Luder-Wycliffe Seminary Recruiting Pastoral Mentors

The most recent statistics reveal that most seminaries are ineffective for producing real ministry training. It is said that over 80% of today's pastors noted that seminary did very little to help with actual pastoral leadership responsibilities and everyday struggles.

Pastors are becoming increasingly frustrated and angry with seminaries. They require so much (Regional schools) by way of high cost of tuition, to being a burden to them and their family. Many have ended in divorce.

We here at Luder Wycliffe has taken notice of this (even though our tuition is low and we are 100% online) and are preparing to set up in time, district representatives that are experienced pastors as well to help with "hands on" ministry training. In other words, we will be separating "scholarship" from "real ministry."

IF YOU ARE AN EXPERIENCED PASTOR OF MORE THAN 10 YEARS IN THE FIELD AND ARE INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING IN THIS OUTREACH, PLEASE NOTIFY DR. NELSON at: (607) 754-0133 for an interview.

In both areas Christ will reign supreme! The great commission is our ONLY goal!

By Dr. Jack Nelson

The Best Seminaries in the U.S.?

When one thinks about the question of top rated seminaries, one of the first things that pops into the mind of a casual reader are that of the Ivy League schools such as Princeton, Oxford, Cambridge and others. These institutions are also rivaled by other so-called top notch schools that are highly praised by the world’s most sought after regionally accredited associations.

It is no more than common knowledge that such schools are the enemy of conservative biblical education. The Bible itself is no more considered God-breathed by these institutions than is a copy of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. Their stance toward biblical criticism goes far beyond mere questions of authorship and hermeneutics, it rather embraces the idea of historical fiction. The bible is not read as a book of redemption or a prime source of moral absolutes, but more as a provenience of estranged literary prose and storyline fables.

This is a primary reason why so many within the Church today make the claim that if one enters a liberal seminary today, his faith will be destroyed tomorrow. The sad fact is that even our more conservative seminaries which share the same liberal accreditation, are feeling the pressure of instituting the severe side of biblical criticism, which will in turn wreak havoc upon the lives and ministries of countless souls around the globe.

It has already been determined that multiple thousands of sitting pastors of several mainline denominations are now agnostics, but are afraid to come forward in fear of losing their position in the Church and society. This my friend is the product of the liberal side of regional accreditation and biblical criticism and the reason that I and others that run non-regional seminaries are concerned about the current state of affairs, because we care about the inerrant , infallible and unchangeable Word of God and the necessity of it being taught within the coursework of our schools.

When one seeks out a seminary, regional accreditation should not be a factor unless he chooses to work as a Military or a State endorsed Chaplain or for a liberal denomination that cares more about State approval than they do about biblical sovereignty and integrity. It is of my humble opinion that Church doctrine and biblical higher learning belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ and not the State, thereby accreditation should be overseen by a credible conservative Christian organization…period!

Seminary students are coming out not only with their faith and many times their marriage in shambles, but also their bank account broken with a huge debt to be paid off for years to come. This alone is unbiblical to say the least. The answer is simple…seek out a seminary where you can learn at home with a very reasonable tuition and still get a superior education. I truly believe that this the more godly route!

By Dr. Jack Nelson

Certificate Of Completion Non-Degree Program

Here's what's new at Luder Wycliffe:

Don't want or need a degree? No Problem!

We are now going to offer single courses with a certificate for completion. All courses are a one textbook course. The cost per course is $200.00 (Includes Certificate)

Some of the new courses will be as follows:

1. Pastoral Ministry

2. Life of Christ

3. Book of Romans

4. Book of Revelation

5. Book of Daniel

6. OT Survey

7. NT Survey

8. Intro to Christian Counseling

9. Intro to Apologetics

10. Intro to Biblical Studies

11. Systematic Theology

12. Intro to Eschatology

These are not yet listed on our website, but are available NOW! Contact Dr. Nelson for more information.

Luder Wycliffe Theological Seminary Provides Rigorous Education

Luder Wycliffe Theological Seminary uses online teaching methods which fosters critical thinking and produces superior course outcomes for the student.

