Standing at this point in history, we can look back on many human institutions from previous generations and centuries. Some are mere ghosts: empires that have risen and fallen, cities that have been founded and razed, and entire schools of thought that have won and subsequently lost favor with the relevant elite. Some human institutions from the distant past are still with us today: consider the multitude of cultures and nations that have hundreds of years of history behind them, or cities that have been continually inhabited for millennia. The point is: there are plenty of human institutions.
Even narrowing down the type of institution to only educational establishments, we could count hundreds of ancient schools that still exist today. For example, between the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge, there have been more than seventeen centuries of combined academic training. A countless number of academic years have begun and ended in the history of education. This raises the question: given the existence of myriad institutions and of such schools, some of which are very distinguished—why start a new one? We believe that there are at least four reasons for having done so:
First, very few schools today are worth their salt. Now, speaking in terms of rigorous academics, there are in existence today some of the finest colleges and universities that the world has ever seen—that we freely grant. Biblically speaking, however, the story is different. It is difficult to find an institution where education does not occur in the context of naturalistic postmodernism or, at the very least, irrational and inconsistent antisupernaturalism. We believe that these things are toxic to truth and, so, to these things we are very much opposed.
Second, there are very few divinity schools worth their salt. Many of these institutions, though founded on godly principles, have strayed from biblical fidelity and have departed into the darkness of (so-called) critical thinking. Frankly, some of these schools have not merely departed, but have been hijacked (cf. Machen in Christianity and Liberalism). We can not send our church members to be ‘trained’ in such anti-Christian institutions.
Third, of the few agreeable, rigorous, Bible-teaching schools, none are in our area. We desire training with both depth and rigor, while maintaining close ties to the church and to our theological understanding. We are glad that other local churches have sought to provide formal training for their members and, though we differ on key matters of interpretation, we pray that God would bless their endeavors to the degree that they follow His Word. It would have been impossible to send all our students hundreds of miles away to receive rigorous training in line with our understanding of the Bible.
Fourth, there is great need for biblical training in our churches today. We do not intend to start a university, but a seminary. That is to say—our mathematics department is lacking, as is our school of accounting. Our art program is non-existent (literally). What is the reason for this? The reason is that we do not intend to train mathematicians or accountants or artists, though we believe they could benefit from our teaching as much as any other. We intend to raise men to lead churches, which means that they need training in theology, the languages, biblical counseling, and a host of other matters. We do not think that math, or accounting, or art is unimportant; in fact, we think that they are incredibly important, but that these things find their meaning only in light of who God is.
Therefore, we have begun Christ Seminary, where our desire is to train godly leaders locally, and in a manner that is God-honoring, Christ-centered, Word-directed, and church-based.
--Dean of Admissions
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