Are online Bible
colleges the wave of the future? Some people seem to think so. According to
the
Northwestern Theological Seminary website:
Studies show that a Bible College or Seminary student can learn just as
much or more through home study or online education as they can through the
traditional, institutional, Bible College or Seminary setting. Online Bible
Colleges and Seminaries allow the student to set his or her own schedule
which allows for more efficiency and effectiveness in the use of study time.
The Bible College or Seminary of the future will probably require a major
portion of the course work to be performed online.
Recently I received an
email suggesting I take a look at "the most innovative, technologically
advanced Online Bible School," Faith Christian
University. The email came from the school's president, so I took it
with a bit of a grain of salt.
But I went and had a look, and was impressed. It's a good-looking site, easy
to navigate and packed with information. I can't comment on the actual
quality of the teaching, but the site - and in particular the online videos
- inspires confidence.
Another impressive website is that of the
Online Bible College,
which claims 18,000 students from more than 150 countries.
Type in "Online
Bible College" to Google, and you are met with over 100,000 links.
While the national average of those who begin an online class and finish
it is only 47%, Nazarene Bible college has a 94% completion rate average
over the past eight years.
Some colleges offer free - or very low-cost - tuition, viewing Bible
teaching as a ministry outreach. An interesting institution is
Antioch Internet Bible International,
which notes that most of its materials can be downloaded free from the
internet. Its focus is assisting churches in the developing world.
We also help churches to set up their own bible colleges, known as
extension campuses
These courses are meant to be taken in a local church or small group setting
under the supervision of a pastor or other mature Christian leader.
We enroll churches, not individuals. All marking and all awarding of
certificates is done in the local church using our curriculum.
