Philosophy

We specialise in Distance Education because we recognise that not everyone who desires to attend a Bible College can do so.
We offer Recognised Studies, Accredited Studies, or Degree Studies through our ministry.

Our degrees are offered through Vision International University or the Texas University of Theology.

There are many legitimate reasons such as geographical location, family commitments, church or business responsibilities, financial constraints or even the entry requirements of certain colleges.

With the Internet Bible College, those issues are dealt with a single solution.

We recognise that every student is unique. Every ministry has its own distinct calling and issues. For this reason, we make it possible for students to tailor their study programme to meet the specific ministry or training needs or work with a curriculum as they prefer.  Working at their own pace from their own place.

While we admire and endorse the efforts of traditional Bible Colleges, we at the Internet Bible College are deeply committed to the concept of training people within the walls of their own local church, and environment, to the provision of excellent teaching material and study options for Christians everywhere.

Where better to equip people than in the very place where they serve Christ?

Who better to train them than the successful pastors who are daily engaged in fulfilling the principles of the gospel?

Indeed, we treat the entire local church environment as part of our campus activity: its worship, its witness, its fellowship; it’s teaching; its ministry – are all reckoned to be part of the training process of equipping men and women to serve Christ.

Our function is to add a theological, academic component that few churches can provide by themselves. Leaving the practical component of training up a ministry can be left in the hands of the local pastor and the ministry team.
The strength of a traditional college – the sequestering of people from ordinary life so that they can focus entirely upon their studies – is also its greatest weakness.

Students must spend three or four years within a social and cultural milieu that differs markedly from their local church. Often they emerge from such colleges richly taught in doctrine yet ill-equipped to step back into normal ministry.

The maelstrom of urban life and spiritual warfare is far removed from the cloistered halls of the college. Of course, some fine Bible colleges are closely attached to a large local church. Yet even there, the environment is removed a long way from what most students will experience when they go out into Christian service or ministry.

On the other hand, our seeming weakness – the lack of a full-time facility and the part-time nature of our program – is also our greatest strength.

Our students do not have to leave their homes or their employment; they remain in their churches; they train “on the job” they are taught by instructors, their own pastors, who are fully active in ministry; they are immediately able to relate what they learn to the spiritual battles that surge around them every day; they can immediately apply the healing balm of Christ to the hurting people they meet.

Underlying the way we present our materials and the kinds of assessment we employ, there is an educational philosophy based upon the following principles.

• Christian education must stand upon a strong theological foundation (cp. the injunctions and warnings about sound doctrine in 1 Timothy 1:10; 4:13; 2 Timothy 4:3; 2 Peter 2:1-3; Jeremiah 6:16; 1 Corinthians 3:10-13; etc.)
• Students must be brought to know God, not just to learn about him, and the curriculum must be consciously structured to achieve that excellent end.
• The goal must be not just to impart knowledge but also to teach principles of sound interpretation, showing people how to do their own research, apply truth to life, and use the available resource materials. The entire curriculum, not just a course on hermeneutics, should reflect those principles of learning. The Bible is a self-revelation of God, who discloses himself and his glory in scripture. We accept the divine inspiration of the Bible and its infallibility and authority in all that it actually affirms concerning God and our relationship with him.

Therefore, we are confident that sincere teaching of God’s Word, mixed with faith on the part of the hearers (Hebrews 4:2), is more than adequate to effect a life-change in those hearers and is strong enough to countermand all secular influences and an ungodly environment.
Since the glory of God is mirrored in scripture, that same glory must be reflected in all our printed materials and spoken lectures. We believe that God particularly reveals himself through the teaching and/or preaching of his word, especially in a Pentecostal/charismatic context (1 Corinthians 2:9-13); and note also the attitude of the apostles:

• they saw that salvation could be gained only by believing the scriptures (Ephesians 1:13; 1 Thessalonians 2:13)
• they recognised that the scriptures could be understood fully only by revelation (Luke 24:45; Ephesians 1:15 ff.)
• they believed that knowledge of God is the same as meeting God (Romans 1:19-21)
• their attitude is summed up in 2 Timothy 3:15-16.

All teaching must aim for an intelligent, believing response to the word of God, leading to a life of obedience to the will of God and of conformity to the character of Christ.
We practice “open-book” assessments and mostly multiple-choice exams, not primarily as a matter of practical necessity but because of their connection with the philosophy outlined above. The combination of “open-book” with multiple-choice achieves the double aim of obliging students to work through their textbooks several times and learning to think analytically and discern shades of doctrinal meaning.

Our concerned with the student’s comprehension of the material, not their memory or capacity to prepare for an assignment.

We depend upon the local church to provide “field” experience through the students’ active participation in the church’s worship, work, and witness. No other place is closer to the “front-line” of spiritual warfare than where the local church, in its proclamation of the evangel, is intermingled with society and combats the world’s rebellion against God.