Africa Bible College

Africa Bible College, an online theological school that offer diploma degree to doctoral degree online. Any comment?

 

If you want an unaccredited Christian bachelors or masters degree, try NationsUniversity. It's free.

http://www.nationsu.org/index.pl/home

It is a challenging program and it is even offered in Thai. It looks like it is as difficult or more difficult than many accredited programs would be.

 

unaccredited Christian bachelors or masters degree, try NationsUniversity. It's free.

http://www.nationsu.org/index.pl/home

It is a challenging program and it is even offered in Thai. It looks like it is as difficult or more difficult than many accredited programs would be. [/B][/QUOTE]

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I'm curious. Why would you say Nations University equals or exceeds accredited programs in difficulty?

 

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What is your comment?

 

Because each 1 credit course has 2 - 3 textbooks. That would be 6-9 books per 3 credit course. That's the only reason.

 

Which brings up an interesting point. They musn't translate the books into Thai and other languages?????? Don't know.

 

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Dennis,

With respect, I suggest that the difficulty of a course cannot be much measured by the kind or number of textbooks it employs.

Rather such measuring requires an assessment of the virtue of the outcome based goals for the course and how the student's achievement of those goals is determined. What must the student be able to do with the concepts covered in the course: Restate them? Summarize them? Explain them? Defend them? Critique them? Synthesize them? Apply them? And under what conditions must the student do that: open book, closed book, open Bible, closed Bible, with notes, without notes, timed, untimed?

Difficulty is measured by a course having proper learning objectives and measuring a student's attaining of these. This attainment is indeed gained by interaction with the topics covered by good texts. But this interaction is a product not just of the books used themselves, but is mostly a product of what is required of the student by qualified profs who themselves know both the subject well , how to teach it, and how to measure a student's growth in it.

Re student growth and this particular school's curricula, if three units of grad credit are given for the course , M3- Systematic Theology, which requires two texts only, even if a good text as Erickson's is used, the grad student's comprehension hardly is tested by such dippycrap questioning the school's site poses as example as:

"True or false, The current popular Christological understanding about the human nature of Jesus is greatly influenced by Nicaea."

Rather if such concepts are broached as that Creed in relation to Christ's humanity, then the concepts should be tested by subjective, not objective, demands for proof of the student's learning re Nicaea and the Hypostatic Union, and the dogmatic - historical - Biblical relationships of the two.

For example, a questiuon might be, "In one hour or less , using no notes , text, or Bible, in 400 to 500 words, explain using historical, systematic, and exegetical bases how if Nicaea says that Christ is 'Very God of Very God' , it also say 'He suffered and was buried.' How is God buried?"

Unless one really understands after the course Erickson, it makes little difference whether Erickson or a score of textbooks like him are listed as course requirements.

So IMO the measure of a course is not how many or what texts the course lists, but is rather how much and what the student learns to do. (and I doubt erickson is translated into Thai )

 

Bill

I'm sure you are correct. It is just that the school appears to be more serious than many cheap schools I have looked at.

 

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Got it. Thanks..

 

If so 30 credits for M.R.S need 60-90 books. Its so much and assume so much time.

 

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zvavda:

But you see, learning should not be measured by time spent in a program . Neither can it even be measured well by how much work is done or the number of books read in a program. The measure of the quality of a program of learning is not "how much work" but how much a student can actually do as a result of finishing the program. One can do a heck of a lot of "work", and read a number of books and accomplish really very little!

So, what needs to be in place is much more than a number of textbooks! What needs to be in place is a carefully designed set of objectives for genuinely learning a discipline , or a part of a discipline, written by one who well knows the area of study, a plan to reach those objectives , including materials and assignments, designed by one who knows how learning occurs , and a method of evaluation that honestly tests how well those objectives have been met.

In case my two points are missed: (1), what a student is prepared to do by a program of learning is the measure of that program and, (2) , that preparation is mostly the effect of having a teacher who knows what the student should be able to do, how to enable the student to do that, and how to measure the student's ability to do that.

Rigor in learning is not mainly ,IMO, a quality of textbooks or of time spent, but rather of how these ,and other things too, are used and of what outcomes result from their usage.

 

Actually the first 10 credits require only the Bible plus the notes provided, maybe only 300 pages.

There is some overlap on the books for the remaining 20 credits so maybe it is a bit over 30-40 books.

In a normal 3 credit humanities or social sciences course it is not unusal to read all or part of several books to prepare term papers.

 

Africa Bible College

Regarding Africa Bible College....
Started and operated by a former Ghanaian (West Africa), who is extremely interested in helping fellow Africans.
His intentions are very honorable, and he spends lot's of his own money to keep the web-site and school running.
Instructors are not paid. What the school offers is really a sacrifice of love from start to finish.
Do not expect any kind of accreditation anytime soon, but the folks involved with the school are very well intentioned.
The school is (was) based in Springfield, MO.

Lord's blessings!

 

Re: Africa Bible College

Welcome to the forum Haggai12. What is your connection to the school?

 

More on Africa Bible College

Hello again,

None officially.

Some months ago, I was in contact with "Jeremiah" about the school, offering a few bits of advice from my years of distance ed. experience.

We have a common interest, him being from Ghana, and me having traveled there. He and I both appreciate the many challenges Africa faces in Bible / Theol. training, especially considering the comparatively small income most Africans have.

So many Africans are hungry to learn, but simply do not have the money. We Westerners rather laugh at what South African schools charge for education, but to the average African, it is a lot of money.

It's ironic to me how passionate many Africans are about their faith and how difficult it is for them to access higher educational opportunities.

