A few more thoughts on the critcism against MBS

Thanks Eugene and Patrick for your posts. I hope MBS comes up with a response as well.

I think the point that MBS does not seek to have a D.Min or even M.Th programme is an important one to highlight. I suspect that MBS (The ED at least) has no intention of trying to compete with BCM or STM. In fact I think they are working closely with STM and BCM in partnership for the kingdom of God.

Why would Tan Geok Hock who studied both at MBS and the STM be asked to be a lecturer? I don't think MBS is concerned about petty things such as "losing face" that they cannot provide an M.Th programme and that their lecturer is a grad from STM. I have only spoken to Geok Hock briefly a couple of times over lunch (group) when he was a seminary student and one thing that amazed me about him was how he would travel to Klang (MBS) and then to Seremban (STM)to make sure he got the best lecturers for the subjects he wanted to study. He was not only certainly very intelligent based on the contents of his conversation, but he was also very humble. He seems to me like a very focused person and an excellent choice as a lecturer.:-)

I think too there is a big difference between focusing on training pastors who are biblically / theologically sound AND focusing on training pastors to be academic scholars. I suspect MBS (ED) is focusing on the former and STM is doing both the former and the latter. They certainly have the staff to attract capable students.

Of course it would be great to have pastors who are also academic scholars (and there are many whose books many of us have read and have been blessed by!) But not all of us are able or called to be such.

BTW, I think that the late Lee Hong Kwang (an MBS lecturer) was such a person. A gifted pastor and a scholar as well despite the fact that he had no interest / calling in writing academic papers. I remember that even after he had long since left MBS, I brought to his attention a recent article on OT poetry (that was hailed as ground breaking), he glanced at the title and the author and gave me off the cuff some background on the author, and another author who in his opinion had been an earlier developer of the thesis of the article ... and some reason why etc.

MA (OT) from TEDS but don't "play play" with him. He was a life long scholar.

Which brings me to my next thought. I think that while FORMAL academic qualifications are important, for the training of pastors, it should not be the primary factor. I remember (when I was doing my BTh) meeting a recent MTh (OT) grad from Dallas Theological seminary who was visiting MBS. I was struggling with my Basic Hebrew (a course run by Low Chai Hok on research language) and asked his help. He looked at what I was doing and sheepishly told me he could not help me as he had forgotten his Hebrew! Less than a year too!! And this was basic stuff.

I also took a course under a PhD (OT) holder who taught us word studies but only used the Strong's Concordance. I privately questioned him as to validity of his method especially since any first year seminary student knows that often a word in English could be a translation of a number of a number of different Greek or Hebrew words. Issues such as context and words need to be looked at. Yet, he could not see this as relevant, and did not think it necessary to even consider Strong's numbers much less G/K's for the class. For me, he was short changing the class. (And we know that while Strong's numbering system may be very helpful, in some areas, it is not accurate, so a simple tool like G/K numbers would be a better tool...., right?) :-)

I think therefore I was blessed to have taken my B.Th classes by Low Chai Hok despite him at the time not having either a formal MTh or PhD in OT rather than than under the better qualified graduates I mentioned (prestigious seminaries or not). No disrespect to medical doctors but I like this saying (as a means of illustration) - "Half the doctors graduated at the bottom half of their class."

But having said that, I hope MBS does not succumb to the temptation of being soft on academic performance. If a person wants a B.Th, then there should be no compromise on the academic qualifications needed to get a B.Th. If a person cannot meet the academic standards of a B.Th, he or she should not be given a B.Th. They should be encouraged to go for a BMin or settle for a Diploma level. It will only give MBS a bad reputation if graduates come out less than qualified. For me, a solid foundation in Bible and theology and the tools to become life long learners is essential.

I hope MBS makes clear how they select their lecturers and the kind of students they are looking for and put this issues to rest.