Andersonville Seminary

So ATS grants the Th. D. by using professors who couldn't possibly agree that ATS's Th. D. is the equivalent to their own.



I can't imagine Blomberg or Feinberg supporting this.

 

I suspect that most of the distinguished lectures of the ITS recordings have no idea they're listed among the teachers of ATS. Why does ATS list their professors among the tape lecturers anyway? Shouldn't there be two lists, one of ATS teachers and one of the ITS?

Bill

 

Of the five classes I have completed, my classes have been lectures recorded on tape. It's just like sitting in a class except I can't ask questions. When I do have quesitons I call or email the school and talk with a counselor.

As far as personal mentoring, that is not done by the school, at least not in my case. I have several friends that are pastors or are staffers in ministry organizations. I suppose if I were in a campus environment, some mentoring would be completed through the staff. I know when I did my undergraduate work, professors were sometimes difficult to hook up with. In a D.Min. program, I assume there are fewer students so the staff could spend more time with each student.

 

Just out of curiosity, has anybody of note graduated from Andersonville?

 

Limiting my comments mostly to coursework in Bible/Theology:

But we use ITS tapes, so we are good...

The ITS courses, unless I'm mistaken, are NOT intended for doctoral work in the subject matter of the courses. If I'm wrong, then, after someone shows me my error, I'll apologize. I know of NO credible school which teaches doc work using ITS courses. If you do, tell me.

But IF it were the case that there were an ITS doc level course, then the "mentor" should have the capability to lead the student through that. That capability is , IMO, indicated by having an accredited ,or the foreign equivalent of, RA doc in the area of instruction.

But Andersonville is so inexpensive...

I don't know what tuition Andersonville charges. But there several South African schools which offer docs in praxis for under $3000!

Yes, a completed accredited masters in the general area and an academic thesis are among the prerequisites. That is because such are believed to be evidence of the ability to do doc level work.

But is a SA doc any good...

My Unizul doc was in Systematic Theology. It cost me around $2500. It took me three years of work after my RA MA, MDiv (equiv), and ThM AND I was working either part time or was retired giving that dissertation my all!

Profs from Unizul, Natal, and Stellenbosch all, of course, with genuine docs not mickey mouse ones, composed my committee. A local tenured prof of Greek and Bible at an RA school after reading the work my committe accepted said that it equalled that of USA seminaries and his PhD is from Dallas. H. Wayne House , who has been in Christian higher ed for many years, pronounced the SA doc "credible."

Since that May graduation, I have lectured at Western Seminary, read a paper at ETS, and have accepted my new position with Faith Seminary, Salem. (praise God)

So SA docs are cheap, credible, and have utility.

Who should offer PhDs/ThDs anyway....

THIS ( "Faith") little seminary in its two locations has profs with PhDs and ThDs [REAL PEOPLE NOW NOT CASSETE TAPES OF PEOPLE]from : Dallas, TEDS, Univ Cal,Univ of Sheffied, South Western Baptist; Claremont School of Theology, Univ of Texas, Edinburgh, Concordia and me too, but it does NOT, DOES NOT feel able to offer a ThD or PhD--but Andersonville does???

go figure that...!

 

Cost of ATS?

Looks like Unizul is a steal!

Bill

 

So how does one contact Unizul?

 

Web ...

 

POB

As I said, Unizul (The University of Zululand) is but one of several public universities in South Africa which offer the Doctor of Theology in several areas. All these universities as Stellenbosch or Unisa or Natal or Unizul have exactly the same governmental approval which is the equivalent of our regional accreditation.

If you search for "Unizul" you will find the University of Zululand homesite. You will there see pictures of the substantial campuses of Unizul. Go to the faculty of Arts. From there go to the Faculty of Theology/Religion. It provides there contact info.

Unizul is not small. It offers docs in several areas- not just in Theology. In May when I graduated in absentia there were a total of 2600 undergrad and grad and post grad degrees given. Most of these were residential students.

Bobby Loubser is the Dean of that faculty and supervises research in Bible ; Arthur Song does most of the supervising for grad work in praxis; my supervisor was Alrah Pitchers.

Of course, a professor must agree to be a supervisor of the applicant. The prof is under no obligation. The applicant must convince the prof that his research will yield new insight into a problem , that he is capable of doing that research , and the prof must feel interested in the topic and qualified to evaluate research in that. My Super has been published in the area of Christology in which I wrote.

I am saying that the entry bar unlike some USA UA schools is not low.

At times the Super may accept a student but require that one to better prepare himself by doing coursework or a thesis prior to being fully admitted.

I did not have to, but I did have to convince the Dean that my masters degrees were fully accredited and that I had done a ThM thesis (an MA thesis would have sufficed probably).

The supervisor will not interfere with the premises of the dissertation unless they are are inappropriate. My dissertation qualified that I was writing in the context of a theologically conservative viewpoint. And that was quite OK!

When the degrees of foreign students are questionable the applicant must submit his ed record to SAQA which is the SA equivalent of our US Dept of Ed.

I have now directed three friends, one Australian and two Americans to UZ who are currently working on their docs at Unizul.

When done, they will have finished a credible and demanding program of study, one in general equal to a regionally accredited program, and one done at a cost even more reasonable , as Broadus shows, than is the Andersonville ThD.

The cost is low in SA universities not because the quality is low but because of differences in the economy between the USA and South Africa.

Nevertheless, one may wonder why a USA school that builds a curriculum around inexpensive cassette tapes instead of hiring qualified faculty, real people with real docs, needs to charge $4000 for a degree.

Bill

 

As always you are most helpful and informative.You also give some very good insight into how things are done at Unizul.
I noticed earlier that you are teaching now. That is outstanding. May God bless your work.

 

By the way Unizul should give you credit for being one of thier best recruiters on the net.

 

==

Thanks.

Sort of yes, and sort of no!

Immediately after Dr. House agreed to put me on the faculty, an angiogram revealed That I need a quadruple bypass. Tomorrow I go in for blood tests, x rays, and education re that surgury.

At 5:30 AM on Mon 9-26 I am to present myself at the hospital for that operation.

Dr. House kindly is putting my duties on hold until I recover- which may take six weeks.

Bill Grover

 

Thanks for making the correction.

 

Bill,

We trust all will go well with the operation. May God smile upon you.

Bill

 

Bill, I've got that date on my calendar. I'm praying now and will continue.

 

I posted earlier on this thread. I do understand now why ACSI accepts Andersonville's courses and not their degrees.