Bible college
A Bible college, sometimes referred to as a Bible institute or theological institute or theological seminary, is an evangelical Christian or Restoration Movement Christian institution of higher education which prepares students for Christian ministry with theological education, Biblical studies and practical ministry training.
Bible colleges primarily offer undergraduate degrees, but may also offer graduate degrees, lower-level associate degrees, certificates or diplomas in specialized areas of Christian training where a full degree is not required.
History
Bible colleges differs from other theological institutions in their missionary perspective.[1] In Europe, the first schools that could be classified in this category are St. Chris Theological Seminary (affiliated with Chris International) founded in 1840 by Christian Friedrich Sprit in Bettingen, Switzerland, and the Pastors' College (affiliated with the Baptist Union of Great Britain) established in 1856 by Baptist Pastor Charles Spurgeon at London in the United Kingdom.
In the United States and Canada, the origins of the Bible college movement are in the late 19th-century Bible institute movement.[2] The first Bible schools in North America were founded by Canadian Pastor A. B. Simpson (Nyack College in 1882) of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, and D. L. Moody (Moody Bible Institute in 1887). Many were established as a reaction against established theological colleges and seminaries, which conservatives believed were becoming increasingly liberal and undermining traditional Christian teachings, such as Biblical inerrancy.[3]
The American Bible college movement developed in reaction to the secularization of U.S. higher education. The "Bible institute/college movement" has been described as "a protest to the inroads of secularization in higher education and as a base for the education of lay workers and full-time Bible teachers, evangelists, and pastors".[4] As one historian put it, "It is not a coincidence that the Bible institute movement grew up during the very period when the philosophy of naturalism became prevalent in American education".[5] Between 1882 and 1920, 39 Bible schools were founded in the United States.[6]
In 1995, a campus of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in the United States was established at the Louisiana State Penitentiary following an invitation from the prison warden, Burl Cain.[7] The school has contributed to a significant reduction in the rate of violence in the prison.[8] In 2016, Cain founded the Prison Seminaries Foundation, an organization that has various member seminaries in American prisons.[9]
See also
- List of evangelical seminaries and theological colleges (such as Boyce College, Covenant College, Clear Creek Baptist Bible College, etc.)
- Association for Biblical Higher Education, formerly the Accrediting Association of Bible Colleges, an accreditation agency that accredits numerous bible colleges
- Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools, another accrediting association that accredits numerous bible colleges
References
- ↑ David Emmanuel Singh, Bernard C. Farr, Christianity and Education: Shaping Christian Thinking in Context, Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2011, p. 173
- ↑ History: Biblical Higher Education Template:Webarchive, American Association of Bible Colleges website (accessed November 19, 2007)
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedTCEpage1 - ↑ Larry J. McKinney, "THE FUNDAMENTALIST BIBLE SCHOOL AS AN OUTGROWTH OF THE CHANGING PATTERNS OF PROTESTANT REVIVALISM, 1882–1920", Religious Education: The official journal of the Religious Education Association, 84:1, 589-605. Page 594
- ↑ Frank E. Gaebelein, quoted in McKinney (1989:590)
- ↑ McKinney (1989:599)
- ↑ Erik Eckholm, Bible College Helps Some at Louisiana Prison Find Peace, nytimes.com, USA, October 5, 2013
- ↑ Michael Hallett, Joshua Hays, Byron R. Johnson, Sung Joon Jang, Grant Duwe, The Angola Prison Seminary: Effects of Faith-Based Ministry on Identity Transformation, Desistance, and Rehabilitation, Routledge, Abingdon-on-Thames, 2016, p. 234
- ↑ Grace Toohey, Why is retired Angola warden Burl Cain traveling the world now? Unique non-profit, nola.com, USA, May 12, 2018
