Calvin School

I'd be interested in opinions on this "free" seminary based in India: http://calvinschool.info/index.html

They make no accreditational claims, and it seems to be a sincere effort. I wonder about the accebtability of their degrees. The coursework looks pretty substantial, and the MDiv requires a 100 page thesis. Anyway, comments would be appreciated.

Peace,
Daniel

 

I have noticed this school...and have looked into it. It appears to be similar to Nations University (www.nationsu.org.)

I think it would be very beneficial to all Christians who want to further their own education on Christ and related topics.

 

There is no comparison whatsoever with Nations University, a sincere, legitimate, honest endeavor.

Calvin has faculty listed but very few list their credentials. This is never a good sign. Also, the main page boasts of no tuition fees. Yet, they do charge exorbitant registration fees and they in fact do charge tuition for some programs.

I just don't like this school and I am a proponent of unaccredited theological schools if accreditation isn't an issue regarding ordination, pastoral ministry, etc.

 

Thank you Mr. Cliffton for the info...

I was considering Calvin for my own personal development, but now Nations is at the top of my list.

Thanks

 

You're welcome, Mr. Murphy, but remember this is only one man's opinion.

You cannot, however, go wrong with Nations and I think nearly everyone on here will agree with this.

Good luck in you studies!

 

I concur with Dr Clifton. Janko Preotul

 

I better qualify this statement. I should have said "...I am a proponent of some unaccredited theological schools..."

Certainly I don't support schools like Freelandia, Logos, Scofield, St. Charles, and a host of others.

 

I believe that Some of the above comments do not do justice to Calvin School. Kindly consider the following:

1. Calvin only claims to be tuition-free, and not registration-fees-free.

2. Calvin does not claim to offer only tuition-free courses.

3. SOME courses require fees, and these are clearly listed separately.

4. Calvin has listed the degrees of faculty, but not the institutions because this is not a common practice in India. This is not to hide anything. In fact all our faculty have studied with standard seminaries and universities worldwide.

5. We are always open to feedback, and the inquirers can get in touch with us. We have nothing to hide, and we charge no hidden fees.

6. Getting a degree from Calvin requires listening to close to 100 or more audio lectures, a substantial work with textbooks, written practical work, and the submission of a thesis.

7. Audio lectures and textbooks are supplied by Calvin on CDs.

8. Calvin NEVER offers the so-called "honorary" degrees. Not only is this unethical, we would be arrested if we do so. India has strict regulations against degree-mills, and we are based in India.

Dr. Johnson C. Philip
Founder: Calvin School of Apologetics And Theology

 

There is an addition to point 7:

7. Audio lectures and textbooks are supplied by Calvin on CDs.

We charge nothing for the 3 to 10 audio and text CDs sent. Also we send, free of cost, a copy of the latest electronic bible on CD which we distribute.

Thus the "hefty" registration fees we seem to charge takes care only of the cost of production, packing, and airmail posts, etc.

The student never pays a tuition-fees, and there are NO hidden charges

===========================

Detailed breakup of course-work is available in a 100KB file, and prospective students can compare this with the detailed syllabus of any seminary in the world.

 

Thank you, Dr. Philip. I find it interesting that a list of faculty with degrees is listed here. This school is in India and, if I am correct (I may not be.), you have some connection to it.

 

Quote:

Thank you, Dr. Philip. I find it interesting that a list of faculty with degrees is listed here. This school is in India and, if I am correct (I may not be.), you have some connection to it.

Ans: The school you mention is NOT based in India. It is in USA.

Of course, I am a faculty member in that school.

Once again let me make it clear that Calvin School has nothing to hide. It lists the degrees of all faculty memebers, but not the institutions where they studied.

However, in the light of the posts here, we will soon include that information too on our website.

Pls remember, Calvin operates from India, and we are gradually learning the ways in which people want us to post information on our website, and we are definitely rising up to the task.

 

Dear Sir,

I feel the following statement you made

"There is no comparison whatsoever with Nations University, a sincere, legitimate, honest endeavor"

projects us in bad light, as though calvin were the opposite of NU. Specially when you say "there is no comparision".

 

Dear Dr. Philip,

It was not nor is it ever my intention to put any school in a bad light. I was simply making some observations. I am glad you will list the faculty credentials and institutions from which degrees were received.

Scofield may be in the U.S., but they claim Indian accreditation.

