New Seminary coming to NY

Redeemer Presbyterian Church and Reformed Theological Seminary are forming a seminary next year in New York City. The partnership "reflects the influence of Reformed theology on evangelical thinking, as well as the impact of megachurches on theological education," according to the Christian Century.

Muslim at Baptist Seminary

A Baptist seminary has its first Muslim student. Ghassan Nagagreh is part of the doctoral program of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Texas. The Religious News Service has an article about what's become a controversial topic here.

Fuller Seminary announces new President

Fuller Theological Seminary has a man at the helm. Mark Labberton takes over as president beginning July first. Richard Mouw is retiring from the position at the largest Evangelical Christian seminary in the world. Labberton graduated from Fuller’s Master of Divinity program and spent a quarter of a century pastoring in Presbyterian churches. Fuller is located in Pasadena, California,

Controversy follows Baptist theologian to North Texas

WFAA-TV reports on what's happened to the former head of Jerry Falwell's Liberty Baptist Seminary in Lynchburg, Virginia after his claims of having terrorist ties fell apart.

Seminary President's Claims Investigated

The Jerry Falwell founded Liberty University has launched a formal inquiry into claim as to whether the head of its seminary made up parts of his testimony about growing up as a Sunni Muslim before converting to Christianity. Ergun Caner, president of the Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary & Graduate School, is accused in blogs as fabricating parts of his background for speaking engagements. One blogger says Caner was not born in Turkey but Sweden and he's been in the US since the age of four.

Seminary Prof Resigns over Evolution Dispute

An Old Testament scholar was forced to resign from his position at Reformed Theological Seminary after endorsing evolution. Bruce K. Waltke was a professor at the Florida school until he posted a video on his blog. It's carried by the BioLogos Foundation, an organization promoting harmony between science and theology. Waltkes says he stands beside what he said on the video but also believes in "in the inerrancy of Scripture." Here's more on the story from USA Today.

Dead Sea Scroll Fragments

Some Dead Sea Scroll fragments have been put on display at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary it purchased from a private collector. The school isn't saying how much was paid but is negotiating for more ancient documents. The fragments include passages from the books of Exodus, Leviticus and Daniel. The only other schools with fragments are the University of Chicago and Azusa Pacific University in California, making Southwestern the only evangelical seminary in the nation to have fragments with biblical text.

Seminaries Merge

Chicago 's Moody Bible Institute and the Michigan Theological Seminary have merged to create the Moody Theological Seminary. The Plymouth Michigan campus opened less than 15 years ago has 176 enrolled students. The Moody Bible Institute operates Moody Radio and Moody Publishers.

A 1st for Rabbis

Alyssa Stanton became the African-American woman to be ordained as a rabbi by a mainstream Jewish seminary yesterday. The ceremony took place at the Cincinnati campus of Hebrew Union College. She will take leadership of an mostly synagogue in Greenville, North Carolina later this summer. Here's more on her background from a New York Times article.

Inmates Graduate Seminary

28 Mississippi inmates have just received bachelor's degrees in Christian ministry from the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. They took courses in theology, counseling and a full year of Greek. That’s the same as any student attending classes at the seminary. The school paid for the program.

Seminary Closes School

Sinking enrollment has lead to the closure of the School of Church Music and Worship at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. The 65-year-old program will merge with the School of Leadership and Church Ministry to form a new School of Church Ministries. The Louisville, Kentucky school has recently struggled financially. Administrators faced a budget shortfall of more than $3 million shortfall at the end of last year. Since then 35 administrative positions have been cut.

Johnson Lands at Midwestern

Jerry Johnson will become vice president of academic development at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City. He resigned as the president of Criswell College in Dallas last year because of disagreements with chancellor and First Baptist Dallas pastor Robert Jeffress along with the trustees.

Seminary Sues Former Employee

Dallas Theological Seminary going after one of its former employees. The school wants former CFO Rodney Bryant to pay back more than $165,000 – money the seminary says was embezzled. Bryant served as chief financial officer for eight years at the school until this past fall. Dallas accuses him of forging signatures of other employees and paying money directly to two companies that he runs. Bryant denies the charges. Here's the suit.

Baptist Leader: Birth Control Pills = Murder

Thomas White says taking birth control pills is "murder of a life" He made the comments at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth earlier this month. A video showing the Baptist leader making the remarks has been making the rounds on the Internet. White is a mentor for students at the seminary.

Bible College Being Forced to Move

Eminent domain is forcing a Bible college to move from its location in Louisville, Kentucky WHAS-TV explains.

Criswell Interim President Named

Lamar Cooper will be the interim president of Criswell College. The Dallas Bible school lost its president when Jerry Johnson decide to quit battling the pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, Robert Jeffress. First Baptist founded the school but Johnson accused Jeffress of trying to sell its assets in order to fund a church sanctuary. Jeffress has denied the charge. Cooper has been a professor of Hebrew and Old Testament studies and served as acting president in 2003.

Seminary President Resigns

The president of Criswell College has resigned. Jerry Johnson is leaving after recent brush ups with the First Baptist Church of Dallas, the church that founded the school. Johnson has accused First Baptist pastor Robert Jeffress of trying to gain control the school and sell off its assets in order to raise money for a new church sanctuary. Jeffress denies the allegations.

Criswell College vs 1st Baptist Dallas

Criswell College says the First Baptist Church of Dallas is trying to sell off part of the school to fund a new church building. First Baptist founded the college along with radio station KCBI. The Dallas Morning News reports Criswell President Jerry Johnson as saying First Baptist pastor Robert Jeffress is “trying to cannibalize Criswell College to fund his building program at the church, which will cost $170 to $240 million." Johnson claims there are plan to let Criswell be taken over by Fort Worth’s Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Jeffress denies there are any plans to sell the radio station or the college campus.

Controversial Professor Leaves Seminary

A theology professor is leaving Westminster Theological Seminary. Peter Enns was suspended from the Calvinist school this past March for the book he wrote about the Bible called Inspiration and Incarnation. The seminary, located in the Philadelphia suburb of Glenside, issued a statement saying a a deal had been reached with Ennes but no details were released. Emms has defended his views on his personal blog.

Professor Suspended

Westminster Theological Seminary has suspended a professor of Old Testament for the book he wrote about the Bible. Peter Enns was removed from his position at the Calvinist school, located in the Philadelphia suburb of Glenside, this past March. The seminary's leadership will give Enns a hearing next month. At issue is whether Enns violated an oath he took when he joined the faculty not to teach against the Westminster Confession of Faith which refers to God as the sole author of Holy Scripture. Enns' book, Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament, emphasized a human element in the Scriptures and dealt with apparent contradictions and inconsistencies in the Bible. Last year, the faculty voted 12-8 to keep him on staff. But the trustees of the school will make the final decision by the end of the year. Enns has launched a defense of his position in a personal blog.