Scores of Evangelical Bible colleges and institutes dot the American landscape. Some are accredited, and many are not; some have thousands of students, and others have a handful. While Evangelical Bible colleges are Fundamentalist in theology and practice, how much so varies greatly. (Please see Are Evangelicals Fundamentalists?) My partner and I attended an unaccredited Bible college in the 1970s. Academic quality varied from class to class, and teacher to teacher. Some classes were intellectually challenging, others were little more than over-glorified Sunday school classes.
What is the purpose of Evangelical Bible colleges? Most students come from Evangelical churches, so the goal is to reinforce the beliefs students were taught in their home churches. Colleges continue the indoctrination and conditioning that students experienced before college. The goal is reinforcement, not education. In fact, many students graduate from Bible colleges without ever learning doctrines and teachings contrary to those held by their home churches and colleges. For example, I was never taught anything about Calvinism, eschatological views other than dispensational premillennalism, Arminianism, or beliefs other than those held by Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) churches. The objective, then, is for students to believe and do the right things.
Sadly, Evangelical Bible colleges turn out woefully uneducated or under-educated students. Worse, these students think they know more than liberal preachers who have masters and PhD. degrees. They have been taught over and over that the Holy Spirit lives inside of them as their teacher and guide and that the Bible is the inerrant, infallible Word of God. What more does a preacher need? Here’s what I know: an Evangelical preacher with a two-year Bible institute or a three-year Bible college education is no match against a seminary-trained preacher.
Evangelical colleges often promote ignorance. By not teaching students all sides of an issue, they continue to indoctrinate and condition them. Students with different beliefs are marginalized or kicked out. Doctrinal purity is essential. Instead of teaching students how to think, they are taught what to think. I attended Midwestern Baptist College in Pontiac, Michigan. Senior men were ordained by nearby Emmanuel Baptist Church. Ordination prospects were required to affirm certain doctrinal beliefs. If a student was unable to do so out of differences of belief, they were not ordained. Remember, the grand objective is to reinforce beliefs.
This system turns out grievously ignorant preachers. Education is the cure for this ignorance, but non-Evangelical colleges are routinely criticized and demonized, so preachers rarely attend such schools. I am not suggesting that there’s no value in a Bible college education, but I am saying, for a preacher, it is not enough. Preachers need multiple years of training in Hebrew and Greek, along with exposure to as wide a spectrum of theology as possible.
Many Evangelical churches believe calling is all that matters. Lots of Evangelical churches are pastored by men without any formal training. No need, the thinking goes. All a God-called, Holy Spirit-filled man needs is a Bible. This leads to sorely ignorant preachers and church members.
Let me be clear, some Evangelical preachers value education. Some of them have legitimate, accredited degrees. However, just because a preacher says he has a master’s or doctorate doesn’t mean he has a quality, comprehensive education. Diploma mills are common. Many Evangelical preachers sporting doctorates actually have degrees “earned” from mills or mail-order schools. There’s no comparison between a doctorate from Harvard Divinity School and Pensacola Christian College. (Please see IFB Doctorates: Doctor, Doctor, Doctor, Everyone’s a Doctor.)
Did you attend an Evangelical Bible college? Please share your thoughts in the comment section.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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Mark Virkler, an Evangelical pastor and founder of Christian Leadership University — an unaccredited online institution, recently wrote an article for CHARISMA titled, Tell-Tales Signs You Have Bought Into ‘Satan’s Truth.’ Virkler, who sports a “Dr.” in front of his name, believes that the biggest problem facing Christians today is that they use wrong approaches for determining truth. I suspect the word “truth” means something different to Virkler from what it does me, but that aside, I totally agree with him about Christians using wrong tools and methodology for determining what is factual and true. Unfortunately, the recommendations I would make to Christians, Virkler rejects, believing they are the Satanic tools used to lead Christians astray.
Virkler begins his post by listing several approaches to truth that he has abandoned — supposedly for the “truth” he is going to reveal later. Virkler, at some point in his life, abandoned:
If dad said it was true, it was true.
If my teacher said it was true, it was true.
If my college professor said it was true, it was true.
If science said it was true, it was true.
If one or several double-blind studies said it was true, it was true.
If my doctor said it was true, it was true.
If my interpretation of the Bible said it was true, it was true.
If reason and logic said it was true, it was true
If my senses told me it was true, it was true.
According to Virkler, rationalism and humanism are methods Satan recommends to Christians as they search for “truth.” Virkler writes:
Figure it out yourself! Satan offered Eve his approach for discovering truth: You don’t really need these walks with God every day (in other words, you don’t need revelation knowledge or direct encounter with God), for “you can know” (see Gen. 3:5). That temptation has developed into two false philosophies for knowing:
“You” = Humanism: “Life centers in man’s human capacity”
“Know” = Rationalism: “Life centers in man’s reasoning capacity”
Following is an excerpt from John G. Lake’s article, The Power of the Name:
“In the beginning, man’s spirit was the dominant force in the world. When he sinned, his mind became dominant. Sin dethroned the spirit and crowned the intellect. But grace is restoring the spirit to its place of dominion. When man comes to realize this, he will live in the realm of the supernatural without effort.”
Rationalism and humanism are two false gods I worshipped and followed during the early years of my Christian life.
….
