Visual of Several degrees including the Potchefstroom Doctoral Degree

Columbia Biblical Seminary is in Columbia, South Carolina (the capital city since the late 1700s). Naming a school after its host city is not unusual or conspiratorial.

 

I had the good fortune of spending a few weeks in West Germany (they were seperate back then) for REFORGER, and just in time for Oktoberfest too. The beer is without a doubt the best, but they have that annoying habit of serving it at room temperature unless you ask otherwise. I want it ice-cold and in a frosted mug!


Bruce

 

You might give me credit for having enough brains to understand that a school being named for its host city, named in the 1700s, is not "unusual or conspiratorial." You would be wiser to note: (1) that the person who brought up the fascinating example of Columbia Biblical Seminary as an off-the-cuff example did not give the fascinating information about its host city, and it's unreasonable to suggest that I should know (or care) about various trivia concerning obscure seminaries; (2) that I did not have my initial reaction to the naming or existence of Columbia Biblical Seminary but of "Columbia Seminary," which everything in this thread seems to suggest is junk or at least "non-wonderful" and which does not appear on the face of things to have a rationale for its naming, such as being located in an antique city named "Columbia."

 

I didn't know for sure where it was located, either. However, I found the fascinating facts about it in about one minute of google research...before posting about it.

 

You keep calling Rick's school "Columbia Seminary," but it's "Columbia Evangelical Seminary" (or at least was last I checked). Is there really a significant chance that (a) Columbia University has an evangelical divinity school, or (b) That anyone with a degree from Columbia University would only mention the name of the divinity school on his or her resume?

I don't know; I guess I just don't know what you're getting at. Since there are already several seminaries named Columbia, wouldn't it make more sense for Rick to pick something more likely to cause confusion, such as, say, Cambridge Seminary? And if you're concerned about Rick's motives in choosing the school name, why don't you just e-mail him and ask?


Cheers,

------------------
Tom Head
www.tomhead.net

co-author, Bears' Guide to the Best Education Degrees by Distance Learning (Ten Speed Press)
co-author, Get Your IT Degree and Get Ahead (Osborne/McGraw-Hill)

 

CES is located near the Columbia river. It is not unusual at all for companies or institutions to have Columbia in their name. Even in a school I doubt few would see it as a reference to Columbia University.

------------------
Best Regards,
Dave Hayden

 

I second this; just because I was curious, I did a search on the NCA site for regionally accredited schools named Columbia, and came up with four matches, including a "Columbia College" in Missouri and a "Columbia College in Chicago." A search on the MSA site turns up several other Columbia schools not named Columbia, including Columbia Union College, of the Adult Degree Program fame.

I wonder if Starrmustgo thinks these schools all picked the name "Columbia" in an attempt to mislead potential students, too... (Well, heck, he probably does think that about Columbia Union College; it's a Christian school.)


Cheers,

------------------
Tom Head
www.tomhead.net

co-author, Bears' Guide to the Best Education Degrees by Distance Learning (Ten Speed Press)
co-author, Get Your IT Degree and Get Ahead (Osborne/McGraw-Hill)

 

...not named Columbia University, that is.


Cheers,

------------------
Tom Head
www.tomhead.net

co-author, Bears' Guide to the Best Education Degrees by Distance Learning (Ten Speed Press)
co-author, Get Your IT Degree and Get Ahead (Osborne/McGraw-Hill)

 

Actually, in response to your earlier statement that "Having a school called 'Columbia Seminary' suggests a connection to Columbia University. Perhaps that's by design," my withholding of information regarding Columbia Biblical Seminary's location was not "off-the-cuff", but quite by design. You see, it illustrates well the point that, just as Tom Head suggested in an earlier post, we can't know what has motivated an institution to adopt the name "Columbia". When first you learned of Columbia Biblical Seminary, it sounded suspicious to you. However, when you were informed of its geographical location, its use of the name "Columbia" then became acceptable to you. Similarly, none of us is sure precisely why Walston has chosen "Columbia." Perhaps if we were informed of his rationale, we would find that decision quite acceptable, as well. Quite likely, we would discover that the adoption of the Columbia Evangelical Seminary name did not originate in any "unusual or conspiratorial" motivation.

 

The web site contains the explanation of the name which is indeed geographical. Columbia Evangelical Seminary sounds better than Faraston Seminary.
http://www.columbiaseminary.org/tenyears.htm

North

 

There you go. Well done, Watson! I guess that should settle matters for us, eh?

 

You see, it illustrates well the point that, just as Tom Head suggested in an earlier post, we can't know what has motivated an institution to adopt the name "Columbia".

[/B][/QUOTE]

I mean to say that we cannot know an institution's motivation without full and accurate information.

 

Absolutely, I agree with Tom Head that to "suddenly" discover that the school is unaccredited or that Dr. Walston has some unaccredited degrees (in addiion to two accredited doctorates) and then see consipracy in the name of a school is ridiculous.

The name is a good name but it could well have been named anything (eg Washington Seminary).

North

I mean to say that we cannot know an institution's motivation without full and accurate information.

[/B][/QUOTE]

 

You might note that I never had any intention of posting about Columbia Biblical Seminary, nor did I have any interest in doing so. In response to my entirely reasonable doubts about the naming of an entirely other institution other users of this site have raised the valid point that its naming may have some quite innocent explanation, and they have endeavored to look into that, in a spirit of disinterested inquiry.

