WVBS Online Bible School

[kathleenmariekg]

Free Online Bible School | Studies, Courses, Videos & more

Does BB forum consider WVBS to be a college/seminary or a Bible Study? I wasn't sure which forum to put the thread.

The syllabi often list a required paper. Does someone actually read the papers written? Is there any feedback?

If anyone has any experience or an opinion about this school, I am all ears. I really like my BBN classes, but they do not have Greek. And I would like to do some writing instead of all multiple choice. I might do a few of these courses, too.

WVBS lists 4 different Bibles translations used: KJV, NKJV, NAS, ESV. I think BBN only uses the KJV.

I think BBN is all audio. and that WVBS has a video available for every lesson as well as an audio alternative.

 

[rlvaughn]

I am not familiar with WVBS, but when I looked at their about page I noticed it mentions the director is a minister who graduated from Southwest School of Bible Studies. I recognized that name because we drive by it when we go to my son's in Austin, Texas. Southwest is called non-denominational, but specifically it is Church of Christ of the Alexander Campbell Restoration variety. I suspect, then, that WVBS is also connected to that group. They probably have some good classes, but a strong flavor of being baptized to be saved and other things taught by the churches of Christ.

 

[kathleenmariekg]

Southwest is called non-denominational, but specifically it is Church of Christ of the Alexander Campbell Restoration variety. I suspect, then, ... a strong flavor of being baptized to be saved and other things taught by the churches of Christ.

Thank you sooooo much for that context.

Right, wrong, good, bad, I want a Baptist education. Of course I want to learn other ideas and might adopt some of them, but I want to know exactly what is and is not Baptist, and I want my foundational studies to all be consistently inline with Baptist teachings.

I might limit myself to taking just the Greek, but I am going to watch a few more videos of the Genesis course before I decide. The Genesis course is the FIRST course of the school and there is a lot of how to study instruction included that was not in the early courses at BBN. And as I posted earlier, it appears that they grade a written paper.

If I remember correctly, Church of Christ does not generally send their pastors to colleges? That would explain the investment in such a comprehensive self-study option?

 

[kathleenmariekg]

Okay, so ... my application was accepted and I am enrolled as an informal student and now have access to the study guides and books. WOW!

I plan to complete the Genesis study as well as the Greek. I am really excited about this opportunity.

I will continue to post about my progress in my classes.

 

[kathleenmariekg]

I was right to put this thread in this subforum. This is a college, not a Bible study.

 

[rlvaughn]

If I remember correctly, Church of Christ does not generally send their pastors to colleges? That would explain the investment in such a comprehensive self-study option?

They vary from group to group, with some in favor and some not.

 

[kathleenmariekg]

They vary from group to group, with some in favor and some not.

This is a public forum and we all need to be careful and respectful about what we say, but any general information that would profit a young Baptist, whether that be age or time in the church, I would appreciate the advice of my big brothers. Also, who knows who else is reading this thread now and in the future.

I started to write more, but I am going to continue this train of thought in the general education thread I started. I will add the link in a minute.

 

[rlvaughn]

Milligan University in Milligan, Tennessee, organized in 1866, may be one of their older educational institutions. It has an associated seminary and seems to gather support from several groups within the Restoration movement. Freed-Hardeman in Henderson, Tennessee is about as old as Milligan, and also has a college of theology. These show support for theological education of ministers. Pepperdine University in Malibu, California and in Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas are well-known schools that are church of Christ affiliated (though I'm not sure if they offer specifically theological education).

 

[kathleenmariekg]

Milligan University in Milligan, Tennessee, organized in 1866, may be one of their older educational institutions. It has an associated seminary and seems to gather support from several groups within the Restoration movement. Freed-Hardeman in Henderson, Tennessee is about as old as Milligan, and also has a college of theology. These show support for theological education of ministers. Pepperdine University in Malibu, California and in Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas are well-known schools that are church of Christ affiliated (though I'm not sure if they offer specifically theological education).

Thank you so much for taking the time to type out and share your knowledge!

 

[rlvaughn]

You're welcome. While searching on this topic, I got the impression that churches of Christ favoring seminary education may be in the majority. At least I had a hard time finding statements otherwise. However, part of that could just be that churches that oppose seminaries do not post much about it online. I did find this example, from the Pine Lane Church of Christ in Bessemer, Alabama, in an article called Why I Left the "Liberal" Church of Christ. The author defines as liberal any church or churches that "go beyond" the limits of the word of God.

The Christian Church owns, supports, and operates schools for secular education, beginning with kindergartens and going all the way through theological seminaries; the church of Christ does not (I Tim 3:15).

I know ministers in the churches of Christ who would agree that the theological seminary goes beyond the limits of the word of God. Nevertheless, I did not find much discussion of it in my Google search.

 

[kathleenmariekg]

part of that could just be that churches that oppose seminaries do not post much about it online.

This is what I am wondering.

Also, in the past few months, my search results are remarkably different than they were 2 years ago, and even 2 months ago. I no longer trust lack of information as meaning anything.

And sometimes people just do not announce certain kinds of things online. And certain people spend less time online and use it less often for anything.

Thanks so much for searching these things. I have no context to know what to search.

I attended this church in Massachusetts a very long time ago. I know they did NOT believe in seminary training. I have no idea if they believe differently, now. It was a long time ago.

About Us

The minister is listed as "brother".

 

[kathleenmariekg]

I finished Lesson 1 of the Genesis class which is supposed to be the first class of the diploma program. The instruction is designed to be discipleship training that will again be taught to others. If a student follows the instructions, this will result in about 7 pages of notes. The instructor gives guidance on how to convert those notes into sermons.

The main points covered in Lesson 1 are the following:

• Course description and expectations and basic study skills
• Reasons for Studying the OT
• Purposes of the OT
• Divisions and Books of the Bible
• Periods of OT history (including what appears to be Ussher dates with a caution that these are man's guesses)
• Purposes of Genesis
• List of Beginnings and Origins
• Uses for the Notes being taken
• A list of the major events in Genesis with the chapter number.

Assignments:

• Memorize the Books of the OT
• Read at least Genesis 1-3 for the following class, and read ahead for context.

 

[kathleenmariekg]

The Instructor uses the NKJV with the explanation that some students do not speak English as their first language.

Tests include scripture memory. Options include the following four translations: KJV, NKJV (1982), NASB (1995) and ESV.

 

[kathleenmariekg]

This appears Church of Christ?

Instructor for Genesis Course
C. M. (Chuck) Horner
Born in 1933.
Alumnus of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.
Graduated from the Bear Valley School of Preaching, Denver, Colorado in 1974.
Administrations of York College and the Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver.
Instructor and director in the Southwest School of Biblical Studies in Austin, Texas.
Fall1986 helped start World Video Bible School

Summary from course notes: premillennialism is not biblical. All promises have been fulfilled: nation, land, and seed.

I wasted a lot of time taking notes of material that was in the course notes. The information in the videos and course notes are not in the same order. There are different sections of the coursebook: background, outline, exposition, appendixes, special papers (3). Lesson notes are scattered among all these categories and all three special papers.

Formal enrollment requires submitting 2 references; informal does not.