Peter James
New Member
Now that I've been to three seminaries, I wanted to give my takes on them as briefly as I can:
* Bob Jones University - I took one FREE course on Revelation and was very happy here with dispensationalism. Unfortunately, they are very expensive per credit hour (at about $450 which is affordable apparently for some people; but for a cheap guy like me, not so much.)
* Luther Rice Seminary - Most affordable accredited seminary as I could find. It's still approx $1000 for one course (I'm attempting to get a small Master's in Christian Studies). However, they do have a good payment plan that lasts only 4 months.
The biggest plus between these two seminaries is that I can take a course in 14 weeks and they schedule out exactly what I'm supposed to do weekly.
The biggest negative is that Luther Rice gets too highly academic with books I consider to be highly academic. There's nothing wrong with this; but if you want to bring theology to your people - I can honestly say now having taken seminary courses - there is no magic in the seminary courses. There is no information in these courses that your people in the local church cannot learn with the Holy Spirit and their Bible. It just so happens you have been tasked to learn the information in an accelerated fashion to bring it to your people quicker. (For example, Kostenberger's book on the Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown - no way would I bring this into a Sunday School class. 70% of the book cannot be utilized by the average church goer.)
I'm not sure about Luther Rice and dispensationalism; it seems my professor taught Revelation taking a little from each eschatological position (historicism, preterism, idealism, futurism, or combo of any of it).
TRINITY COLLEGE OF THE BIBLE AND THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY: It definitely is the most affordable; it's unaccredited. This by itself doesn't disqualify it as a seminary.
This is what I can say. I've realized that 6 weeks is way too short a time for a full seminary course *for me* and 6 months is way too long. The seminary bends over backwards to help you. Unfortunately, I've paid good money for two courses that cannot be absorbed into Luther Rice (even though Luther Rice told me it could later on, but later reneged. I'd be 6 courses into my degree if they did.)
So I would say, it's a good Seminary; the one thing I wish they had was a weekly plan that says - this is what you, the student, must accomplish every week and if you're not gonna - you get a 0 for that week, no questions asked. This plan is what works for me the most in completing courses.
CONCLUSION: I am going back to Luther Rice since it's the most affordable accredited seminary and once I get the small Master's degree (I'm 4 courses in now, so 6 more to go) - I will be a free agent, in my opinion, to go to any seminary (including non-accredited) for deeper degrees if I so choose to.
In the future I know not to buy 'packages' of courses, but to go one course at a time. It's the best and doesn't get you stuck into monthly contracts.
* Bob Jones University - I took one FREE course on Revelation and was very happy here with dispensationalism. Unfortunately, they are very expensive per credit hour (at about $450 which is affordable apparently for some people; but for a cheap guy like me, not so much.)
* Luther Rice Seminary - Most affordable accredited seminary as I could find. It's still approx $1000 for one course (I'm attempting to get a small Master's in Christian Studies). However, they do have a good payment plan that lasts only 4 months.
The biggest plus between these two seminaries is that I can take a course in 14 weeks and they schedule out exactly what I'm supposed to do weekly.
The biggest negative is that Luther Rice gets too highly academic with books I consider to be highly academic. There's nothing wrong with this; but if you want to bring theology to your people - I can honestly say now having taken seminary courses - there is no magic in the seminary courses. There is no information in these courses that your people in the local church cannot learn with the Holy Spirit and their Bible. It just so happens you have been tasked to learn the information in an accelerated fashion to bring it to your people quicker. (For example, Kostenberger's book on the Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown - no way would I bring this into a Sunday School class. 70% of the book cannot be utilized by the average church goer.)
I'm not sure about Luther Rice and dispensationalism; it seems my professor taught Revelation taking a little from each eschatological position (historicism, preterism, idealism, futurism, or combo of any of it).
TRINITY COLLEGE OF THE BIBLE AND THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY: It definitely is the most affordable; it's unaccredited. This by itself doesn't disqualify it as a seminary.
This is what I can say. I've realized that 6 weeks is way too short a time for a full seminary course *for me* and 6 months is way too long. The seminary bends over backwards to help you. Unfortunately, I've paid good money for two courses that cannot be absorbed into Luther Rice (even though Luther Rice told me it could later on, but later reneged. I'd be 6 courses into my degree if they did.)
So I would say, it's a good Seminary; the one thing I wish they had was a weekly plan that says - this is what you, the student, must accomplish every week and if you're not gonna - you get a 0 for that week, no questions asked. This plan is what works for me the most in completing courses.
CONCLUSION: I am going back to Luther Rice since it's the most affordable accredited seminary and once I get the small Master's degree (I'm 4 courses in now, so 6 more to go) - I will be a free agent, in my opinion, to go to any seminary (including non-accredited) for deeper degrees if I so choose to.
In the future I know not to buy 'packages' of courses, but to go one course at a time. It's the best and doesn't get you stuck into monthly contracts.
Would it be better if you knew when?