In another thread a question was raised regarding online M.Div program. Canadian Theological Seminary in Calgary has such a program One can obtain their degree by taking classes online.

In addition the seminary is acctedited through ACT which is the agency that accredits the seminaries we are familiar with Payne, Princeton, Harvard, ITC etc. Because it is accredited through ACT american students can receive grants and loans as if they were attending in the US. The seminary is Nazarene. The nazarene church has its roots in Methodism and is a member of the world council of Methodists.

I can not vouch for this seminary, I was impressed their professors. One other thing they do have a mandatory requirement that all students take one semester of Greek.

When I went to seminary at Princeton I did not have to take greek or hebrew because I was united methodist and they did not require a language requirement. Do check out and ask, since the AME church does not require greek for ordination can you be waived out of it. Of course you might want to take it and I do not want to discourage you. Here is the web address. Please cut and paste.

http://www.cbccts.sk.ca/exted/extedhome.xml

-- Anonymous, September 21, 2003

Answers

Oops! I apologize for the typo's above. My insulin just kicked in and before things were fuzzy. I hope you can figure out what I meant.

-- Anonymous, September 21, 2003

ATS is the accrediting agency you are refering to. It is not the only accrediting agency recognized by the Dept of Education and CHEA.

TRACS is the other accrediting agency that allows grants and loans. An MDiv without Greek is not a great option. Greek allows a pastor to perform exegesis on the Word of God and gain greater insight into the Author's intent.

There are software programs (LOGOS, Gramcord and Accord) than can do this also, but learning it for yourself is more rewarding.

Most of our modern translations are from Latin and can be misleading. Interpreting the Greek clarifies mistranslations and misconceptions.

-- Anonymous, September 22, 2003

Thank you for correcting me with ATS. No it is not the only accrediting agency and I was not implying that it was. But it is the one the Canadian Seminary uses. Greek is wonderful if you want to learn it but the reality is unless you are using Greek every day for several hours you do not retain it. There are so many wonderful commnetaries and bible dictionairies that a pastor can do great exegetical work without the Greek.

Most of my friends who were presbyterian and required to take Greek said that once they got into a pastorate they had forgotten the Greek and used english commentaries. Languages are always worth learning and I encourage that. I constantly work on my Latin because I am a Patristic scholar and an Egyptologist. So I applaud the learning of languages.

I wanted to present the facts to the person who asked about online seminaries. And there are many of us who received excellent education in Seminary, received our M.Div and are excellent preachers and ministers.

-- Anonymous, September 22, 2003

My Seminary required one year of Greek in addition to Greek exegesis plus two quarters of Hebrew and one quarter of Hebrew Exegesis. ALL were required for the MDiv. Although I don't really use it to the extent of that which I was taught because there are many wonderful commentaries, dictionaries and lexicons and I use a software program called Bible Works, I highly recommend an MDiv program similar to mine because it gave me an appreciation of the original languages and the tools necessary to objectively look at scripture for myself rather than relying so much on some else's interpretation. I do my own exegesis first then see what the other folks have to say.

-- Anonymous, September 23, 2003