The Future of the Bible College
Bible colleges are being pinched these days. Many collegians are choosing to remain at home and attend community colleges. Others are opting for state universities. Of those who go off to Christian schools, a higher percentage than ever are choosing liberal arts colleges. The focus of ministerial training has shifted away from colleges and toward seminaries.
The question is being asked: Do Bible colleges still have a place? If they do, then what shape should they take?
Some Bible colleges are responding to this question by increasing their offerings in fields that are further and further from biblical education. They are offering programs in education, aviation, nursing, business, and a variety of other disciplines. To the extent that Bible colleges have pursued this strategy, they have begun to metamorphose into liberal arts colleges. Their approach seems to entail the recognition that the true Bible college has outlived its usefulness.
I disagree. I believe that the Bible college can and should still occupy an important role as a service organization to local churches. In order to be genuinely useful, however, Bible colleges are going to have to clarify what sort of education they intend to offer. They are going to have to present a viable alternative, not only to Christian liberal arts colleges and universities, but also to secular institutions.
Most obviously, Bible colleges must play to their strength, and that strength is biblical instruction. It goes without saying that good biblical instruction is (almost?) completely absent from secular institutions. More relevantly, Christian universities and Christian liberal arts colleges generally do teach the Bible with less excellence than the better Bible colleges. Christian education has to involve more than tacking a few Bible survey courses onto a degree in broadcasting or physical therapy. It has to involve the intensive, concentrated study of the Bible itself.
The distinctive of a Bible college is that every student graduates with a Bible major. Every graduate will have studied biblical interpretation, surveyed the entire canon, gained familiarity with the most important introductory issues, focused specifically on the most important biblical books, and been introduced to the entire system of Christian doctrine. A graduate of a Bible college will also have been taught the dynamics of the life of faith and will (or, at least, should) have had his or her affections shaped by carefully chosen exposure to the best of Christian devotion. At the undergraduate level, no institution can do this work better than a Bible college.
Second, Bible colleges must realize their limitations. The day has passed when a four-year baccalaureate degree was adequate preparation for ministry. Ministry today is exponentially more complex than it was fifty years ago. Bible colleges must no longer envision their mission as one of producing pastors and missionaries, although they can certainly play a vital role in that process.
If Bible colleges do not exist to equip church leaders, then what is their mission? It is to prepare Christian workers. Bible college graduates should be ready to take up the needed roles of deacons and Bible teachers within local congregations. They should also enter their calling (whatever it may be) with the competence and conviction to carry their Christianity with them.
Christians do not need their own institutions to train doctors, lawyers, financiers, botanists, microbiologists, engineers, agribusiness persons, optometrists, disc jockeys, musicians, or educationists. What they need are institutions that will produce graduates who are competent in their faith and who can bring their Christian perspectives and values to bear upon whatever discipline or vocation they enter. If a Bible college can accomplish this task, then it will be well on the road to success.
Third, Bible colleges must offer genuine education, by which I mean liberal education, that is, education in the liberal arts. By this I do not mean simply general education. Christians have displayed an unfortunate tendency to misappropriate the term liberal arts to cover any category of education that is not explicitly biblical. Here, however, I am speaking of those arts properly designated as liberal. Music and drama are fine arts, not liberal arts. Business and finance are servile arts, not liberal arts. Physics and chemistry are sciences, not liberal arts.
To be sure, a genuinely educated person must be exposed to the sciences, the fine arts, and much more. By themselves, however, those disciplines will never constitute an education. The sine qua non of education is mastery of the liberal arts, and particularly of the Trivium.
The liberal arts (especially grammar, logic, and rhetoric) are the basic tools of thought. Any institution that neglects fostering of these disciplines will fail to educate its students. Mastery of the liberal arts is essential to any thoughtful life or ministry.
