, they are pastors, mentors, and friends.

I have my problems with them too, mainly coming from some decisions made by the president that seemed more influenced by business than what is right when I was there. However, I realize that its a fine line to walk, a line I would not want to be charged with walking, and thus, should offer more grace than criticism.

Anyway, that's my $.02 on NOBTS

 

[SBCPreacher]

Broadus,

My mistake. I started the Spring of '96. I had Lanier's NT class, the music class and the ethics class.

My friend did his NOBTS on campus, He loved it!

 

[Bible-boy]

So we would have been taking classes at Augusta for two semesters, since I was there Fall '95 and Spring '96. I had Galiotti (OT Intro), Lanier (NT Intro), a music intro class, ethics, and Page for leadership. I transferred to Southern the fall semester of '96.

Why did ya take that quality SEBTS base and go to Southern?:smilewinkgrin: Going by the names of the profs you lised above you did indeed have some of our SEBTS best. Likewise, here on campus my fellow students and I get to sit under the teaching of such great scholars as Dr. John H. Sailhamer (there is no better OT & Hebrew man anywhere), Dr. Andreas J. Kostenberger (top notch NT scholar), Dr. David Alan Black (NT Greek :thumbs, and Dr. David P. Nelson (great Systematic Theology Prof.).

 

[daveatlanta]

(NOBTS) leans very much toward the practical and I understand that they have continued to move in that direction. At the time I was there, a lot of degree programs were getting a make-over to be more practical. The idea was that many churches hold certain expectations of seminary graduates that extend far beyond knowledge of the Bible and theology. So, the degree programs were reworked in order to reflect certain competencies.

Thanks, Lagardo. This information helps me in trying to make a decision. From your comments and the comments of others, I can see that NOBTS is primarily a seminary to produce good, solid pastors. Which, of course, would be great if that was what I wanted to go into. Thanks again for the info.

 

[TomVols]

You'll get a good education/preparation at NOBTS, but it won't be as good as what you'd get at Southern, of course :smilewinkgrin:

 

[Broadus]

Why did ya take that quality SEBTS base and go to Southern?:smilewinkgrin: Going by the names of the profs you lised above you did indeed have some of our SEBTS best. Likewise, here on campus my fellow students and I get to sit under the teaching of such great scholars as Dr. John H. Sailhamer (there is no better OT & Hebrew man anywhere), Dr. Andreas J. Kostenberger (top notch NT scholar), Dr. David Alan Black (NT Greek :thumbs, and Dr. David P. Nelson (great Systematic Theology Prof.).

Hi BB,

When I was looking at re-locating to do on-campus work, SEBTS did not have its PhD program finalized, if I remember correctly, so I went Southern because I didn't want to make two moves. I ended up doing a PhD in church history under Dr. Tom Nettles, the premier Baptist historian of our day, IMO. Danny Akin, BTW, was on my doctoral committee.

Do well at SEBTS.

Blessings,
Bill

 

[preachinjesus]

Just FYI the extension center had moved to First Baptist Atlanta for a year and now is meeting at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church.

I like NOBTS and if you're in ATL you should use the extension, it is a good extension. NOBTS main campus will not be really usable for another year or two imho. Good school though

 

[Bible-boy]

Just FYI the extension center had moved to First Baptist Atlanta for a year and now is meeting at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church.

I like NOBTS and if you're in ATL you should use the extension, it is a good extension. NOBTS main campus will not be really usable for another year or two imho. Good school though

It'll be ready sooner than that, I spent a week down there in January helping get the campus back in shape for classes to begin again. The majority of the Main Campus classrooms, administration, and the chapel were not too bad off. It was the campus housing that took such a beating. SEBTS sent over 400 of our students, facualty, and staff down there during four different Operation Grace mission trips to help restore the NOBTS campus and work in the greater New Orleans community.

 

[RandR]

It will be fully operational...if not as big...in time for the Fall semester. As has been noted, the issue is housing.

More to the point of the thread...If I lived in Atlanta, felt called to the ministry, felt called specifically to teach, and was Southern Baptist, I would think the NOBTS extension is a no-brainer for three reasons:
1)Cost.
2)To teach, one needs an advanced degree anyway. It matters little where one did his or her Masters degree.
3)Given the ratio of PhD grads to available teaching positions, a well-rounded M.Div could prove valuable should the search for a teaching position take a year or two longer than expected.