Since my intention was simply to raise a passing doubt about the naming of a doubtful institution, it would not make any sense for me to research the naming of other institutions, or to contact the proprietor of of the institution initially discussed. I was simply raising a passing doubt. I'm well aware that there are a variety of schools and businesses that include the word "Columbia" in their name.

TomHead says I "keep calling Rick's school 'Columbia Seminary,' but it's 'Columbia Evangelical Seminary' (or at least was last I checked)." Since the schools Web site is called "columbiaseminary.org," I don't think that my referring to the school as "Columbia Seminary" is so heinous, and that's clearly a valid alternate name.

Regarding CLSeibel's statement that his "withholding of information regarding Columbia Biblical Seminary's location" was "quite by design," I find that humorous and difficult to believe. I don't think that it's usual or a good idea for people to post statements, research, or opinions in a manner designed to "entrap" or "ensnare" others. That doesn't sound appropriately impersonal and disinterested, and CLSeibel's initial message does not give any real indication that he is indulging in a fiendishly clever trap for the unwary.

I think we can all agree that I raised a doubt about the naming of an instution, other people said the name may indeed have a valid explanation, and anything more is overkill.

 

If you want the luxury of raising passing doubts about institutions without anyone examining them, then preface them like this:

Bald statement; don't research: <the statement>

 

So in another words: It was a completely groundless accusation, and you never had any intention of backing it up with facts?


Cheers,

------------------
Tom Head
www.tomhead.net

co-author, Bears' Guide to the Best Education Degrees by Distance Learning (Ten Speed Press)
co-author, Get Your IT Degree and Get Ahead (Osborne/McGraw-Hill)

 

[/QUOTE]If you want the luxury of raising passing doubts about institutions without anyone examining them, then preface them like this:

Bald statement; don't research: <the statement>[/B][/QUOTE]

I do want the luxury of raising passing doubts about institutions, and anyone who wants to examine them is welcome to do so. When a statement is a "bald statement," I think that will be pretty obvious, and I will credit others with having the intelligence to know when it is or is not worth researching.

But I think it would be courteous and professional for those people when they share their own thoughts or findings not to use snide phraseology like "Naming a school after its host city is not unusual or conspiratorial;" "I didn't know for sure where it was located, either. However, I found the fascinating facts about it in about one minute of google research...before posting about it;" and "If you want the luxury of raising passing doubts about institutions without anyone examining them, then preface them like this: Bald statement; don't research: <the statement>."

While I have inserted some snideness or sarcasm into my own comments, that is in response to my discovery of snideness or sarcasm in others' comments. Unlike other people on this board, I do not feel the need to upbraid people. As I understand it, these threads are supposed to be conversations, with an evenhanded give and take.

People have a right to raise issues which are passing doubts, and others have a right to examine them, but they should do so without attacking the people who raise passing doubts. Perhaps some people think that attacks are OK if they are not blatant, but are based rather on snideness and pomposity that denies that the other person could have a brain or anything worthwhile to say.

 

And what exactly was the "accusation"? I opened up my contribution to this thread by saying "Having a school called 'Columbia Seminary' suggests a connection to Columbia University. Perhaps that's by design." If you think that's an "accusation," I think you're wrong. I raised the possibility that the name might have been chosen to suggest a connection. Possibilities are not "accusations" that need to be "backed up" with "facts." And if I wanted to provide such "facts," what would constitute such "facts"? Am I supposed to provide documents from the proprietor stating "Yes, it is my intention to imply such a connection"?

People have provided a link to a page of the seminary's site that supposedly "explains" the name. The fact that such a page was created suggests that the proprietor knew some explanation had be made.

 

I think where feathers first began to be ruffled is this post, characterized by its rudeness and uninformed and pompous opinion about ATS accreditation:

Several have shown how uninformed the statement was. No one was upset about that error; it was the coupling of that statement with the pomposity and out-of-the-blue rudeness to North that ruffled feathers.

 

[/b][/QUOTE]
Several have shown how uninformed the statement was. No one was upset about that error; it was the coupling of that statement with the pomposity and out-of-the-blue rudeness to North that ruffled feathers.
[/B][/QUOTE]

You'll have to explain to me the "out-of-the-blue rudeness to North," because I don't see that I ever directed any rudeness, whether "out-of-the-blue" or otherwise, at this person. And I don't see that he's particularly addressed any messages to me.

While I don't claim to be well-informed about the world of seminariana, I doubt that there's much point to your referring to "how uninformed" my statement was. I say that I doubt there's much point because, (1) the exaggerated wording continues to constitute an attack on me personally, and (2) my opinion of the comicality of the notion of obscure seminaries or their accreditors enjoying "international respect" cannot be proven to be an "error." Whatever anyone may think, I'll continue to see them as comical, ludicrous, mediocre, etc.

Seminaries are not generally noted for their intellectual heft. Even the divinity schools at Yale and Harvard have been noted in newspaper articles in recent years to be in thrall to debased standards that would not pass muster in other schools at those famous universities. But, alas, my repeating what I've read in the New York Times and elsewhere is probably pompous, and you should definitely attack me personally for having and offering my opinions on this Web site, rather than pursuing collegial discussion.