Liberal education has fallen out of favor these days. The liberal arts are not marketable. A graduate who masters the liberal arts does not acquire a saleable skill, and today’s higher education is all about preparing people to make money. As the old quip goes, however, liberal education teaches you how to live, not how to make a living.
Christians profess that a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. On that account, it is distressing to see Bible colleges turning more and more toward majors that amount to vocational training. We ought to be more concerned about the kind of people we graduate than we are about whether we have prepared them to make money.
The time has come for a renascence of the liberal arts within Bible colleges. Our graduates cannot think biblically if they cannot think, and thinking is exactly the application of the liberal arts. Students who graduate from Bible colleges should be masters of logic, grammar, and rhetoric. They should be highly literate and textually focused. They should understand the broad outlines of the development of Western thought. They should know the perennial questions and the principal answers to those questions. They should have mastered at least one language beyond their own.
In brief, a truly excellent Bible college will not be content to offer outstanding biblical education. It will also strive to offer the best possible liberal education. It will aim to graduate men and women who are both competent, committed Christians and thoughtful, well-rounded human beings. Incidentally, such an education would also be the ideal preparation for future ministers who will be going to seminary.
Would it be possible for such a college to flourish? The main challenge to its survival would be the spirit of materialism that pervades American Christianity today. Christian students, like their secular counterparts, are more interested in finding out how to make money than they are in learning mental disciplines. For a truly great Bible college to flourish, pastors and parents are going to have to inculcate certain habits of mind and heart in their children: a love of learning, a longing for the transcendent, and a realization that life is more than stuff.
For those who share these values, Bible colleges such as I have described will have a powerful appeal. The college will need to offer superior biblical education, exceptional liberal education, and the normal orbit of general education that one gets in any decent college. It would not need a multiplicity of majors or a smorgasbord of elective courses. It could operate with a relatively small faculty in relatively modest facilities.
Graduates of such Bible colleges will have no trouble going on to master whatever fields they intend to spend their lives in. There is a place for all the disciplines—all are honorable and every calling is of God. For Christians, however, any other calling always presupposes a prior call to serve the Lord. Before Christians prepare for a vocation in commerce, science, or the arts, they should prepare to live a life of service to their God. We need schools of higher education that will help them in that preparation. We need a few outstanding Bible colleges.
The Second Hymn; being a Dialogue between three Shepherds.
Jeremy Taylor (1613-1667)
1.
Where is this blessed Babe
That hath made
All the world so full of joy
And expectation;
That glorious boy
That crowns each Nation
With a triumphant wreath of blessedness?
2.
Where should he be but in the throng,
And among
His Angel Ministers, that sing
And take wing
Just as may Echo to his Voyce,
And rejoyce,
When wing and tongue and all
May so procure their happiness?
3.
But he hath other Waiters now,
A poor Cow,
An Ox and Mule stand and behold,
And wonder,
That a stable should enfold
Him that can thunder.
- 25 views
[David King] Several have wondered how Bauder’s ideas could fit into a four year college program. I wonder if Bauder took an initial look at the colleges because he is the head of a seminary: anemic colleges are supplying him with anemic students. We can attempt to slap a band aid on a broken arm by stuffing the Trivium into a college course of study, or we can repair the ruins properly by beginning with young children and allowing college to fulfill its proper purpose of finishing the work of a classical education. This is not a quick fix.Although I certainly don’t disagree with your idea in theory, isn’t this sort of…pie in the sky thinking? Certainly we pastors should be encouraging our parents to be very engaged in their children’s education and challenge them to deeper thinking. But the Dr. Bauder’s of the world operate in reality…and should spend their time on more viable solutions. Effecting the change you suggest is no small task and even if this movement caught on like wildfire, it would still take years to come to fruition…and this fall new students are showing up.
Susan was certainly correct about the need for a “separate and intensive” program to assist those who are lacking. (I would fall into that category; I don’t want my children to.) This program would need to be a long term plan for some, as well as a short term requirement for virtually all college students until we began to graduate classically educated students from high schools. Perhaps Christian colleges should look into a “Foundations” year such as Charlie described, before the bachelor’s program even begins.
