Anabaptists and the Authority of Scripture

[Judas Maccabeus]

That sounds like a good approach, one which easily illustrates the vast difference in reliability of the Scriptures in comparison to other ancient texts that seem to never be questioned.

Yes, this was just Freshman level, and by far the majority of Freshmen were right out of HS (as was I). (I did not go to seminary. The only grad courses I took were all in Linguistics, Literacy, and Principles of Bible translation.) This school DID require a letter from the prospective student's pastor, but some may not have taken much time with that, just a sort of "rubber stamp" approach. There were also students that appeared to have been sent to Bible institute or college by their parents as a sort of last-ditch effort to straighten out their wayward son or daughter.

One thing I think that school got right is that they focused on teaching the students on how to study the Scriptures, rather than having individual courses for many different Bible books, like teaching WHAT to believe, rather than how to dig into the Scriptures yourself. The only Bible courses I ever had (for a BA Missiology degree) were OT & NT Survey courses, and that one Bible Study Methods course, which wasn't really ABOUT I John, but just using it to apply the different methods that were illustrated over the course of the semester.

My oldest daughter got her BA from Toccoa about 2007, and she her program mirrors what you are relating here. She also had a systematic theology course taught from Grudem's "Bible Doctrine". They heard about my, my pastor (Who chaired the DEXCOM, effectively a Bishop in our circles) and the District Superintendent's displeasure. They replied that no other textbook existed.

Her major was "Intercultural Studies." She now teaches ESOL.

I do not recall what text book was used for the Theology courses I took. There may not have been any. Theology I was taught by Dr. Daniel Goldberg, a Christian Jew. Theology II was taught by Dr. Richardson, who had been teaching there at St. Paul Bible College for decades. He would probably be considered one of the main Christian & Missionary Alliance theologians. I remember especially how he taught the different "end-times" theories so impartially that the students often tried to guess which one he ascribed to. No one could tell. (That is, by the way, a model for a good exegetical commentary, one that is especially useful in Bible translation work; one that avoids "taking sides" where the Scripture is not completely clear on its own.)

He had to be premillennial to teach Bible or Theology in a C&MA college. It is a prerequisite for the required denominal license. This, however, may not apply to Toccoa.

[Neto]

My oldest daughter got her BA from Toccoa about 2007, and she her program mirrors what you are relating here. She also had a systematic theology course taught from Grudem's "Bible Doctrine". They heard about my, my pastor (Who chaired the DEXCOM, effectively a Bishop in our circles) and the District Superintendent's displeasure. They replied that no other textbook existed.

Her major was "Intercultural Studies." She now teaches ESOL.

I do not recall what text book was used for the Theology courses I took. There may not have been any. Theology I was taught by Dr. Daniel Goldberg, a Christian Jew. Theology II was taught by Dr. Richardson, who had been teaching there at St. Paul Bible College for decades. He would probably be considered one of the main Christian & Missionary Alliance theologians. I remember especially how he taught the different "end-times" theories so impartially that the students often tried to guess which one he ascribed to. No one could tell. (That is, by the way, a model for a good exegetical commentary, one that is especially useful in Bible translation work; one that avoids "taking sides" where the Scripture is not completely clear on its own.)

He had to be premillennial to teach Bible or Theology in a C&MA college. It is a prerequisite for the required denominal license. This, however, may not apply to Toccoa.

Didn't know that. This was at St. Paul Bible College, St Bonifacius, MN. (I took the Theology II course my last semester, Fall of 1978.) I'm not sure it was officially a denomination then yet, but you may know. I did hear the argument that it was "just a missionary society", but it did look pretty much like a denomination to me. (I can only recall being in a C&MA church meeting once, & that was in Jamestown, NY. I mostly attended the Evangelical Free Church, starting at least when I was assigned to the pastor there for part of the Pastoral Methods course requirements.)

[Judas Maccabeus]

I do not recall what text book was used for the Theology courses I took. There may not have been any. Theology I was taught by Dr. Daniel Goldberg, a Christian Jew. Theology II was taught by Dr. Richardson, who had been teaching there at St. Paul Bible College for decades. He would probably be considered one of the main Christian & Missionary Alliance theologians. I remember especially how he taught the different "end-times" theories so impartially that the students often tried to guess which one he ascribed to. No one could tell. (That is, by the way, a model for a good exegetical commentary, one that is especially useful in Bible translation work; one that avoids "taking sides" where the Scripture is not completely clear on its own.)

