What Makes a "GREAT" Christian School?

Dr. Bob,
Add, Born again christian profesors (Look what has happen to so many of our IFB and SBC schools and don't forget Yale, Harvard and Dartmouth just to name a few).
Subtract, that is for me anyway, I'm not sold out to limited atonement.

 

Bob,
I like the first seven.

 

I'd subtract part of the last line. I think a Bible College can be Biblically faithful without being pre-trib pre-mil. I'd add being financially responsible in stewardship of its resources, something many Bible Colleges are woeful at.

[ February 11, 2002: Message edited by: TomVols ]

 

I would add not being top-heavy with a president who micro-manages the whole place by inserting himself into every detail. The president needs to defend the faculty and give them latitude to teach their convictions and not just reflect the position of the president. A great college should be more known for its great faculty, than for the president.

 

Dr. Bob,

Is your assumption that Dr. Cedarholm's vision was always clear or did he have blind spots? I am all for MBBC sticking to Dr. Cedarholm's vision so long as it aligns with Scripture, but in areas where improvements can be made, I say let them be made. Fidelity to the Scriptures is the real issue, and I am confident that Dr. Cedarholm would have it that way--rather than a college in year 2002 trying to prop up things that Dr. C now knows are wrongheaded.

Furthermore, Dr. C. had not allowed faculty to teach a couple of views that differed from what he held to, even though it was his view that was the weakest Scripturally. I do not believe this contributes to a quality education on the part of the learners.

Also, I don't think that the degree of attachment to a founder correlates to the degree of sliding into "uncharted waters." The Scriptures are charted waters, and as long as MBBC stays faithful to the Scriptures, what Dr. C. believed is irrelevant. Very few current MBBC students ever met Dr. C., and even fewer were ever influenced by him. In fact, this next fall freshman class was 13 years old when Dr. C passed away, and they were BORN AFTER AQW took the helm at MBBC.
Expecting them to have some kind of "connection" to Dr. C. is unrealistic and unnecessary.

If MBBC is drifting into error, it is because they have lost a handle on the Scriptures, not because they lost track of Dr. Cedarholm.

Chick

 

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR> It is now, sadly, drifting from the shadow of Dr. C into uncharted waters. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Dr. Bob,

What exactly do you mean by that statement?

I have to completely agree with Chick on this one. Whenever a man is the "anchor" there are both pros and cons, but if a school stays faithful to the Word, the course will be true.

 

Is this not what you get when you get an evangelist for a president instead of an educator? Jaspers has never been confused with a theologian or a scholar of any sort. His distaste for Calvinism is well known. MBBC made a PR choice, not an academic one and I think it is costing them greatly. Until MBBC rights the ship, I won't encourage anyone to go there.

 

The slide Dr. Bob mentions, for the most part, occured under the previous administration. Dave Jaspers has not had a long enough tenure to put his mark on the school. He may, or may not, improve things. But, as with most Bible Colleges, it is not perfect, but it is way ahead of most. It is a far superior to BJU, HAC and PCC, just to mention a few.

 

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Thomas Cassidy:
BJU, HAC and PCC,<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

This is a strange combination. Talk about somethign that has nothing in common with the other two. Give me a break.

 

Thanks for the clarification I requested, Dr. Bob. I'm whole-heartedly on board theologically and philosophically with the viewpoint you advocate.

I had no contact with Maranatha or its graduates during the Cedarholm years. Was he really aligned against the KJVO crowd and in favor of Calvinistic theology more than the recent and current administrations?

 

I'm not sure there is such a thing as a "great" Bible college. I went to two. They were both terrible.

Most of them are good if you want their view of God and the Bible crammed down your throat. If you want a true college, or school, and a valid learning experience, go somewhere else.

Baptists are supposed to be known for "Priesthood of the Believer" and their willingness to accept dissent. Both colleges I attended accepted no dissent, and wanted to run your life for you. Both are considered among the "best" in the fundamentalist Baptist tradition. I wouldn't give you two cents for either of them put together. I went elsewhere and got a real education.

My experience at both of those schools caused me to abandon church for a long, long time and I am just now returning, though I am avoiding any kind of church that has anything to do with the kind of colleges I went to.

 

Dr. Bob, thanks for all your comments and clarifications. I feel your pain.



Chick

 

Keep in mind, Dr. Bob is sick. He has a multitude of ailments (not to mention the brain atrophy which comes to all of us with age). He reminds me of the old guy who had limburger cheese in his moustache and thought the whole world smelled.

Maranatha, like all schools (Baptist ones are no exception), has many good and strong points and a few weak ones. Take for instance my wife's Music Appreciation class is a real winner

Dr. Bob's original list was pretty complete though he got carried away at the end with some of his quirks.

The one thing I might add is the important of an emphasis upon ministry. Young people need to be taught to serve.

I Peter 2:11-17 -- "I beseech you...with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men...as the servants of God...."