This wall does not need tuckpointing. It is a ruin that needs to be rebuilt from the ground up. We cannot think five, ten or even twenty years. We must begin thinking multi-generationally.
[Aaron Blumer]Perhaps I’m being too sensitive about this…but are you saying, “churches need to be educated so they don’t make the mistake of hiring a man with only a B.A.?” I’m sure you would agree that there many other important considerations…and there are worse mistakes a church could make when hiring their new shepherd.[Paul J. Scharf] An addendum: An offshoot of fundamentalists reconstructing the ministerial training process through the Bible institute movement, etc. is that the average person in the pew in our churches has no foggy idea what the difference is between even a college and seminary graduate! Some wonder why a person who continues on to seminary is so dumb that he has to keep going back to “college.” Then, when a pulpit committee looks at resumes of two prospective ministers, one with a B.A. and the other with an M.Div., many are unable to distinguish between these two degrees, much less offer them varying rates of compensation.I think the main cure for that is for pastors to make sure church leaders are well informed about how to replace them. Makes for a weird conversation I suppose “I’m not planning on leaving but here’s some really good stuff you should read about how to choose a pastor. … and you must not have a clue about that since you picked me!” But seriously, pastors have to help equip churches to do a good job of choosing pastors. But I think I’ve taken us off topic a bit here.
To tie it in, I think I’ve got some work to do (and am probably not alone) to help folks think differently about education. The “how to pick a pastor” part is a small but important part of that.
Edit: David… I sort of hope you’re wrong, but I’m afraid you might be right.
Senior Pastor, Harvest Bible Chapel, Fort Wayne, IN
[Charlie]I’m all for, and have mentioned on different occasion, the importance of selectivity. With respect to your second point, however, I think it, well, misses the point.
Second and along the same lines, you can only accomplish so much in a few years. I agree with David King that the best way to improve higher education is to improve the quality of its incoming classes. Renovations of education must start earlier than the college level. As a historical note, not so many centuries ago when education was more what Dr. Bauder described, most students entered university at age 12-16. Thus, whatever we wish to emulate about their example, we would be wise to consider emulating at the high school level. I’ve had some experience with attempting to introduce “trivium” late in the educational process. The seminary from which I graduated runs a 4-year M Div, because they include a “Foundations” year. The idea is to ground students in formal logic and rhetoric, and to introduce them to the history of philosophy and other such liberal arts things. Now, this is a wonderful idea, but the effect is not nearly as great as one might hope. Simply put, it’s too little, too late. The 35 year old electricians taking these classes are learning some things, but they’re a bit past their truly formative years, when such education would have left a dramatic mark. The same can be said for seminaries and the ancient languages. The great masses of pastors who graduate from M Div programs never to touch their GNT’s and BHS’s except through some kind of mediated aid is perhaps the single greatest embarrassment to seminary education today. But what can we expect from people who have never really had to learn and use foreign language before their 20’s (or 30’s or 40’s)?
Strictly speaking, you do not “improve higher education” by improving the quality of the incoming classes. That’s just improving the quality of the incoming classes, and therefore improving the likelihood that the class will gain more from their higher education than less well-prepared students. But, if one is actually involved in, and only has direct influence on, higher education, one has, properly speaking, nothing to do with preparing one’s incoming class; one’s task begins once the incoming class is gawking at you in your classroom. As a general point about education, I obviously agree with the need to reform secondary schooling (and it’s hardly an original complaint - indeed it is the classic one university folk like to use to shunt aside criticism), but in this context it’s simply changing the topic - which is fine, so long as we all recognize that that is what we’re doing.