Our students will readily attest that the work is not easy, but it yields solid results!

If you really want to learn and are tired of inferior online seminary course work, then come home to Luder Wycliffe!

"Train Hard...Serve Well"

By Dr. Jack Nelson

Luder Wycliffe Announces Fast Track Program by Testing!

Luder Wycliffe will be instituting an additional degree program for students with professional experience and or knowledge in Biblical Studies and Ministry.

This new program is called "Degree by Testing."

This type of study is good for one degree level only. In other words, if one successfully completes the testing for a Bachelor Degree, he can not take a degree by testing for the Masters level and so on.

This is a fast track course of study, but do not be deceived...it is a tough test, but of course you can prepare for it.

Doctor Of Eschatology Video

Luder-Wycliffe Video for D.Esc. from Dr. Jack Nelson, President on Vimeo.

The Superiority Of Theism Part 3: Unbelief's Defiance Of Common Sense

The Superiority Of Theism Part 3: Unbelief's Defiance Of Common Sense According to Geisler and Turek, a number of scientific discoveries come down on the side of the cosmological proof rather than the steady state hypothesis. To assist in remembering what these are, the authors have provided the acronym SURGE.

“S” stands for the Second Law of Thermodynamics. The Laws of Thermodynamics stipulate that, within the universe, there is only a finite amount of energy and that over time this energy is dissipated into disorder or entropy.

From this, both the scientist and the theologian must come to similar conclusions. If there is only a finite amount of energy in the universe, by definition there had to have been some kind of starting point or things would have already reached maximum entropy in ages past. Yet we find that we are still here.

This alone is enough to cause the Steady State house of cards to come crashing down. However, from the remainder of their acronym, Geisler and Turek provide the apologist with additional lines of scientific evidence attesting to a moment of creation.

The letter “U” stands for universal expansion. In 1920, Astronomer Edwin Hubble deduced from the red shift in light that the universe is expanding outward from one particular point.

Traditionally, those embracing the idea of God creating the universe have held the notion of the Big Bang at arm’s length. The concept must be handled with caution because if one is not careful one can end up with a less than Biblical cosmology where matter is as eternally existent as God and not dependent upon Him for its existence. However, the expansion of the universe is itself a confirmation of the laws of thermodynamics as it points to a definitive point of creation because, if the cosmos was infinitely old, the universe would have collapsed back on itself by now.

The “R” in SURGE stands for “radiation” from the Big Bang. Discovered in 1965 by Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, cosmic background radiation was left over from the moment of creation and has not yet dissipated (81).

Yet another aspect of the cosmic background radiation attesting to a deliberate intelligence at work in the universe is the concept of “galactic seeds”, which serve as the “G” in SURGE. According to the theory of cosmic background radiation, this energy signature would not be uniform across the backdrop of space but instead be scattered about in concentrated pockets.

Geisler and Turek write, “These temperature ripples enabled matter to congregate by gravitational attraction into galaxies (82).” These seeds themselves attest to deliberation, as Geisler and Turek further elaborate, “The ripples show that...the universe was precisely tweaked to cause just enough matter to congregate to allow galaxy formation but not enough to cause the universe to collapse back on itself (83)."

The "E" in SURGE stands for Einstein's Theory of General Relativity. According to Geisler and Turek, the theory posits a need for an absolute beginning for space, time and matter since these are interdependent with one not being able to exist without the others. It was because of the theory of relativity that scientists were able to discover the expanding universe, cosmic background radiation and galactic seeds (84).

Despite the marvels of nature, a number of those most familiar with its technicalities and implications continue on in their unbelief. For example, some such as Robert Atkins attempt to evade the matter of how matter came about. In his “Creation Revisited”, Atkins postulated origins derived from mathematical points swirling about in nothingness which Ravi Zacharias pointed out to him after a debate moderated by William F. Buckley were actually something (80).

Others such as Robert Jastrow admit, "Astronomers now find they have painted themselves into a corner because they have proved by their own methods that the world began abruptly in an act of creation...That there are what I or anyone would call supernatural forces at work is now, I think, a scientifically proven fact." Yet according to Geisler, these minds continue on in their agnosticism despite the evidence. Hence the name of Giesler's book “I Don't Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist”.

