Is Whitefield College (http://whitefieldcollege.org) the only distance learning college with Reformed Distinctives?

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Josh Hicks, Chloë's Dad
Attending CCRPC, Member of TRBC
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In addition to Whitefield College, another good distance college is RIC (Reformation International College). Here is their catalog link http://www.refcm.org/education/ricweb/ricat.pdf.
Consider also, Haddington House Divinity School in PEI (www.haddingtonhouse.org), tell then Jerrold Lewis sent you.


Kind regards,

Jerrold Lewis
Pastor- APC
Vancouver

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Pastor Jerrold H. Lewis. (Dipl. IT; Assc. A; B.Th; M.Th Candidate, PRTS)
Lacombe Free Reformed Church
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JOHN FLAVEL

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Thanks, Jerrold! Most helpful!

my pleasure.

I believe Greenville Theological Seminary offers a bachelor's degree.

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JC
URCNA
PA, but homesick for SC

"Who says you can't go back, been all around the world and as a matter of fact. There's only one place left I want to go, who says you can't go home" Bon Jovi

Yes, indeed. But it's not distance. Although, I'd really like to go there.

Oh, I thought they did do distance. Hubby is going to be bummed.

Lemme' know if ya find out something different...

Look on page 75 of their catalog for information about their Distance program. While some on-campus hours are still required, it seems the vast majority may indeed be done through other means.

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A passion to know and reflect Christ by living and demonstrating the truth and richness of the historic Reformed faith

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Christopher Blum
Member of Trinity Presbyterian Church of Northern Kentucky (PCA) in Burlington, KY

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I believe that the BD is exactly the same program as the MDiv, but for seminary students who do not already have a BA.

It is a seminary program, not college.

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Fredrick T. Greco
Senior Pastor, Christ Church PCA (Katy, TX)
Christ Church Blog

"The heart is the main thing in true religion...It is the hinge and turning-point in the condition of man's soul. If the heart is alive to God and quickened by the Spirit, the man is a living Christian. If the heart is dead and has not the Spirit, the man is dead before God." (J.C. Ryle)

Yep. Right up my alley, too.

There is much to be said for getting a strong liberal arts education before going on to seminary.

Most seminaries cannot teach you Latin (well, we can!), they cannot teach you German, they cannot teach you general/Western history, the history of philosophy, the sciences, English/literature, the classics, an appreciation of the arts and music, basic logic, the "greats," but all these things are important to becoming an intelligent reader, a good writer and these skills are necessary for seminary.

I am quite aware that many (most) brick and mortar colleges are not doing everything listed above. We do far more remedial work at seminary now than we once did and more than we should have to do. Nevertheless, there are still good colleges (e.g., we've had some excellent students from Grove City and other Christian colleges) where one can gain a good liberal arts education.

I guess this is no surprise -- and I'm quite sure that Jerrold and others will dissent -- to regular readers of this department, but I doubt whether one can really get by distance the sort of educational foundation one needs to be well educated.

I understand that my criticism of distance ed is not popular here, but someone needs to question the notion that because we have the ability to communicate at a distance that therefore it is a sound way to convey a formal education.

rsc

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R. Scott Clark, D.Phil
Professor of Church History and Historical Theology

"For Christ, His Gospel, and His Church"
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Oceanside URC
The Heidelblog

Nothing wrong with a good disagreement Scott!

In fact I agree with everything you said up to the criticism. A liberal education is a very important element for any man who wishes to enter the ministry. I for instance took my B.A in Bible which put me light years ahead in seminary when compared to those who had an undergraduate in some other discipline. If you can strengthen the foundation of your seminary training by beginning with a B.A in Bible (not history or science), you will be that much further ahead when you get to seminary. While others are only beginning their theological studies, you will be able to move to more advanced materials simply because you have already covered the basics. Remember, that the first year (perhaps 2), of Seminary is simply laying the foundation of what an undergraduate degree in Bible or Theology has already covered.

Of course there is a certain element of question begging when one says that a brick and mortar undergraduate degree is better than a distance degree. From someone who has done both, I can say from experience that it all depends on the student, the school, and the degree. Some people simply do not have the discipline to learn properly at home and therefore need the structure of the classroom. Others can't afford to move and do not wish to go to a local college just because it is local. There is a certain amount of pragmatism in the thought that any liberal education (from a middling local college caught in the updraft of atheistic postmodernism) is better than a solid distance degree from a Reformed college. It simply does not follow. Even the so called "œgood"� colleges like Dordt, Calvin, Reformed Bible College, and Geneva College, have drifted miles away from their once godly roots embracing whatever is nessisary to get accreditation and kowtow to the demigods of certification. Uniformity, truth, and Christ-centeredness are far more important that polemics and enfranchisement.