The fact is higher education either can, in itself, be improved or it cannot. If it cannot, then our discussion is moot. But that (“higher education cannot be improved”) would be a highly implausible claim. If higher education can be reformed and improved, then one will need ideas and reforms targeting higher education, properly so-called. For example, I think higher education could be dramatically improved very simply if universities did two things: stopped inflating grades and started gradually, but tangibly (e.g. through the curricula and requirements) increasing the expectations they have of the “average” student. The result of this would be at least twofold: first, a dramatic and, from an external and administrate perspective, unprecedented and horrifically high, increase in failure rates and decrease in average GPAs. Second, a commensurately dramatic increase in the quality of the average college graduate.
Now these are merely two very simple ideas, out of many conceivable suggestions for reform. Both are extremely impractical, however, because universities operate as businesses on a service-industry model, and a dramatic, self-instigated decrease in their clientele would be financially suicidal. Therefore I don’t see even these simple ideas ever becoming implemented on a large scale. Still, private Christians colleges could plausibly make such changes - and they are what we’re discussing.
[Jamie Hart] Perhaps I’m being too sensitive about this…but are you saying, “churches need to be educated so they don’t make the mistake of hiring a man with only a B.A.?” I’m sure you would agree that there many other important considerations…and there are worse mistakes a church could make when hiring their new shepherd.Jamie,
Perhaps you are asking this of Aaron, but that was not my point. My point, in light of our discussion here about educational standards, was that in our churches we are often dealing with people who do not have even a basic grasp of the nature of theological education — which is itself a multi-generational by-product of poor theological education! :>)
Furthermore, ministry (at least within fundamental or conservative circles) is one of the few places in American life where a person with a first professional degree (M.Div.) would have little expectation of beginning a position at a higher salary or even a higher level of respect than someone fresh out of college with a B.A. Of course, that is way over-generalizing, but on balance I believe it is true.
As to debating the necessity of seminary on its merits, I can personally show you some “superstars” in the ministry whose education concluded with a bachelor’s degree or a three-year Bible inistitute diploma. For every one of them, I can show you at least 100 who could be really good if they went to seminary.
I have also met numerous non-seminarians who can explain in detail why it “wasn’t for them” (one told me flat out, “That’s too much work!!”), but have yet to meet my first seminary grad who wished he had not gone.
Church Ministries Representative, serving in the Midwest, for The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry
Which leads me to another thought- an aspect of seminary training that I seldom see discussed is the character requirements of a man headed for dedicated ministry. Many can make the grades, but don’t fulfill the qualities listed in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. Surely a seminary can’t in good conscience send men out with degrees who do not fit the Biblical job description. Mentoring should be part of any training program designed to prepare a man for ministry… and then maybe fewer wolves would be set loose on the sheep. That’s the purpose of all this training- to be able to effectively feed and care for the flock.
Thanks for the response. Let me clarify my heart.
When advising young men who are contemplating ministry, I would tell them, “Go to a great Bible College (like FBBC!!) then continue on to seminary.” In today’s world, there is no question in my mind that a professional degree will be of great benefit to them. So I want to start by saying I see great value in a seminary education.
What I’m concerned about is the idea that a man NEEDS a seminary education to be qualified for, or effective in ministry. It helps, I’m sure. But as you pointed out, there are some that are quite effective without an MDiv…and some with an MDiv who are not.
Also, my point with Aaron’s post is that a man’s education is ONE of the factors a church should consider when hiring a new man…but, IMO, it’s a ways down the list. If I’m going to have that awkward conversation with the church I’m leaving, I’m going to encourage them to consider these questions first;
-“Does he demonstrate a passion for God and His Word?”
-“Does he demonstrate a love for people?”
-“Does he bear fruit of a man who works diligently?”
-“Does he demonstrate a love for his wife that is self-sacrificing?”
…and there are others…but if that awkward conversation is going to happen, I’m not sure if “let me explain the difference between an B.A. and an MDiv.” is even going to be on the radar.