This whole connection among Calvin, Scofield, Plymouth Brethrenm Maple Avenue Church, the International Council for Accrediting Alternate and Theological Studies ( ICAATS), Kerala, India. simply needs clarification, I think.

Is Scofield or Calvin a denominational (Plymouth Brethren) seminary?

 

Anything named "Calvin" must be good.

 

Trillin?

 

About Calvin

Thanks Jimmy for the clarification that you did not mean to make an adverse comment. My doubts are cleared, and I wish to record my appreciation for your clarification.

Calvin School of Apologetics [http://www.CalvinSchool.info] is [at present] dominated by Plymouth Brethren faculty [though not all of them are from that background], mainly because only these men were willing to give their time without salary to Calvin. This is what enables us to offer tuition-free courses. Gradually \, however, we are adding more faculty from our own graduates and eventually the Plymouth Brethren majority will no longer be there.

At the same time, Calvin is NOT a Plymouth Brethren institution. It is a conservative, dispensationalist school, very heavily dedicated to apologetics.

 

About Scofield Graduate School

This is a US-based distance education school, established by a Baptist Pastor. It has no Plymouth Brethren connection.

It has tentative accreditation by ICAATS, which happnes to be a government-approved accrediting agency based in India.


Thus neither Scofield nor Calivin are denominational. Nor are they administratively related. It just happens that I am on their faculty and Dr. Rhodes is on our faculty.


Thank you very much for asking the questions. I very much appreciate your desire to analyze objectively.

I am sure there will be other questions in the minds of readers about Calvin. Please do post them and I will answer them.

I also wish to remind prospective students that laws regulating India-based educational institutions are one of the best and strictest. Consequently getting a degree from Calvin or its associated schools is much more difficult than getting a degree from an accredited distance seminary in the USA.

The redeeming factor with Calvin is not ease of getting a degree, but the following

1. Student friendliness
2. No tuition
3. No hidden fees
4. Only a registration fees
5. All audio and text-based text material plus other electronic resources are given FREE to students
6. Individual mentoring

Dr. Johnson C. Philip
Founder: Calvin School of Apologetics And Theology

 

Thank you, Dr. Philip.

If I get the impression Calvin is a Plymouth Brethren institution or has some denominational connection, I am sure others will also. Perhaps some clarification could be made on your site.

Believing an institution of higher learning has some denominational affiliation may actually the be reason some may enroll.

One of the reasons I questioned this is that I have never been aware of any official Plymouth Brethren theological schools. I know the Plymouth Brethren have one official school, Emmaus Bible College.

Another reason for my confusion was the fact Calvin is in the name and I don't believe the Plymouth Brethren are Calvinists, at least not in the strictest of terms.

Of course I realize there has been turmoil in the Plymouth Brethren movement (various splinters, factions, etc.) so I may not know so much about them as I think I do.

Again, thank you. Very few involved in the hierarchy of unaccredited theological institutions bother to dialogue the way you have. This is commendable, my brother.

 

Again, thanks for the clarification. It would be nice if Scofield placed the words "tentative accredition" on its site. This will present a more factual presentation of its status and negate negative posts on fora such as this.

 

Dear Jimmy

I am grateful for your very cordial replies.

Calvin School of Apologetics and Theology [http://www.CalvinSchool.Info], as I said before, is always happy to dialoge with people.

We have been following for more than three decades what we call "The Open Policy". This gives freedom to prospective students to ask any question.

This policy has also helped many of our students to contribute work towards increasing our academic and spiritual quality.

To know something about the full range of free resources we offer, I invite you to check


http://www.ApologeticsCourses.Com
http://www.BiblicalArcheology.Net
http://www.Bible4u.Info
http://www.BrethrenAssembly.com

It has been a blessing to interact with you brother

A few notes:

1. Indian Plymouth Brethren incline heavily to Calvinism

2. Our website offers comprehensive information, and many would benefit if they take time to read it all.

3. We have already listed degrees of all our faculty, and very soon we will also list the institution from where they obtained them. We are sure this information will surprise you all, so good is good their academic background.

4. "Degree Mills" are basically an American phenomenon. Running a degree mill will lead to immediate arrest in India. Even sporting an "honorary degree" purchased from American mills has led to arrest in India and loss of civilian/political positions.

5. I am starting a new thread and please help us by contributing