I need Help selecting a Seminary

You may want to look into RTS. http://www.rts.edu/They have online courses. Depending on your organization you may even qualify for a discount. 

Cheers,

 Marcus

It looks as though you're looking for an undergraduate degree, but if you're looking for a seminary degree program that I know to be focused on global leaders check out this one: 

http://fuller.edu/magl/

I know and greatly admire the director of the program and know it is of great worth!

Lee Garrison said:

Hello

I am serving in the overseas missions field.

I have Logos Bible study edition. so i may need to upgrade to the Scholar's Library. But I am unsure of the need.

I am thinking of Northwestern Seminary for a Bachelor of Theology in Biblical Studies or Bachelor of Theology in Christian Apologetics.

It most be a On-line only program. And of course the cost will be a very big issue.

 

Thank You Lee

Liberty University and Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary are regionally accredited and offer many full online "theology" degrees.

Lee Garrison said:

Hello and thank you to everyone above, I have selected to go with Northwestern Theological Seminary. They are one of the only 100% on-line programs in my price range.

Now I must get focused to compplete this Bachelor & Master conbination program that I picked.

 

 

I would be cautious about this.  I won't say that there is necessarily anything wrong with it, but I have a feeling there is something not quite kosher here.   Take Josh's caution regarding accreditation seriously.  This is part of my hesitation on this:  On the one hand they claim that Christian organizations dealing in religious education don't seek the normal accredidation yet they also claim that they have accreditation.  Something doesn't add up.  Also, look at its affiliation with the "Worldwide Church of Jesus Christ".  This sounds like something related to the Herbert W Armstrong group though when I search for an entry for it in Wikipedia, which has pages on many groups, I am given a list of articles which are heavily weighted toward the LDS.  CAUTION !

Lee Garrison said:

The reason for the degree is that I am serving as a missionary and need to have a degree for visa in this country, but also i wanted more training.

This makes it even more important that your degree is accredited. Be very careful with non-accredited programs. A non-accredited program does not necessarily mean that it is bad, but I doubt that your country will accept a non-accredited degree. There are enough diploma-mills around.

Armin

Until you make a decision you can use the free seminary courses here:

http://thirdmill.org/seminary/

Lee Garrison said:

I thank everyone above; I have looked into Northwestern Theological Seminary in detail. I have decided to attend and, have been accepted in their degree program.

Lee,

I didn't want to be the one to make a judgment on this program, but I must, in all candor, say that I think you are making a very UNWISE decision if you go with NTS.

MJ. Smith said:

I'd be suspicious of anything called "Northwestern" with a Florida address.

(spoken as a true North-westerner sharing a state with Logos)

That had occurred to me as well though there is the consideration that Northwestern University (a part of the Big 10) is located in Illinois.  In defense of Northwestern University it might be noted that it was at one time a part of the Northwest Territories.

Choosing an accredited program is very important. If something were to happen and you had to drop out of the program for a period of time and decided to switch schools, it's a real possibility that your credits might not be transferable. You can end up losing a lot of money if that happens, and be required to retake courses. It's best to attend an accredited school, many of which do have a distance learning option.

DMB said:

Everyone knows 'northwest' means 'the panhandle'.

The next time I make pancakes I'll remember to grab the northwest.

George Somsel said:

Lee Garrison said:

First if you understand that i am not in the U.S.A. and may not be for many years, so i can only do on-line course for 100% of my program. 2nd any program I do must be paid by the group supporting me, so I have very limited funds.

After looking many on-line Seminary programs I have picked NTS.

 

 

Apparently you had already made up your mind prior to posting.  I'm wondering why you asked.  I simply don't see any benefit to pursuing a program which may have little or no value.  The information regarding this "school" stinks to high heaven.

Lee, I completely agree with George. I have completed theological training through both distance education and on-campus seminaries and have spent more time than I care to admit researching degree programs. Life is short, and even a small amount of money is to be valued. NTS will be a throwing away of both, in my opinion. I don't mean to appear harsh, but I really wish you would reconsider and choose a legitimately-accredited alternative. A seminary that promises a PhD with four to twelve months of study, regardless of a student's previous qualifications, reveals that it is not legitimate.

Even a seminary like Luther Rice (which is nationally accredited with TRACS) would be highly preferred over NTS - BTW LR can be done fully online and they are realistically affordable.

Paul Lee said:

Gordon Conwell has a new online degree program (http://www.gordonconwell.edu/online/index.cfm) .  GCTS has excellent reputation and I would think it is preferable.

I agree that GCTS is a great school. However, the OP needed a seminary that offers full online degrees - not partial ones like GCTS offers. A student at GCTS still is required to take intensive campus residency courses. In fact, ATS accredited seminaries are not allowed to offer full online degrees. This is why Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary purposely dropped them. It's not like they need ATS anyway, they are regionally accredited (SACS) - which is the gold standard of accreditation. The OP was also looking for something affordable - GCTS online costs $1,300 a course plus misc. fees. That is not cheap.

I agree - accreditation can be very important. 

The college I chose after high school emphasized their accreditation.  Although it meant nothing to me at the time, I really appreciated it when I went on for my Master's degree and every credit I earned transferred.

The only time where accreditation is not needed is if you plan on using your degree within an organization that accepts the education from that college.  For example - my denomination has long distance classes where a person can earn a degree that will be accepted by any church in my denomination - but outside it is basically meaningless.

Josh, if you look at the ATS home page, you'll see down the left hand side links to various documents which are the "Final Draft Proposed Revised Degree Program Standards".  I think ATS are voting on whether to adopt these new standards. 