The theist might be ready to let his guard down to rest thinking a decisive victory has been scored in the apologetic encounter. However, the battle is far from over.

For while the cosmological argument brings the unbeliever into a more theistic orbit, it hardly brings him to the embrace of a creator that cares about His creation or even relates to it on a personal level. The reluctant theist might even attempt to save face by countering that, even if some force or entity we have come to refer to as God set the universe in motion, what we see around us including ourselves is the result of random chance and deterministic consequences spanning back millennia.

By Frederick Meekins

Bibliography: Norman Geisler and Frank Turek. “I Don't Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist.”

The Superiority Of Theism Part 1: Worldview Comparisons

Though things change dramatically as the years and centuries unfold with the average person enjoying luxuries now that even the bards of old couldn’t have devised for the Homeric pantheon, some of mankind's most basic aspirations and perplexities have remained constant throughout the course of history. Even though he said it dismissively in an attempt to assuage his own conscience, Pontius Pilate’s exclamation of “What is truth?” rings as true today as it did in the time of the Roman Empire.

In fact, confusion over it and related concepts can be found at the heart of many of the disputes and issues tearing at the fabric of the early twenty-first century world. In “I Don’t Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist”, Norman Geisler and Frank Turek analyze why it actually requires more effort to remain an unbeliever and provide a number of tools the Christian can utilize to defend the faith in hostile situations before skeptical audiences.

Often, Christianity is downplayed and its influence minimized by secularists in the broader culture through the claim that the system is not objective. From this conjecture, critics diverge into two branches.

Older Modernists will argue that their perspective, superficially free of any prior faith commitments and extolling science as the ultimate foundation for truth, is the only objective viewpoint. Postmodernists, having grown weary of maintaining such a facade, dump the illusion of objectivity all together by postulating that every perspective is merely a matter opinion with no viewpoint being any more universally authoritative than any other. In “I Don't Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist”, Norman Geisler and Frank Turek endeavor to show how Christianity is the best faith alternative for successfully balancing the tensions between the objective and the subjective.

Whether the detached skeptic --- often holding a tenured university chair --- wants to admit it or not, everyone (including himself) holds to some kind of religious position. In their analysis, Geisler and Turek classify religious worldviews into the three broad categories of Theism, Pantheism, and Atheism (23).

The authors define the first category of Theism as the belief that a personal God created the universe but that He is distinct from it. Examples of theistic belief systems include Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

The second worldview category is Pantheism, the idea that the universe as a mystical totality is God. To better understand this and the differences with Theism, Geisler and Turek provide the following example.

In Theism, God is analogous to an artist and the universe His distinct artistic work that is separate from Him but with which He interacts. In Pantheism, God is the painting. Major pantheist faiths include Hinduism, Buddhism, and the New Age movement.

The third worldview category is Atheism, which denies the existence of God and often a spiritual or immaterial component of reality all together. Under this category, Geisler and Turek have included Religious Humanism because --- even though differentiated from its secularist cousin in that it gives lip service to the existence of a power beyond the material realm --- Religious Humanism still looks to man rather than God as the final authority.

The Modernist and the Postmodernist have further skewered the discussion in their favor by creating barriers between the notions of belief and facts. Geisler and Turek write, “Despite its apparent persuasiveness, the claim that religion is simply a matter of faith is nothing more than a modern myth --- it’s just not true. While religion certainly requires faith, religion is not only about faith. Facts are also central to all religions because all religious worldviews --- including atheism --- make truth claims, and many of those truth claims can be evaluated through scientific and historical investigation (23).”

There is indeed a degree of correlation between what a person believes and the world beyond the self. One only needs to point out that insane asylums and mental wards are full of people who for various reasons and as a result of assorted circumstances have had their minds severed from reality. And though we as a society must exercise vigilance and even vociferously oppose those who would infringe upon the freedom and dignity of those whose outlooks run counter to prevailing perceptions but do not pose a definitive bodily harm to those around them, Christians should advocate for their worldview as the perspective that best harmonizes the inner and outer worlds.

By Frederick Meekins