![]() It would be similar to doing the same work to earn credit for one course titled "Nineteenth Century American History" and another course titled "American History 1800-1900." Cute, but no cigar.) Walston is a former educational consultant and served for eight years as an Assemblies of God pastor, and much of his faculty appears to be evangelical in orientation. (This practice is universally frowned upon. For example, Norman Geisler's book "Christian Apologetics" is used as the text for two separate four-credit courses titled "Philosophical Apologetics" and "The Apologetics of Geisler," which means that a student could earn eight credits for reading one book. Additionally, the catalog indicates a heavy potential for "double dipping," that is, using the same work to earn credit in more than one course. No Faraston course is worth less than four semester hours, yet several of their recommended texts are even shorter than these. A course titled "Apologetics II," which carries an additional four semester hours credit, uses Henry Morris' "Many Infallible Proofs," which is 381 pages long. Faraston offers a four-semester course titled "Apologetics I" for which the suggested text is Paul Little's well-known book "Know Why You Believe," a 150-page pocket-size paperback. For example, three- semester hour independent study courses at the graduate level generally require as much as 1,500 pages of reading. However, Faraston is granting far more credit than is normally given for graduate courses that require minimal work. Their course descriptions include a list of "suggested textbooks" used, and most of these are credible. Unfortunately, you also get what you pay for - also far less than at accredited schools. Their tuition for each thirty-two semester hours is far less than at accredited schools. On the down side, many on the seminary's faculty hold their credentials from other unaccredited schools. Faraston's catalog is open about the nature of accreditation, and the school includes a summary of the ramifications of enrolling in a school accredited by a bogus association. Josh Walston, the president of Faraston, freely admits that the seminary is not accredited and that it operates under a "religious exempt status" in Washington. I, for one, wish that more uniformity did exist among the several levels of theological degrees wherever such qualifications are awarded. The issues raised here are that the disparity between requisites for theological degrees is great even confining the sample to the USA, and that opinions may vary as to the excellence of individual, or the equality between various, programs. Oh boy, I'd make a 'killing.'īut perhaps the Bethany rigor is actually 1 1/2 times that of its RA sister institutions and so it makes up by much difficulty and sweat what is much lacking in duration and substance in this particular degree? (To be fair,the Bethany catalogue requires more hours for the PhD though the 20, 000 word dissertation and no language requirements apply even to that doctorate.) So one then could acquire a doctorate in theological studies from this school so praised by Walston through an investment of 96 hours!ĭr Walston is, of course, entitled to his opinion, and perhaps I'm overlooking a money making opportunity here! I should station myself in front of one of those seminaries which demand 120 units just for its "master of theological studies", replete with Hebrew and Greek, and hawk on commission to those weary students who drag their feet out of Hebrew exegesis class and shuffle on to 'Ante Nicene Christology' class, the Bethany program which requires a mere 96 hours, no languages, and a term paper length dissertation for the *entire* doctorate. ![]() No languages required.not even Hebrew or Greek. The last degree requires a thesis of at least 20,000 words. Then one does the Doctor of Theological Studies which is another 32 hours. Then one does the Master of Theological Studies which is another 32 hours. First, one completes the Bachelor of Divinity by doing 32 semester hours (past a BA). Here the "Seminary Division" description of the "Doctor of Theological Studies" program is outlined in three steps. On p 106 Walston describes Bethany as a "good school." He says people he knows testify that the "programs carry a heavy workload." Walston says "no easy degrees here." The following is not a general criticism of Bethany but is focused on one of its offerings.Īs I have never taken a course at Bethany I can but evaluate one of its doctoral programs by the description on pages 35 and 36. I think Walston here speaks a bit too generously. ![]() These observations are based on Walston's Guide to Christian Distance Learning (1999) and my copy of the Bethany Catalogue (1999-2000).
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