He had to be premillennial to teach Bible or Theology in a C&MA college. It is a prerequisite for the required denominal license. This, however, may not apply to Toccoa.

Didn't know that. This was at St. Paul Bible College, St Bonifacius, MN. (I took the Theology II course my last semester, Fall of 1978.) I'm not sure it was officially a denomination then yet, but you may know. I did hear the argument that it was "just a missionary society", but it did look pretty much like a denomination to me. (I can only recall being in a C&MA church meeting once, & that was in Jamestown, NY. I mostly attended the Evangelical Free Church, starting at least when I was assigned to the pastor there for part of the Pastoral Methods course requirements.)

That goes back at least to the early 80s. St. Paul, now Crown College was a C&MA denominational college.

[Neto]

He had to be premillennial to teach Bible or Theology in a C&MA college. It is a prerequisite for the required denominal license. This, however, may not apply to Toccoa.

Didn't know that. This was at St. Paul Bible College, St Bonifacius, MN. (I took the Theology II course my last semester, Fall of 1978.) I'm not sure it was officially a denomination then yet, but you may know. I did hear the argument that it was "just a missionary society", but it did look pretty much like a denomination to me. (I can only recall being in a C&MA church meeting once, & that was in Jamestown, NY. I mostly attended the Evangelical Free Church, starting at least when I was assigned to the pastor there for part of the Pastoral Methods course requirements.)

That goes back at least to the early 80s. St. Paul, now Crown College was a C&MA denominational college.

Dr. Richardson was already rather old when I was there in the mid to late 70's. (I looked him up on-line, and I had his name wrong. It's Dr. Stanton Richardson, not 'Richards'.) I remember that he mentioned taking courses at St. Paul Bible Institute, in the 20's. I remember it because he told how he had to work 27 hours a week to pay his board, room, and tuition. It so happened that I was also working 27 hours a week at that time, and in my case, in the Fall of 1978, that did NOT cover a week's worth of my similar expenses. I whispered this to the girl who sat beside me in class, and she said that I should tell him. I didn't. Anyway, he had some sort of back problem that caused so much pain that the doctors had implanted some sort of nerve shock device, so when the pain got too bad, he could push a button and kill the nerve signal to the brain. (So he didn't feel the pain.) Anyway, he must have been in his upper 70's, or probably in his 80's. (I'm 69, so maybe "That's not so old." )

In my on-line search, I see that he wrote a theology book, which was probably our textbook - "Manual of Biblical Theology". I looked for an obituary listing, but couldn't find one.

[Judas Maccabeus]

Didn't know that. This was at St. Paul Bible College, St Bonifacius, MN. (I took the Theology II course my last semester, Fall of 1978.) I'm not sure it was officially a denomination then yet, but you may know. I did hear the argument that it was "just a missionary society", but it did look pretty much like a denomination to me. (I can only recall being in a C&MA church meeting once, & that was in Jamestown, NY. I mostly attended the Evangelical Free Church, starting at least when I was assigned to the pastor there for part of the Pastoral Methods course requirements.)

That goes back at least to the early 80s. St. Paul, now Crown College was a C&MA denominational college.

Dr. Richardson was already rather old when I was there in the mid to late 70's. (I looked him up on-line, and I had his name wrong. It's Dr. Stanton Richardson, not 'Richards'.) I remember that he mentioned taking courses at St. Paul Bible Institute, in the 20's. I remember it because he told how he had to work 27 hours a week to pay his board, room, and tuition. It so happened that I was also working 27 hours a week at that time, and in my case, in the Fall of 1978, that did NOT cover a week's worth of my similar expenses. I whispered this to the girl who sat beside me in class, and she said that I should tell him. I didn't. Anyway, he had some sort of back problem that caused so much pain that the doctors had implanted some sort of nerve shock device, so when the pain got too bad, he could push a button and kill the nerve signal to the brain. (So he didn't feel the pain.) Anyway, he must have been in his upper 70's, or probably in his 80's. (I'm 69, so maybe "That's not so old." )

In my on-line search, I see that he wrote a theology book, which was probably our textbook - "Manual of Biblical Theology". I looked for an obituary listing, but couldn't find one.

The St. Paul counterpart of "Outline Studies in Christian Doctrine" by George Pardington. He taught at Nyack. I had to study that one for licensing as a missionary candidate. That would have been early 90s. Some of those early Alliance guys were really impressive, and good examples.