Bethany Bible College and Theological Seminary

BBC&TS just released their 2001-2002 catalogue. While not regionally accredited, Bethany has:

1. Been approved for Veterans Administration for veterans.
2. Been approved by the US Dept of Justice to issue I-20 forms for foreign students.
3. Been given membership in the US Distance Learning Association www.usdla.com .
4. Been listed by ACSI as having a Recognized College Program.
5. Licensed and approved by the Alabama State Board of Education as a degree granting institution.

Their Ph.D. programs require the completion of 64 hours, including a thesis.

No credit-for-life-experience is given beyond the undergrad level.

While not regionally accredited, it does appear that Bethany is making a sincere attempt at providing academic training for its constituents. The school seems to be geared toward Independent Baptists.

Russell

 

www.bethanybc.edu

 

Thank you for your post on Bethany. As a graduate, 1984 and 1991, I have always felt Bethany has received a "bum rap" over the years.

Jimmy Clifton

 

Jimmy,

Would you mind to e-mail me personally, I have some questions about the Bethany program.

Russell
[email protected]

 

I'm on the way out of town and don't have time to write a detailed reply to this thread, but let me remind everyone that the operators of a degree mill can be sincere. Sincerity and quality, however, are two different things.

With that said, in my opinion, Bethany is still a joke, and regardless of the items cited by Russel in this thread's original post, their degrees will not have universal acceptance by any means.

Have a nice day, y'all.

 

I agree that Bethany's degrees will not have universal acceptance, however, this was not the purpose of my original post. Only properly accredited degrees (RA, GAAP, USDoE recognized, etc.) will enjoy universal acceptance.

My post was to cite that Bethany appears to have strengthened its program, which offers training for those in ministry--mainly Independent Baptists.

Russell

 

OK, this pushes one of my hot buttons - so read this post with that in mind. The following is my own thoughts on the subject - thoughts that have been learned the hard way. Before I dive into this, I appreciate that Russell posted this as a service to the board, not to plug the program.

This post is not directed at anyone on this board. However, this is one of my hot buttons ....

A painful 'lesson learned' in dealing with "Christian" mills was the subtle (or no-so-subtle) deception in regards to accreditation statements. IMO, here is a classic example of subtle deception:
http://www.bethanybc.edu/accreditation.htm

Here are just a few of my objections: First, Bethany only lists the *good* stuff about their accreditation status - rephrasing the concept as "Creditable Recognition". In the rush to sell the consumer, they obviously overstate and oversell their quality (e.g., "the School has developed one of the finest and most unique distance educational programs available").

Where is the 'truth' in advertising? If anything, such 'Christian' schools should overstate the *significant* liability that accompanies such 'degrees'. I consider this subtle deception - and I'm sure this advertising is quite effective since this school is *still* cranking out the 'graduates'.

Second, I have significant issues with "Christian" schools who offer degree titles that give congregations, counseling consumers, etc. a false sense of educational competence. For example, a pastor who has earned a '1 year wonder' Ph.D. from a mill will normally not graduate with the competence of a RA Ph.D. (which in my opinion is the standard in the US). I don't think most will not even come close.

Unfortunately, trusting and naive congregational members - many who simply do not know better - will grant the mill-granted Ph.D. a high level of unearned educational competence.

If the school's purpose is educational *and* the school is not properly accredited, then offer programs that lead to certificates, etc. Even calling it a degree gives a sense of credibility. Graduates who haven't experienced the rigors of RA programs even believe they have equal competence - due to the title of the degree awarded.

Third, I find it logically inconsistent that schools make highly exaggerated claims about the greatness of their own program *while* inferring that *real* "accredited" professors watch over the whole thing. Quote: "With professors who hold earned accredited doctoral degrees serving as chairpersons over each of Bethany's Theology Tracks ...."

What's with that anyway???

My own rhetorical questions about this long standing problem: Why do some unaccredited 'Christian' programs continue to give credentials that - when compared to the rigors of RA degrees - are vastly inferior? Why do some 'Christian' leaders lust for undeserved credentials? Why do some 'Christian' programs oversell and not tell the entire truth in statements such as this? Why doesn't the Christian community raise a loud voice to protect the victims (naive students and congregations) of this deception?

Where is the public outcry over (1) the obvious deception, and (2) the wasted costs and hours of students who fall prey to the deception?

Am I wrong here?? Am I missing something??

Barry Foster
(who feels all better now

 

Dang, I hate typos. Oh well, I don't think I'm going to publish my ranting .....

 

It DOES seem that there is a lot of interest in ummm "doubtful" academic degrees connected with Christian ministry. I also don't understand the student who pre-selects his school based upon certain arcane doctrinal criteria instead of approaching theological study with an open mind and a spirit of enquiry. After all, what is education FOR?
Nosborne

 

As the holder of three RA degrees, it is not my policy to promote unaccredited programs in general. There are some substantive unaccredited schools, e.g., Bob Jones, Pensacola, and a few others, however, I have the same concerns as Barry regarding Christian degree mills. And like Barry, I too was misled by one early on--but later, when I found out the issues involved, sent the degree (Th.B. diploma) back to the president of the school, and earned a RA degree in its place.