When I opened up the link for the B-MA (Professional) degrees, take a look at the following section, on page 4 of 6. 

I suspect the proposed change which may allow schools to offer full degrees online is covered by the text I have made bold and underlined at the end of this section.  I haven't checked to see whether the same is true of MDiv degrees,

I guess it's arguable whether, if this proposal is adopted, it will make full online degrees mainstream amongst seminaries (since it is couched in terms of being an "exception"), however it seems like the option could be there nevertheless.

144. B.3.1.3 Because professional MA education expects regular and substantive student-
     

145. 145  faculty interaction to achieve the stipulated learning outcomes, this interaction requires
     

146. 146  that at least one-third of the required credits for the degree shall be completed at the
     

147. 147  main campus of the school awarding the degree or at an extension site of the institution
     

148. 148  that has been approved for professional MA degree-granting status. An exception may
     

149. 149  be granted if a school can demonstrate how its educational design and delivery system
     

150. 150  accomplishes the learning outcomes associated with residential theological study.
     

*EDIT* - It looks like the same proposal is true of MDiv degrees too, if you refer to paragraph A.3.1.3. of the program standards for MDiv degrees,

I have experienced three different schools and while they were different in some respects, they were alike in many others. The bottom line is what you are looking for the most.

1. If you care most about getting professional pedigree, then pick the most reputed seminary within the environment where you want to work. Get a good baptist seminary if you intend of being a good baptist pastor, etc. 
2. If mostly, you want to pay a seminary to confirm you into what you want to believe, pick one that has an agreeable (fundamentalist, conservative, liberal, denominational, ecumenical, take your pick) statement of faith and whose contact persons tell you everything you want to hear. As long as you are a good boy or girl, you'll have a "blessed" experience.
3. If mostly, you want to become scholarly, pick the schools with the best scholars, best research facilities and lots of colloquiums and others top-notch events. 
4. If you really want to become more like Christ, then ask about what is being done about discipleship and evangelism and don't settle for broad answers like "through interactions in and out of the classroom, students have opportunities to grow blah blah blah". Many will give you the "of course" type of answer: if there is something tangible, then you should be able to get very tangible answers. Moreover, beyond the "we believe in the Bible" of course answers, try to detect whether there is really the fear of the Lord and unconditional surrender to Him through His Word.

But then of course, this also depends on you. I would assume that many would also say "of course" to #4. This is why I said it depends on what you want the most. Or better, what you really want the most. 

Hope this helps...

My point is NOT that one or more purpose cannot be concurrently sought but that typically, one dominates the others. This is why I spoke of what one wants the most. For instance the concerns and emphases of the academia are quite different from those of discipleship.

Thomas Hanna said:

Francis said:

My point is NOT that one or more purpose cannot be concurrently sought but that typically, one dominates the others. This is why I spoke of what one wants the most. For instance the concerns and emphases of the academia are quite different from those of discipleship.

Have to disagree with this rather vehemently. If we are called to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, then scholarship cannot be divided from discipleship. If Paul calls us to be skilled laborers in the word, then effective training cannot be divided from evangelism. After all, Paul was a noted scholar in his day, having studied the Hebrew Scriptures under Gamaliel, and his letters constantly refer back to the Hebrew Scriptures which he studied. Likewise, the disciples studied at the feet of Jesus for three years before the Great Commission and, while they were sent out to preach the word under Jesus' tutelage, they always returned back to examine their results. In other words, Jesus WAS their seminary.

A good seminary merges scholarship and application. Biblical academia and discipleship are concurrent; to undermine one is to undermine the other. Let's be careful not to promote anti-intellectualism among the Christian body, as there is already far too much of that as it is.

[Y]

I will admit Francis got me to thinking. I had read (not sure where in Logos) that the early growth of Christianity was mathematically limited. Meaning, if you took the list of bishops later on (the basis of many of the maps of early Christianity), took a range of believers in a community, and then worked backwards, you'd come up with a range of about 2-3% growth rate per year. Even if double that, 20 believers would produce 1 extra believer per year. Of course the situation shifted dramatically with Constantine.

That line of thinking also led to the question of just how much emphasis 'discipleship' and 'evangelism' was in the very early church. We know Jesus sent out the pairs. Also the great commission, which has an iffy textual history. And we also can deduce pairs going out from the early Jerusalem and then Antioch churches. But best I can remember, there's really not a lot of emphasis on it in the various epistles. Considerably more emphasis on how to live, deal with other believers, and so on.

This sounds pretty 'theology-ish' on the forum, but I was very disappointed that a gentleman asked concerning seminaries, made his decision, and then was 'strung up'. I too have opinions concerning seminaries and degrees, but the gentleman's efforts wherever he is located are far more important.

Thomas Hanna said:

A good seminary merges scholarship and application. Biblical academia and discipleship are concurrent; to undermine one is to undermine the other. Let's be careful not to promote anti-intellectualism among the Christian body, as there is already far too much of that as it is.

Video on SWBTS and its purpose in evangelism and academia.

Francis said:

 

Then read George Barna Growing True Disciples for facts on the obvious head-in-the-sand assumptions that pervade biblical education in seminaries and churches in relation to actual discipleship. 

I found this interesting article on Barna's statistics. In the article Barna's stats are viewed from a "flipped" perspective. For instance, Barna states, "1/3 find church boring." However, this actually means 2/3 find church not boring! Barna's conclusions are sometimes misleading.