Pacific International University ??

www.paciu.edu

Anyone had experience with this school?

 

I notice that like LBU, PIU says it is a member of the Association of Christian Colleges and Theological Schools. However, PIU identifies ACCTS as being in Louisiana; LBU says it is located in Centerville, Virginia. Wonder where ACCTS actually is?

 

PIU's founder, Dr. Clifford Wilson, is a legitimate scholar holding a Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina. He is a prolific author and the featured speaker on a nationally syndicated radio program in the U.S.

PIU originally started as a private religious school in Australia and later expanded operations to the U.S. In addition to granting degrees through its main campus in Missouri, PIU awards degrees through California Pacific School of Theology in Glendale, CA.

Interestingly, the Vice-President of this ACCTS accredited school is Dr. James O. Combs. Dr. Combs is the Provost of Louisiana Baptist Theological Seminary, which is also accredited by ACCTS. LBTS has had strong ties to another ACCTS accredited school, Tyndale Theological Seminary and Biblical Institute in Forth Worth, TX. LBTS and Tyndale offered a joint doctoral program in eschatological studies before the latter was heavily fined by the State of Texas. It's interesting to note that some folks who received doctorates from Tyndale before the school fell into trouble landed matching credentials from LBTS rather quickly.

 

Tyndale connection with Dallas T.S.?

Ed,

I noticed that Tyndale has numerous ThM/ThD graduates from Dallas as instructors. (Malcolm Couch, Thomas Ice, Robert Lightner, etc.).

Does Tyndale have a good relationship with Dallas? Are these part-time instructors from Dallas teaching at Tyndale, or have their ITS tapes been utilized to put them on the "faculty" list?

Many people have offered opinions on this forum regarding Tyndale, but you are (or were) next door to the school in question. Does the school have any credibility?

Dave

 

Dave,

There is no connection whatsoever between DTS and Tyndale. One former faculty member who is retired from DTS teaches frequently at Tyndale, because of his affinity for the school's hard line stance on dispensationalism. The only current DTS faculty member listed in the Tyndale catalog told me that he recorded one series of lectures that are being perpetually used. There's nothing wrong with that (so long as the material doesn't become too dated), but the fellow is hardly a faculty member at Tyndale. Obviously, students applying to Tyndale with the hopes of gaining wide exposure to this professor will be sorely disappointed.

As for the number of folks merely with credentials from DTS, I'm unsure of their individual situations. I do know, however, that a few of the more popular names listed in the Tyndale catalog are not what I would consider faculty members at the school. They are no more faculty members than the President of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Paige Patterson.

There is a small band of older DTS alumni that feels the need to primarily contend for secondary matters like the finer points of eschatology. They gravitate toward places like Tyndale, and similar schools like Chafer Theological Seminary. In fact, the latter school lists a few of the same faculty members in its catalog.

In the end, I'm disappointed with Tyndale's posturing of itself as the last bastion of truth. The felt need to form a new association as an alternative to the Evangelical Theological Society, create a new theological journal akin to JETS, etc., is a bit troublesome from my point of view. There's a lot of isolation and little dialog with the broader evangelical community.

Though I appreciate Tyndale's emphasis on the biblical languages, I think some of it is overstated. Courses I've seen do not cover as much material as that covered in a typical language course at DTS. Breaking the material into several smaller courses and then saying you offer more language training than anyone else is a bit misleading. [Incidentally, I know of another seminary that says it's the only school which now requires its students to take four years of Hebrew and Greek. I've examined the syllabi used at this school, and four years of either language spans the material covered in two years at DTS. This is why I take peoples' claims regarding the number of years they formally studied a language with a grain of salt.]

A few final tidbits: A couple years back Tyndale held a competition in which the student delivering the best sermon based on an exegesis of the Greek New Testament was awarded a scholarship (I don't know whether Tyndale made this an annual thing). Students from several seminaries were invited, including DTS. The New Testament department at DTS never distributed the invitation. Infer from that what you will. I also know that the Registrar's office at DTS will not take transfer credits from Tyndale. For example, if a student completed a certain number of language courses at Tyndale, he or she is free to take proficiency exams in an attempt to bypass required DTS courses. But anyone who passes such exams--whether proficiency was gained at another school or through self-study--is afforded the same luxury.

I could say more, but I'll reserve further comment for serious, private inquiries.

Best regards,

Ed

 

LBTS and Tyndale offered a joint doctoral program in eschatological studies before the latter was heavily fined by the State of Texas. It's interesting to note that some folks who received doctorates from Tyndale before the school fell into trouble landed matching credentials from LBTS rather quickly. [/B][/QUOTE]

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A cohort all doing doctorates in pretribulational, dispensational eschatology? I bet they glean that field well. I think it's kinda neato, in contast, to attend a school a little less narrow in focus or slightly more open in persuasion , rather than being told, "No Smedley, again, you cannot do your dissertation on the meaning of kephale!"

Just spoofin, Ed! Nice to "hear" your voice again!

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