The Christian Sentinel
January 2005 E-update
Investigation of Phony Degrees in
the Church is Continuing
(posted Jan. 1, 2005)
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2005 Christian Sentinel
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As revealed in the last E-update published in August, a scourge of phony degrees and suspect credentials are plaguing the church -- and some who practice apologetics are also involved in this practice. Although a few people took exception to the article, dozens of colleagues in ministry came forward providing information about other Christian leaders holding suspect credentials, especially doctorates, often without attending a day of class. Many of these so-called "doctors" are nationally-known Christian leaders who have never been involved in writing a guided report of original research usually known as a dissertation or thesis that almost all legitimate doctoral programs require. Other so-called "doctors" were using their honorary doctorates conferred on them by suspect institutions to imply earned degrees, which is a practice considered dishonest in academia and therefore it rarely done in the secular world. Other Christian leaders have sought out suspect institutions of higher education and have turned in books already written or works in progress as dissertations, which is also not considered honest. Dissertations are original guided research projects. The response to Dr. Alnor's report was encouraging with many declaring it was "long overdue." The Christian Sentinel will release more information on this subject in the future. The report did anger one prominent scholar, Dr. Norman Geisler a founder and president of Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, N.C. (USA). CONTINUED
FROM E-UPDATE:
The regional accrediting agencies are listed at the U.S. Department of Education's website at http://tinyurl.com/5ao2y. They include such agencies as the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, and others. Meanwhile TRACS, which stands for the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools, is an agency that has accredited 36 institutions, most of which are small Christian oriented institutions or Bible colleges. There are also a number of candidate institutions seeking TRACS accreditation. It is also possible to maintain a TRACS accreditation and regional accreditation. The most notable example was Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, located a short distance from the TRACS headquarters in Forest, Va. Further, those in a master's degree or doctoral program at a TRACS only institution hoping to someday teach at a major seminary or university may be in for a surprise to find their degree(s) would usually be unacceptable in academia, which is often driven by particular credentials. In other words, among the hiring provisions leading to a full-time tenure-track teaching position is usually a demand that graduate degrees come from regionally accredited institutions. Therefore when Geisler and others say that TRACS is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, it merely means that the government allows it to exist and recognizes it as an accrediting agency, but it is not a regional accrediting agency. This means that students attending an institution like SES should know whether their credits will be accepted for transfer elsewhere, and not just at other TRACS institutions. With this much said, it is not Alnor’s intention to demean SES or other TRACS only institutions or TRACS itself. Certainly TRACS accreditation does maintain standards (including academic standards) of its members. And certainly one can achieve a good education in an institution not regionally accredited. It is also true from consulting with a member of Geisler’s staff that the long range goal of SES and many other TRACS only institutions include regional accreditation. One cannot simply start a seminary/graduate school as Geisler has admirably done and expect it to be regionally accredited the next year. Therefore, SES and similar institutions might be a good choice for students seeking to learn more about the Bible and apologetics, as long as they know its limits. Finally, Christian Sentinel publisher Bill Alnor has said good things about Southern Evangelical Seminary in the past, even listing it as a good educational choice.* In conclusion, with all due respect to Dr. Geisler, The Christian Sentinel stands by its story and we call upon Geisler to apologize over exaggerating the accreditation significance of his institution. The Christian Sentinel also affirms much of the outstanding work Geisler has done over the years, and publisher Bill Alnor is a regular user of some of Geisler's books, including When Critics Ask and When Skeptics Ask. In addition, Alnor considers Geisler's talk on "The 'gods' of Relativism" delivered at a 2004 EMNR conference in New Orleans one of the finest treatments he ever heard on the subject. The tape is available for $5 at http://www.emnr.org/forms/2004tapes.htm. For more of Geisler's resources his website is http://www.normgeisler.com. _________________________ * Editor's Note: This, however, has been rescinded due to several factors, including Geisler's illogical support of Hank Hanegraaff and the Christian Research Institute, and the SES accreditation situation. See our report of the Wallwatchers issuing a donor alert against CRI as reported in our January 2005 E-update.
August 18, 2004 William Alnor Dear Bill, Please correct the errors in your presentation on Honorary Degrees. The following statements are false:
These statements are false and defamatory. Please correct them and apologize. TRACS is recognized by the Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. These are the only two groups which give approval to accrediting associations. No regional accrediting association has any higher recognition than this. In fact, all approved accrediting association, like TRACS, are listed in the ACE book (American Council on Education). If you will look online, you will see Southern Evangelical Seminary listed along with Harvard and all the other properly accredited institutions. Go to CHEA.org. First click on “Directories” and then “CHEA Participating and Recognized Organizations.” Go to “National Accrediting Organizations.” There you will see TRACS listed on the federally approved list. If you go back to the CHEA home page, click on “Link to Institutional Database.” Scroll to the bottom and click on “I Agree.” Scroll to the bottom of the next page, and type in Southern Evangelical Seminary. All schools approved by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation must go through the same rigorous examination. We have graduates who have been accepted at many nationally known universities and are working on their Ph.Ds. These include the University of Pittsburgh, St. Louis University, Marquette University, and others. So, contrary to your subjective opinion, the objective academic world does recognize our degrees and graduates and are finding them to be of the highest caliber professionally and academically. Sincerely serving,
Norman L. Geisler
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