Does anyone know anything about these two schools? 1) Central School of Religion. No internet presence that I could find, but seems to have been around for a very long time. Advertises in the UK Christian Handbook with a foundation date in the 1890s. 2) International Reform University (http://www.iru.edu/). This one puzzled me, because they list their thesis requirement for a doctorate as 350,000 - 500,000 words (see bottom of http://www.iru.edu/c_description5.html). That's 3 to 5 times the maximum length for a research-only PhD at most British universities. DrAW
International Reform University DrAW: Using the link provided in your posting, I accessed the site. They are unaccredited, formerly of California, and now in Missouri. They claim no accreditation (to their credit... at least they're not flying the three stooges flag of ACI)... "International Reform University was founded in 1973 and operated under the name of One Way Institute until 1975 at which time the institution became Saving Faith Bible Institute; in 1978 Saving Faith Bible Institute as part of a five year plan changed its name to the International Reform University and was issued it's own Charter as a part of Ecumenical Churches and The Central Orthodox Synod. In 1988 IRU moved to Missouri and on February 2, 1988 the Coordinating Board For Higher Education granted IRU's application to operate pursuant to provisions of Section 173.600 through 173.618, RSMO. October 19, 1989 the International Reform University incorporated as a Missouri not-for-profit corporation." Their religious background is puzzling... they are not part of the commonly recognized Eastern Orthodox churches... they claim to be reformed... but orthodox... sounds to be very politically-correct... "we're new church, and we're old church too"... Theologically I'm sure they are an interesting read in contrasts. With regard to their dissertation demands I would suggest that you consider the source before scratching your head too much. I suppose they could be serious... and they also could be publicly stretching their standards for the sake of saying "look at us!" BruceP
<snip>They claim no accreditation (to their credit...<snip> Well, actually they do: "IRU is accredited by The Central Orthodox Synod, all courses of studies are acceptable for application for Ordination, fulfillment of Continuing Education requirements and Graduate Studies requirements of The Central Orthodox Synod and all associated churches. IRU's credits are transferable to other institutions of higher education. All schools have their own guidelines and requirements and credits may not be fully transferable. A Degree from the International Reform University carries all the rights, honors and privilege which any legally awarded degree provides."