IMO, the best way to prepare a man for ministry is in an effective local church where theology, philosophy, hermenutics, etc. are seriously taught AND where the young man is mentored while he serves in the ministry. It’s true that these churches are few and far between and seminaries fill in the gaps where most pastors simply are not qualified. However, there is simply nothing in the classroom that will fully prepare you to handle the room of frustrated deacons…or the deathbed of a dearly loved saint…or the overwhelming feeling of your own inadequacies. A loving, wise mentor is invaluable in these cases.
[Paul J. Scharf] Furthermore, ministry (at least within fundamental or conservative circles) is one of the few places in American life where a person with a first professional degree (M.Div.) would have little expectation of beginning a position at a higher salary or even a higher level of respect than someone fresh out of college with a B.A. Of course, that is way over-generalizing, but on balance I believe it is true.IMO, respect from a church should not be based on the man’s education, but on his proven character. In fact I would strongly suggest that a church NOT show a higher level of respect for man simply based on his education. That would be dangerous, IMO.
Senior Pastor, Harvest Bible Chapel, Fort Wayne, IN
[Susan R] Many can make the grades, but don’t fulfill the qualities listed in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1.Susan…what are you basing this statement on? With all due respect (and there is much due), I’m not sure this isn’t overstated. FWIW, I would say SOME can make the grades, but don’t fulfill the qualities..
I can’t find the exact quote, but D.A. Carson has said, “One of the extraordinary truths about the qualifications for pastors is how ordinary they are”…or something close to that :). These qualifications are well within the grasp of a young man who passionately loves His God and God’s people! Let’s hope your statement is not true.
However, THIS statement I agree wholeheartedly with…
[Susan R] Mentoring should be part of any training program designed to prepare a man for ministry… and then maybe fewer wolves would be set loose on the sheep. That’s the purpose of all this training- to be able to effectively feed and care for the flock.I believe that is the solution to the problem you address. Older, godly men putting their arm around a young man and asking tough questions…and lovingly guiding him to the right answers. Such men have been invaluable in my life.
Senior Pastor, Harvest Bible Chapel, Fort Wayne, IN
You are right that people in higher education can influence only higher education. That’s obvious. But this whole thread is an exercise in people speculating outside their primary zone of influence. Note that Dr. Bauder, a seminary president, is talking about Bible colleges, with which he is not directly involved. Presumably, he’s figured out that he can do only so much in an M. Div program, and he’s writing this in part because he wants his starting classes better equipped. I was simply following that line of logic to the next level. In one way, my point is similar to your earlier one, that colleges that are already struggling to do one thing can’t simply start doing two well. Significant improvement to the final educational product is going to come from accumulated improvements over the whole course of the educational process.
My Blog: http://dearreaderblog.com
Cor meum tibi offero Domine prompte et sincere. ~ John Calvin
For instance- what would you think about a young man who seemed in every way qualified for the ministry, but had significant credit card debt due to his Xbox habit? Would you consider him grave, sober, and without covetousness? I think we give too many behaviors a pass that are in reality the seeds of destruction. And only a mature Christian who had a personal relationship with this young man would be privy to this information, and in a position to help him. But I see these kinds of young men in every position of every IFB church I have ever attended. Anecdotal? Yes. Invalid? I don’t think so. Overstated? Maybe.
[Susan R] For instance- what would you think about a young man who seemed in every way qualified for the ministry, but had significant credit card debt due to his Xbox habit? Would you consider him grave, sober, and without covetousness? I think we give too many behaviors a pass that are in reality the seeds of destruction. And only a mature Christian who had a personal relationship with this young man would be privy to this information, and in a position to help him. But I see these kinds of young men in every position of every IFB church I have ever attended. Anecdotal? Yes. Invalid? I don’t think so. Overstated? Maybe.My remedy for the young man…surrender your XBox and games to me as a evidence of your commitment to our ministry. :)
I don’t believe your scenario is invalid at all…and as I stated earlier, I’m in full agreement with your solution. I hope…I really hope…that it’s not as wide-spread as you fear. But perhaps it is.