It was a tremendous battle to defeat these two false gods, as they were deeply entrenched in my life through my culture, my education, my natural disposition to be a thinker as well as my “Christian training” which taught me to work hard to keep God’s laws.
What, you might ask, does Virkler recommend in the place of humanism and rationalism? I am so glad you asked! Are you ready, boys and girls? Drum roll, please! Virkler recommends walking with God under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. That’s right. Just let God lead the way and “truth” will be yours! Imagine a college student buying into Virkler’s logic. No need to study, no need to prepare. Just pray and follow the Holy Spirit’s leadership when you take your finals. God will show you the way!
Virkler sums up his God-approved approach to truth this way:
The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, guides you into all truth (see John 14:17; 16:13).
So the Bible is clear: it is the Holy Spirit Who will guide us into all truth. It’s amazing how I had diminished the work of the indwelling, illuminating Holy Spirit and replaced His work with my mind, my theology, my brain and my understanding of Scriptures. I now set aside my false gods of humanism, rationalism and biblicism and honor what Jesus has said and modeled in Scripture. It is the Holy Spirit Who is continuing to reveal all truth to me. Everything the Holy Spirit reveals will be compatible with Scripture, even though it may not be detailed in Scripture.
Notice carefully what he says: the Holy Spirit … will guide us into all truth. Not some truth; not just Biblical truth; not just Christianity-related truth; no, he believes a mythical being who supposedly lives inside every Christian guides believers into A-L-L TRUTH — if they let her, anyway. Christians, then, don’t need reason or critical thinking skills. All they need is Jesus and his ghostly buddy, the horn player in the three-piece band, the Holy Spirit.
Virkler’s nonsensical (and dangerous) approach to truth (facts) is embraced by millions of American Evangelicals. Instead of using the brain the good Lord supposedly gave them to intellectually, rationally, critically, and skeptically study a matter, Christians just pray, maybe read God’s answer book, and trust that a non-existent poltergeist will lead them to all truth.
Virkler’s approach is more insidious and dangerous because he is running an online college (with his wife, daughter, and son) that purports to train adults for the ministry. Want to earn a doctorate in counseling? Here’s the course list:
COU202 Counseled by God
COU203 Cornerstones of Communication
COU301 Prayers That Heal the Heart
COU305 Parenting for Success
REN103 Communion With God
REN105 Father Heart of God
REN204 Naturally Supernatural
REN206 Increasing the Anointing
REN207 Healing Anointing
REN310 Wisdom Through Dream Interpretation
Does anyone think by taking these classes (and I assume all the undergraduate Bible courses) that a recently minted Doctor is prepared and qualified to counsel anyone more than a pet hamster? Of course not. In fact, I seriously doubt this training qualifies a person to counsel said hamster. Now, with all that Holy Ghost power at his disposal, I suppose he could try to raise old George, the hamster, from the dead. Now THAT would be entertaining!
According to Virkler, his educational approach differs from that of the “world.” Instead of teaching students knowledge, Christian Leadership University trains students to sense God and live in the Spirit. Students are expected to NOTindependently use their minds. Get your mouth off the floor. I am not exaggerating here:
We have a choice when we come to learning: We can eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, or we can eat from the tree of life. Both trees were present in the Garden of Eden. One was forbidden and one was allowed. We were forbidden to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil and encouraged to eat from the tree of life.
What is the tree of knowledge? What is the tree of life? May I suggest that the tree of knowledge is the independent use of our minds, where we try to figure out for ourselves what is good and what is evil. Even if we use the Holy Scriptures in our pursuit of this knowledge, we can still run amuck. The Pharisees did. Paul did. But then he learned that he needed the revelation of the Holy Spirit to help him interpret Scriptures
….
As I was perusing Christian Leadership University’s website, I came across a local connection on their faculty page, “Dr.” Karen King. King pastors New Beginnings Ministry in nearby Fayette, Ohio. King actually has a degree from Defiance College — a nearby accredited institution. All her post-graduate work and degrees, however, came from — you guessed it — Christian Leadership University (CLU). This is a common ploy by such institutions. Faculty members may have undergraduate degrees from accredited institutions, but their post-graduate degrees all come from CLU. Some CLU professors have done all of their post-high school work through Christian Leadership. Virkler has a bachelor’s degrees from Roberts Wesleyan College, but his two post-graduate degrees come from unaccredited Bible colleges.
Virkler will likely argue that human accreditation means nothing; that it falls under the humanistic, rationalistic approach Satan uses to deceive people. I would argue that CLU owes its students an education, one that teaches them critical thinking skills; one that values knowledge. Instead, students are taught to value supernatural revelation and God whispering in your ear. Is it any wonder that it is almost impossible to reach and reason with people who have been infected with this kind of thinking? Gnostic at its core, CLU teaches students that they possess an inside track with God; that the Holy Spirit will give them special knowledge and understanding, none of which the educated people of the world possess. Want to see what this baby looks like when its full grown? Take a look at Bethel Redding. No belief or practice is too extreme. When objectivity, rational thinking, skepticism, and critical thinking are deemed unimportant, why, anything is possible.
About Bruce Gerencser
Bruce Gerencser, 61, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 40 years. He and his wife have six grown children and twelve grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist. For more information about Bruce, please read the About page.
Bruce is a local photography business owner, operating Defiance County Photo out of his home. If you live in Northwest Ohio and would like to hire Bruce, please email him.
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