Some things money can’t buy
by Steven C. Ibbotson
Special to CW

I want to revise the MasterCard commercial into an ad for Bible colleges.

- Gas for five people to Red Deer in two-door 1981 Pinto, $30
- Five tickets to a movie, $50
- Five cups of Tim Horton’s coffee for the trip home, $10
- Memories and friendships for life, priceless.

Okay, a little mushy. But stop and ask the question: are there really benefits to going to a Bible college-other than the warm, fuzzy "memories" and "friendships?" Let me suggest four benefits of attending Bible college you may not experience at other types of Christian post-secondary schools, whether they are Bible schools, university colleges or otherwise.

1) Contrary to some popular opinion, a Bible college offers an academically credible education. In fact, you might find the workload quite incredible (pardon the pun) if you expect Bible college homework to be a fill-in-the-blank Sunday school paper.

Many Canadian Bible colleges, especially those accredited with the Accrediting Association of Bible Colleges, are steadily gaining acceptance with the broader Canadian higher education community, being listed in provincial transfer guides or gaining formal transfer agreements with specific universities. Christian university colleges are not the only schools that allow you to transfer to other colleges and universities.

2) Bible college faculty are professionally respected and personally accessible to students. Faculty have appropriate academic credentials, earned degrees at recognized universities and attend and present at professional conferences.

Bible college faculty may not publish journal articles and books as extensively as university faculty, partly because they don’t face the "publish or perish" pressure, but even more so because they actually enjoy teaching.

They are real people that you can find in their offices-much more often than at a university. In fact, most enjoy visiting with students more than conducting research studies or reading four-inch thick books with multi-syllabic titles.

3) Bible colleges are colleges that have a major in Bible (funny how they got that name, eh?). A Christian university college normally requires two to three courses in the area of Bible/Theology within your program major. Bible colleges essentially require a double major: one in Bible/Theology, with a minimum of 10 courses in a four-year degree, and a second major in your chosen field of study.

University colleges offer excellent teaching in the liberal arts areas from a Christian perspective-and so do Bible college faculty. The bonus of a Bible college education is the specific focus on studying and learning God’s Word in addition to your other academic major.

4) A final benefit is deeper friendships. Everyone may not agree with me on this one, but consider. If you attend classes and participate in a drama, music or sports group with someone, you get to know them well, especially when you share a common faith. This can happen in a university college or Bible college setting.

Yet when you also worship and pray together in chapel, participate in Christian service assignments together and laugh and cry together in a dorm room, there is no way the bonds of friendship cannot be deeper when you share the most "sacred" moment.

Is there a place for Christian university colleges? Certainly! Is there a place for Bible colleges? You better believe it! Don’t be fooled into thinking you are "settling" if you go to Bible college. Because there are some things money can’t buy. A growing relationship with Jesus Christ and His Word is one of them.

Steven C. Ibbotson teaches in the Bible/Theology department at Prairie Bible College, Three Hills, AB.

http://www.christianweek.org/stories/vol17/no17/feature.html

November 11, 2003