We Westerners argue and complain about which of many programs will we pursue, failing to realize how truly blessed we are.

Again, he's a very well-intentioned, sincere and hard-working fellow. I wish him all the best.

 

Re: More on Africa Bible College

So many Africans are hungry to learn,

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The desire to learn Biblical , Theological, and Ministerial Studies is admirable. But when a school begins to award graduate degrees as masters and doctorates in Biblical Studies, then, IMO, there is a responsibility to only award these qualifications to those who acquire , by the learning the school provides, the knowledge and skills commonly associated with those advanced degrees by academia.

Schools which are accredited or GAAP have this responsibility to provide rigor in advanced studies supervised either by governmental agencies or accreditors governmentally approved. Of course it is possible to have a good but unaccredited grad program.

But then, who measures the quality of it? Who says whether or not an unaccredited school has genuine rigor or not, and are the ones testifying to a school's rigor really qualified to make such a testimony ? What qualifies them to do that?

Now this topic falls within the context of Christian ethics, I think! It would not be Christian to misrepresent one's qualifications. So, if one says, "I have a doctorate in Biblical Studies" that should mean something fairly specific . It should not just mean that some school gave someone a doctorate! It should mean that that the recipient of that award has experienced and completed the challenge of learning at a very severe level of intellectual pursuit in that particular discipline.

Many good men and women have faithfully and sacrificially given themselves to the most rigorous programs of study to honestly earn the doctoral degree in Biblical Studies. To claim that degree without going through the rigor expected of that degree IMO is deceitful.

Deceit is not Christian! The grace of God indeed has made all of His people "saints." But it has not made them Doctors of Theology!

I am not saying that this school is short on rigor. But how is the rigor of any school, this school too, which gives advanced degrees, to be predicted?

One predictor , it seems to me, of the ability of a school to deliver more advanced knowledge and skills would be the academic experience of the faculty. How could one teach what he has not learned? If the professor, himself, has not completed the rigor of an accredited or GAAP doctoral program , then why should it be thought likely that he could lead another through that rigor?

Yet this school offers doctoral level coursework in Old Testament, New Testament, Historical Theology, and Systematic Theology. Very well, then professors of these areas in this school should have accredited or GAAP doctorates, themselves, in the very areas they teach in order to able to teach doc level courses in these areas! Do they?

The school, however, has only two who are listed as having doctoral degrees, and the area of these degrees are not listed. Neither, and most crucial , IMO, is that the schools awarding the degrees to the faculty neither are listed! This school should list where the faculty got its education! Where did Hudson and Williamson get their docs?

Neither does a google search reveal any significant contribution or any academic experience by either Hudson or Williamson! What have they contributed to the serious literature in the fields of their studies? In what societies are they active members? Where else have they taught? What have they done to contribute to the field of Biblical Studies that would qualify them to be professors in a doctoral program in Biblical Studies?


Being hungry to learn is good. But to be hungry to be a good learner is better. And to be hungry to be a good professor of a good learner , and to be willing to actually do what it takes to be a good professor, is also very good.

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but simply do not have the money.

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It does not seem to me that $150 for a three unit course is very cheap! I believe TRACS accredited DL coursework or government approved African DL schools as SATS is about that price!

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Again, he's a very well-intentioned, sincere and hard-working fellow. I wish him all the best. [/B][/QUOTE]

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He may be! I have no evidence of insincerity or lethargy . But I do have serious questions about the integrity of the advanced programs he offers!

 

Re: Re: More on Africa Bible College

 

Just a question....

Since we are on the topic of higher education in Africa, I'm curious as to how accessible SATS or other SA schools are to other African countries?

I too agree that one's degree should represent the true level of education the degree represents. However, I also see the use of certificate and diploma offering schools to educate as well. These do not confer a degree, but still educate the student and can be very low priced and even free.

I'm not opposed to unaccredited degrees either, though I understand the can of worms opened it represents. GAAP can be deceiving if the government represented is itself corrupt or lax on ethics and equality. This is a problem in some African countries.

Unfortunately, in some of these countries they(the people) are more concerned about food and water, than prestige in the University. If you are a very poor African Christian who wants to pastor or serve in a ministerial capacity, then it is important to be trained. Since some of these folks are struggling day to day to survive, even a "cheap" college like SATS is unattainable. Therefore, it is needful to make a way to help these precious people to gather some sort of training whether free or relatively free so they can at least have some education. It is for this reason that I think we need to take exception and have understanding on this specific issue. It is hard for us in the west to understand the abject poverty that some of our fellow men and women are undergoing. Yet, they need to be trained. If someone is willing to provide a free or low budget school then I applaud their efforts. Yes, I understand that it falls(most likely) short of all expectations and rigour of RA. However, it may be all these people can get. In this case something is better than nothing.

 

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I am all for training and will give freely of my time to train others.

But one does not need a doctorate for ministry purposes in much of Africa--does one? Isn't an MDiv or even a BA or even a diploma enough?

If one really must have a genuine doctoral degree in Theology, for academic purposes , then it needs to explained to me why Unizul or such would not be a cheap option.

If on the other hand, one is not academically qualified to do a GAAP doc, then perhaps one does not really need a doc!

WITHOUT any reference to this school or its students in particular, I am unwilling to say that institutions should use the poverty of its students to justify the poverty of its academics!

 

Sorry, Bill, I wasn't thinking so lofty as a PHD. My statements only dealt with training for ordination credentials, and some type of formal education. Perhaps for a diploma, certificate, or even an undergrad level education. I agree wholeheartedly with you that a post grad degree should be of the highest caliber possible.(ie. RA, NA, GAAP)