Could anyone provide me with any information about Reverend Ian Paisley and his fake doctorate, obtained from a degree mill somewhere in America. I heard him speak in Belfast, Northern Ireland recently and on the program he mentioned about his Doctorate, but I've looked into it and his story doesn't fit. I also saw on a link to www.degreemills.com that he holds a fake doctorate, but can no longer get that site back up. I appreciate any help that you can provide.
This is purely speculation (in other words, to paraphrase the apostle Paul, I do not have this on divine command, but it's an educated guess), but here goes . . . Ian Paisley was close to Carl McIntyre, the Fundie preacher who founded, under the umbrella of the Bible Presbyterian Church, Faith Theological Seminary in Elkins Park, PA. Faith claimed accreditation by the International Accrediting Agency of Colleges and Schools, established by McIntire as part of his International Council of Christian Churches to accredit "separated colleges and schools throughout the world." IAACS also accredited another McIntyre-founded school, Shelton College in Cape May, NJ (from which the late counter-cult apologist Walter Martin graduated), which lost its right to legally grant degrees in New Jersey in the early 1980's. Faith was a degree mill insofar as its homegrown accreditation claims, but it was an actual residential school. It essentially went belly-up in the 1990's and was forced to sell its historic building in Elkins Park when prevented from dismantling the interior of the building. It was bought by a Korean businessman, consistent with the later history of Faith Seminary of attracting a predominantly Korean student body (from Korea itself, rather than Korean Americans). Incidentally, one of the schools at which I taught, Biblical Theological Seminary (which is both regionally and ATS accredited) is historically an offshoot of Faith Seminary, and some of their older faculty members received their M.Div. degrees from Faith. The historical line is that Princeton Seminary went too liberal and begat Westminster Seminary, which was still too liberal and begat Faith Seminary, which went off the wall and became too conservative and begat Biblical Seminary. The straw that broke the camel's back was McIntyre, an avid anti-Communist whose radio station was shut down by the F.C.C. in the 1960's. McIntyre reacted by putting a transmitter on his boat, going off the New Jersey shore three miles, and broadcasting back to the east coast. The guy was so Fundie that he would make Falwell look liberal - he's like Bob Jones, but Presbyterian instead of baptistic in his doctrinal position. Again, Paisley had strong historic links to McIntyre, right down to speaking at Faith Seminary, so my guess is that he may hold a degree, earned or honorary, from Faith.
He got it from Bob Jones were he used to lecture regularly ...why do you think he suddenly turned by at St Patrick's Parade this year? This is a well worn tale... there are lots of biogs on Paisley so check out Amazon for copies.
If his degree is from Bob Jones U, there's no question that it's *NOT* a substandard credential... although BJU is not accredited, it is highly respected academically, and many, many BJU grads have earned graduate degrees at numerous RA schools. Of course, it could easily be an "honorary" degree, in which case it doesn't really confer any presumption of academic achievement.
Paisleys doctorate was always sniffed at in N.Ireland partly because a degree by distance learning was considered to be a joke and no-0ne had ever heard of Bob Jones. The fact that he lectures there points out to some basic credibility in an academic level. Underestimating Paisley has been the graveyard of political reputations for nearly 40 years.
If he did earn a doctorate from BJU then I second Chip's assertion that it was defintely legit and of respected quality. BJU is an amazing institution. It's interracial/world government issue aside, it has built a quality institution & judging by it's magazine "BJU Review", an institution with distinction & class. Their alumni appear to do quite well. Although, it is funny to see female students doing yard work on campus in ankle length denim skirts. I suspect that if his doctorate is from BJU it is honorary. They do have a DE doctorate in Pastoral Theology (?) but even that has residency requirements. I agree with you about Paisley. He is hard headed and tough like a cockroach (a survivor). I find some of his retoric to be more than a little nauseating. He does not seem to do a lot to calm the tense and tragic situation over there. North
Here is web site with information about his education. I do not vouch for the accuracy of any of it. http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Atrium/1678/ian.html North
A bit biased..(look at the home page. However the tone towards DL and Paisley is a pretty standard popular viewpoint of some of his qualifications. Not that his supporters ever gave a toss!
Defintely a biased site. However, I don't know much about those schools that are mentioned. Hopefully, Steve Levicoff, with vastly superior knowledge in that area will look at the site and post. The whole situation in N. Ireland is sad and I think extremists on both sides have done nothing except to increase blood shed and misery. North