Senior Pastor, Harvest Bible Chapel, Fort Wayne, IN
[Jamie Hart]Jamie,[Paul J. Scharf] Furthermore, ministry (at least within fundamental or conservative circles) is one of the few places in American life where a person with a first professional degree (M.Div.) would have little expectation of beginning a position at a higher salary or even a higher level of respect than someone fresh out of college with a B.A. Of course, that is way over-generalizing, but on balance I believe it is true.IMO, respect from a church should not be based on the man’s education, but on his proven character. In fact I would strongly suggest that a church NOT show a higher level of respect for man simply based on his education. That would be dangerous, IMO.
I am not talking about some sort of high church respect in an ecclesiastical power.
Rather, by contrast, I work in a secular environment where I interact constantly with engineers, accountants, attorneys, doctors, etc. There is a level of respect in society in general for these kinds of people, their knowledge and the services they offer because of the status they have achieved academically. To some extent, pastors in general also get this type of respect, but that is not strictly what I am talking about.
What I am saying is that when people in the church cannot distinguish between a B.A. and and M.Div., referring instead to seminary as cemetery, why would a young person consider spending thousands of dollars to go to seminary? Does this attitude not in itself evidence disrespect for the study of the Word of God? It is not the man or his degree that I am worried about.
As an example, whenever I am dealing with someone with a doctorate, I am careful to make appropriate use of the title. I would think that is part of giving honor to whom honor is due (Rom. 13:7).
Church Ministries Representative, serving in the Midwest, for The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry
[Paul J. Scharf] What I am saying is that when people in the church cannot distinguish between a B.A. and and M.Div., referring instead to seminary as cemetery, why would a young person consider spending thousands of dollars to go to seminary? Does this attitude not in itself evidence disrespect for the study of the Word of God? It is not the man or his degree that I am worried about.Previously posted-
“I don’t car if got a DD or a fiddle-DD! Bless yer heart, son, you just com’n preech!”I think I know what you are talking about- there has been in IFBism a segment that takes 1 Cor. 1:18-29 a bit far- to the point where they worship ignorance. Ifn’ you got too much book learnin’, then yer prolly too big fer yer britches.
I think the balance is found in James- verse 3:13 “Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.”
[Jamie Hart] Perhaps I’m being too sensitive about this…but are you saying, “churches need to be educated so they don’t make the mistake of hiring a man with only a B.A.?” I’m sure you would agree that there many other important considerations…and there are worse mistakes a church could make when hiring their new shepherd.No… was responding to Scharff’s observations that people increasingly don’t know one degree from another or understand the value of more training vs. less. I know a few MDivs and DMins who are not as good pastors as other guys who have BAs or less. (Including some guys who are leagues ahead of me because they’ve just got a much better overall mix of gifts and more maturity). But I will say that other things being equal the guys who are “less formally educated yet better pastors” would be even better better pastors with more formal education (assuming it’s of good quality).
That’s the nutshell of how I look at the whole education vs. qualification question
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
one middle school teacher who reads The Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bar Fraction Book to her 7th and 8th grade math students. That particular book is one that Scholastic markets for children from PreK to 3rd grade. It’s hard to imagine such a basic picture book engaging middle schoolers. The clear implication is that the students’ reading and math ability is nowhere near where it ought to be, thus a read aloud is making a virtue of necessity.It brought this thread to mind, especially this quote:
Obviously the underpinnings of education are weakening, so while we may continue pursue the idea of providing a superior Bible education at the college level, we need some serious focus on the foundation.
The liberal arts (especially grammar, logic, and rhetoric) are the basic tools of thought. Any institution that neglects fostering of these disciplines will fail to educate its students. Mastery of the liberal arts is essential to any thoughtful life or ministry.
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