All the issues which are highlighted in Barry's post, e.g., ethics in advertising, ethics in claiming a degree which does not meet given standards (RA or its foreign equivalent), etc., are also issues which deeply disturb me.

Again, the purpose of my original post was to state that from looking at Bethany's newest catalogue, it appears that the quality of the program has been strengthened over the past several years. This was not intended to imply that Bethany is now equivalent to a RA school--I don't believe it is! Only that after looking at a Bethany catalogue several years ago, and then last week, it APPEARED that the programs had been strengthened in terms of requirements.

Russell

 

For the record, I never felt that Russell was promoting this program. I hope that I made that clear. I sincerely appreciate his observation.

Barry Foster

 

Good work, Russell; also worth mentioning is that Bethany's undergraduate programs seem to be AABC-accredited, which is significant.

My only serious problem with Bethany, at this point, is that their Ph.D. in religious studies with emphasis in Bible does not seem to have a biblical languages requirement, which strikes me as problematic, to say the least. For this reason, I'd have reservations about Bethany's Ph.D. programs. Likewise, if their M.Div. does not include a biblical languages requirement, it would not fulfill the ordination requirements of most denominations that require an M.Div. for ordination (though it probably would meet the needs of working Independent Baptist ministers who would like to earn an M.Div. on the side).


Peace,

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Tom Head
www.tomhead.net

 

USDLA is a fine organization -- and anyone who pays the fee will be "granted" membership. See http://www.usdla.org/12_member_info.htm

State licensure by itself is meaningless. Alabama has also licensed Barrington "University" among others.


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Kristin Evenson Hirst
DistanceLearn.About.com

 

Hi Tom,

I poked around, but failed to find any reference to AABC accreditation. Could you point to this?

Thanks!
Barry Foster

 

Tom's post stated that Bethany's undergrad programs "seemed" to have AABC accreditation. The catalogue, from what I read, makes no claim to this end. Actually, I didn't find where Bethany makes any claim of accreditation, which is a plus. Personally, I commend Bethany for not seeking accreditation from one of the premier groups like (should I say it) ACI, in Beebe, AK, or the group in Rocky Mount, NC.

Russell

 

Folks:

Bethany Bible College and Theological Seminary is not AABC-accredited. I goofed, confusing it with the AABC-accredited Bethany Bible College in Canada.

Sorry. But I do need to do this sort of thing from time to time, I suppose, to remind myself and others that I'm not perfect.


Peace,

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Tom Head
www.tomhead.net

 

Hey, gang! My thoughts ran back to this discussion recently when I read the following in the University of South Africa's 2001 Postgraduate Prospectus:

"There is no compulsory language requirement for students enrolling for the DTh in Old Testament, New Testament or Biblical Studies. Relevant ancient languages (such as Classical Hebrew or Greek) are, however, strongly recommended. Depending on the field of research, a promoter may expect a student to acquire the necessary competency in a language (or languages), or to enroll formally for one or more of these ancient languages."

I must say that I was quite blown away when I first read this. I think it is safe to say that UNISA still holds the distinction as being the most widely recognized and respected distance learning theological faculty anywhere in the world. Imagine, a faculty of its stature now making it possible to earn a doctorate in NT or OT without mastery of the relevant languages. A bit troubling to me, I must admit. This is a bit like offering a PhD in 18th century French culture and literature without necessarily requiring the candidate to possess a knowledge of the French language. That would be unthinkable.

Interesting, though, that what can be said of Bethany can also be said of one of the most widely-respected DL institutions in the world.

 

This is a little disconcerting. I can only hope that the theology faculty is more strict than the person who wrote the prospectus.


Peace,

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Tom Head
www.tomhead.net

 

I find this discussion of Bethany as insignificant as usual, especially since we're talking about a mickey-mouse school that has no significance in the legitimate D/L world.

Regarding their accreditation, may I remind everyone that, just a few years ago, Bethany was claiming accreditation by the "American Educational Accrediting Association of Christian Schools" (which, coincidentally, was headquartered at the same address as - you guessed it, Bethany itself) and the so-called "Southeast Accrediting Association of Christian Schools, Colleges, and Seminaries, Inc."

I find it rather humorous that Bethany claims, on its current "creditable [sic] recognition" web page, that it "is listed in the Walston's Guide to Earning Religious Degrees Non-Traditionally (Second Edition)." Especially since Rick Walston holds, among his other luminary credentials, a doctorate from - golly, campers, you guessed it again, Bethany. Except that Rick somehow avoids listing his Bethany doctorate anywhere. Go figure . . .

The bottom line, however, is that by devoting so much attention to Bethany, the minions here (or, for any fellow Jews present, the minyan here) manage to make a mountain out of a molehill (just like y'all did with MIGS). Bethany couldn't buy better publicity at any price, regardless of how much a joke they may be. My ol' buddy H.D. Shuemake (the old-time Baptist cancellor of Bethany, with whom I enjoyed a hysterical round of correspondence a few years ago) must be ROTFLHAO.

 

Especially since the 4th edition is out...

At any rate, this is hardly a prestige point--Walston's Guide makes no bones about listing unaccredited schools, and clearly separates the accredited from the unaccredited.


Peace,

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Tom Head
www.tomhead.net