At the request of a reporter, I was looking at Zoe University, formerly Zoe College, accredited by the dreadful Accrediting Commission International, and the very last school (alphabetically, that is) in my data base of 3000+. I found a September 12, 1999 story in the Florida Times-Union quoting Zoe president and founder Dr. Judy Fiorentino as saying that God had talked to her and said “in the end time, my people will have to have professional credentials.” The real story here, of course, is whether God will require regional accreditation.
The article John cites from the Times-Union is one of my favorites - and one of the few that quoted both of us. The article can be found here.
"Even more dangerous, pastors and Christian lay ministers with substandard degrees often cross over into the world of social work and mental health counseling. Without proper training, misguided advice can do harm, Levicoff said." Truer words were never spoken... Thanks for the link to a great article, Steve.
Let's get down to where the rubber meets the road: Does God require RA credentials? Does God give credit for life experience? Jack
A big problem here in Alabama.....an otherwise effective pastor can perfrom counseling without even understanding what the different modalities are.
Pro Cred "While West touts his school's degree-granting versatility as an asset, others find it scary." "'It's a fact of life that the Legislature, especially conservative legislators, think that this is an area the state should stay out of,' Knight said. 'And we are living in the Bible Belt.'" Thanks for the link Steve. I was feeling snug since I didn't think any of those schools existed in my area. Then I realized there is one in my town, not even AABC accredited. It's scary.
I guess it depends on who you/we are asking... God The people who are being ministered to, set free, delivered, fed, clothed, given a renewed hope at life... The people who are ministering... The people who will go where those with credentials will not... The people who teach/train the ministers... The people who profit one way or the other financially from who holds whose credentials... The people who compare whose credentials are bigger/better than the other persons... etc. IMHO that in the cases of the first 2, it does not matter. All the rest will forever be up for endless debate.
How do you think God views transfer students? And what level of credential is acceptable? BA? AA? MA? Pug
pugbelly: "How do you think God views transfer students?" John: Depends where they transfer from. Now if only there were a school in the real town of Hell, Michigan. The Diploma from Hell. The Professor from Hell. The transcript from Hell. Etc. (We drove there once, from Lansing, to mail Hallowe'en party invitations. As I recall, the gift shop had Snowballs (a pastry item), and bats, among much else. And yes, in winter I'm sure it does freeze over.)
I've been to Hell, Grand Caymen. I'm not sure if there is a school there though...but there is a post office that doubles as a gift shop! Pug
God requires professional credentials. But, as I have pointed out before, he doesn't mind you buying them. 1 Timothy 3:13 For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.
Wait a minute . . . there already is a university in Hell, Michigan. Damnation University, www.damu.com
reply The problem as I see it is when someone claims that they graduated with a degree from a non-accredited school. I am not saying that all non-accredited schools are bad, but without some type of national or regional accreditation, it makes it hard to distinguish whether or not it is from a good school. I had a chat with someone who had non-accredited degrees and was able to convince the person that such credentials only would hurt him in the long run. Even though, he did earn these legitimately, the problem is for them to be accepted universally. We had also discussed the issue of Ordination. He was not ordained, but we had talked about whether or not it is proper to be ordained through an Online source or Mail-order place. I guess it is legal, and under those conditions, even though, I would not personally be in agreement of this, that this would be a different matter. What are your feelings on people getting ordained through a mail-order ministry, or Online? It would be interesting hearing from those of you that have this type of Ordination. However, I still have my doubts about that!!!
Re: reply I personaly am an ordained minister thanks to the ULC. I did it for the heck of it. I have a friend who is also ordained through ULC. He is much more spirtual than I am and has married several couples. Everything he did was on the up and up and legal. Though I understand why some folks don't agree with ULC I don't have a problem with them making folks ordained ministers. You should really go and read their site if you haven't.
This would go perfectly with my BA in Adequacy from the International University of Nescience, which is a church school..... and which chuch would that be? Church of the Apathetic Agnostic
Virtual Church Personally, I'm very partial to the "Church of the Blind Chihuahua". I attend as often as possible. Church of the Blind Chihuahua
