Five Indispensable Things I Learned in Bible College

I attended Columbia International University from 2005 until 2008 when I graduated. I selected the school because my youth pastor and many others from my church had attended there. I majored in Bible and Bible teaching.

Here are five gifts I received by going to Columbia International University.

1) Redemptive History / The Story of the Bible

The average church goer hears 40ish hours of Bible teaching each year, and they have no idea how it all fits together. I greof the w up in the church and kind of knew the story Bible, but it wasn't until Bible college that it all started to fit together. It's really very strange that we emphasize the Bible so much, but we spend so little time help people get the big picture.

If anything, my Bible college spent too much time on redemptive history. I had two survey courses, a class called redemptive history, and a class on how to teach redemptive history.  But given that evangelical churches as a whole seem to UNDER teach redemptive history, I'm all for Bible colleges trying to set that pattern right.

2) Hermeneutics / How to Interpret the Bible

This was probably the most practical course at Bible college. There world would have far fewer heretics and bad teaching if more people took this course.

Everyone doesn't need to take a college level hermeneutics course, but it would be nice if everyone had some basic skills.  I'm a little shocked at how ignorant some curriculum writers and Christian children's programing developers are when it comes to hermeneutics.

3) Fancy Theological Terms

I'm not a big fan elitism  but there is value in precise language.  In the past I was cynical about the need to learn phrases like supralapsarianism, kenotic theory of the hypostatic union, or euticianism. However, the purpose of learning these terms isn't to be an elitist, but to know how to speak intelligently about theology and our differences.  The value isn't in knowing a big term. The value is in thinking deeply about what we believe.

4) Streamlined Method For Writing Sermons

My major in college was Bible Teaching. The emphasis was on teaching the Bible in Christian schools. So to graduate I had to do nine weeks of student teaching at a Christian school. I had to write four lessons each week and teach five 50 minute classes each week. If I spent as much time on those lesson plans I spent on writing some of my sermons, I never would have slept.

Bible college gave me the skills to plan ahead, study the Bible, and write sermons much faster.

5) Unity Through Division

At Bible college you meet a lot of people with a lot of different ideas who are all on the same mission. Sometimes being unified means going in a different direction. In Acts 15, Paul and Barnabas split ways over a disagreement. The end result was that Mark was restored, Paul found Timothy, and the gospel was spread to more people.