I can assure you that Whitefield College teaches everything you listed above in each of their B.A programs (general/Western history, the history of philosophy, the sciences, English/literature, the classics, an appreciation of the arts and music, basic logic (as well as advanced), not to mention Greek and Hebrew!).

[Edited on 12-10-2005 by JOwen]

Well, I am at a stand still for several years because of certain extenuating circumstances. I can:

a) finish the degree I'm getting (Bachelor's of Applied Arts and Sciences) and despise every moment of it.

or

b) get a Bachelor's from Whitefield in something I know is going to be useful when Seminary rolls around and enjoy it.

The Bachelor's is a means to an end for me. Thus, I might as well enjoy it. Thoughts?

I'm a lot happier with my decision to leave a private Christian college (Boyce in Louisville) for my B.A. and finish a B.A. in Philosophy at a secular state school. I'm learning German, a lot about the worldview of pagans (for critique purposes and learning how to witness better), and a great deal about secular Philosophy throughout the ages. Very helpful, especially when I go to Seminary in a couple years, Lord willing.

From whence cometh all the bitterness, then? :P

IMHO that sounds like the best way to go. Whitefield is a great school. Tell Dr. Johnston I send greetings!

Kind regards,

Jerrold

Thanks for the encouragement and affirmation, Jerrold.

My pleasure

Maybe we're operating with different definitions of what constitutes an excellent education? When I think of a great undergraduate education, I think of folk such as Dorothy Sayers and C S Lewis. Neither of them, btw, had a PhD. Both of them were scholars of amazing learning and skill.

How was it that Sayers and Lewis were able to do what they did, i.e., change English literature (no small feat that!) and re-invigorate a couple of literary genres, write plays, novels, defend the faith, comment on medieval literature and mythology?

They were able to do it because they got a great education at very traditional "brick and mortar" (or stone and mortar, in their cases) institutions. Sayers learned Italian and became a leading scholar on Dante. Lewis had a fine prep school education and did well enough, on graduation, to become a fellow (tutor/teacher) in Oxford.

They were persuasive and influential because they had a classical liberal arts education.

William F. Buckley is an example of someone who, for all his qualms about God and Man at Yale, got a fine undergraduate education and used that as a foundation for beginning a magazine and a movement.

Is it possible to imagine that any of these writers could have got an education of the same quality at a distance, choosing what they wanted to read, when, and how?

Education is a dialectical, personal, arduous, even tortuous (if not torturous) process it is not a cafeteria or a website.

Consumerism is arguably good ecnomics, but it is not a good model for education.

rsc

Scott,

You do realize that for every Sayers and Lewis (and I think you much exaggerate Sayers' influence), one could give dozens of examples of men educated in a tutor setting that had many times the impact on their culture that Sayers and Lewis did?

Brick and mortar education is not a bad choice, but it is far from the "only" choice you present it to be. You keep trying to create some kind of dichotomy between a faceless, easy-degree, web based distance education and some wonderful, full brick and mortar education. Both are exagerations.

I say this as a man who has done some distance education, and who holds 3 degrees from brick and mortar institutions (BA, MA, and JD) and is almost done with another (MDiv). I have also done teaching assistant and teaching work at brick and mortar schools as well. I am not uninformed on that subject, nor that of a liberal arts education (with a History and Classics degree, having formally studied Latin, Greek, Hebrew, German, enough French to pass an MA exam, with near minors in English (mostly Shakespeare) and Philosophy (mostly Plato, Aristotle and Aquinas)).

There have been many things that I would not change about my B&M educational experiences. I have attended some of the finest institutions in the nation (Uof Chicago, Michigan Law, RTS Jackson). There is much to be thankful for and to encourage others with. But there are also useless hoops to jump through, profs that are too busy to help, work that is "busy work" and other things that are a complete waste of time.

Balance is important here.

[Edited on 12/10/2005 by fredtgreco]

Perhaps an excellent education should be defined by the student being educated and not the process Scott. People learn well, differently. Men like John Bunyan, William Jay, and C.H. Spurgeon are every bit as eminent as Sayers and Lewis and became such in spite of traditional training.

Of course the schools mentioned in this thread are "modeled" after the same principle as the one you attended; formal pedagogical forms based on lectures, written assignments, and examinations. To insist that a distance ed school is built on consumerism is, well, unfair. I'm not sure which schools you are talking about that allow one to chose "what they wanted to read, when, and how", but it is certainly not the institutions mentioned in this thread.

I think you are asserting where you should be arguing brother.

Kind regards,

Jerrold