Maybe the old adage is untrue—there might be a truly free lunch somewhere. There is, after all, low-cost and free seminary-level instruction available now.

And we are not talking about the Rev. Elijah Smith's home Bible study course shipped directly to you from the reverend's Appalachian mountain ministry headquarters. No, the quality of education being offered from many online sources actually represents some the finest evangelical teaching available.

Or maybe you want to sit under the teaching of seminary professors such as J.I. Packer, Gordon Fee, Moisés Silva, Craig Blomberg or Douglas Moo but think it impossible because they do not all teach at the same seminary. (The scholars above actually represent four different seminaries.)

Then there are the challenges of relocating to attend seminary—and seeking new employment that would destabilize your household. The final, crushing blow may have come when your research indicated that it is common for seminary courses to cost $400 per credit hour.

But now, due to living in an interconnected world, plus the vision and generosity of some in the community of evangelical scholars, you can sit in your pajamas (if you like) and be taught systematic theology by Packer, biblical interpretation by Fee, the parables of Jesus by Blomberg, or Romans by Moo. And that does not exhaust the list of courses or scholars; in fact, that's just the beginning.

Ministry Today has located—and, in some cases, sampled teaching from—14 Web sites that offer full-length classes. All of them provide a high standard of graduate-level education.

One of the visionary leaders behind this trend is New Testament scholar Bill Mounce, who has written commentaries, produced textbooks and other reference material for Koine Greek, served as a translator for the English Standard Version (ESV), compiled a concordance for the ESV, and served as the general editor for the recently released Mounce's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. If that's not enough, Mounce is the preaching pastor at Shiloh Hills Fellowship in Spokane, Washington.

His big passion is Biblical Training, a Web site he launched to provide top-notch theological education for anyone with an Internet connection and a will to learn. Among the lectures Ministry Today sampled at Biblical Training were some by Douglas Stuart. Stuart is a professor of Old Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts. He has written commentaries on Ezekiel, Hosea-Jonah and, most recently, Exodus. He co-authored the best-selling How to Read the Bible for all Its Worth with Fee.

To have access to Stuart's 37-lecture Old Testament survey course for free is a bonanza. Stuart also teaches three of the 10 courses in Gordon-Conwell's Dimensions of the Faith program. One of the courses is "Studying the Bible for all Its Worth," following the 13-chapter design of his book written with Fee. Dimensions of the Faith courses are also free.

"I went out to get the best teachers there are," Mounce explains. "They are broadly evangelical. Not just a narrow segment, but a wide range—it didn't matter to me whether they were Calvinists or from the Wesleyan tradition. Some of them are near the end of their careers, so you are getting their best thinking."

A few years ago a seminary urged in its advertising, "Come study with the professors who write the books."

Mounce could very well say the same. Some of Biblical Training's professors and areas where they have published significant works are: George Guthrie (Hebrews), Danny Hays (hermeneutics), Thomas Schreiner (Romans), Robert Stein (Synoptic Gospels), Paul House (Old Testament theology), Frank Thielman (New Testament theology), the late Ron Nash (philosophy), Daniel Wallace (Greek), Bruce Ware (systematics) and, of course, Mounce himself.

He said that invariably the scholars have been not only compliant, but also eager when he has approached them with requests to use their recorded classes.

What motivates Mounce to provide such valuable material at no cost? Four things: his pastor's heart, the need to train the next generation, the changing face of education and the plight of those in Third World countries.

As a pastor, Mounce said the Lord arrested his attention on the matter of training leaders.

"I was speaking on training elders from 1 Timothy 5. I was smack in the middle of a sermon and I sensed the Lord say to me, 'Your elders are not trained. What are you going to do about it?'"

When he talks about training the next generation, he focuses on the fact that many will not be going to seminary, yet need to be schooled. The obvious conclusion is that delivery systems for theological education must be altered.

"The face of education is changing," Mounce said. "We have to find how to take the very best teachers and make their teaching available in a nontraditional setting."

A common strategy suggested is that church (or parachurch) groups have their students listen to the lectures, do any reading assigned (textbooks or study guides), then work through the material together in discussions.

Christian leaders in the Third World have a special place in Mounce's heart. Biblical Training has been receiving hits from dozens of countries, even desperately impoverished ones such as Sudan.

"My nephew was in another country [serving as a missionary] and he told me, 'Uncle Bill, these people have nothing. They don't even have money to ride the bus,'" he recounted.

It is precisely for this reason that Mounce wants to provide "a seminary in a box." For $100 per student, he says he can provide those in developing nations without Internet access an MP3 player, batteries, the lectures and study guides. The contents of the box would equip students with a core curriculum for essential theological studies.

For those with Internet access, taking advantage of the free education covered in this article is as simple as linking to the Web sites listed, navigating to the course you are interested in and listening. Some offer study notes and textbook recommendations, but not all.

Of the four free providers, only the Dimensions of Faith program offers a certificate of completion. It offers the certificate to students who have exercised the option to take short tests. The Web site notes that the certificate is not a degree and it is not transferable to a degree program.

The Regent (College) Radio program has less flexibility than the others because the programs are selected by the provider, and because only one lecture per day is played, you may have to wait a couple weeks for a new course if you are not interested in the current fare.

Among the providers who sell their courses, there are different media available. Courses can be offered on CD, DVD, MP3 and even cassette tape. Some of providers that sell courses also offer them for credit—in which case the cost goes up considerably.

The Institute of Theological Studies (ITS) is a noteworthy provider. Many seminaries such as Trinity Evangelical Divinity School use ITS materials within their programs. ITS lectures are not online; they are on cassette or CD.

Study guides are included and students are directed to the textbooks they should buy. There are also proctor packages available that contain tests.

Like Biblical Training, the ITS faculty is an "all-star" team drawn from diverse institutions, including professors such as Darrell Bock (Luke), John Stott (pastoral epistles), Bruce Waltke (Psalms) and interestingly, Bill Mounce (New Testament Greek).

Although it would be difficult to overstate the wealth of information that is offered by the course, what students do not get should also be noted. Students do not get to interact with the professors, there are no transcripts, credit or degrees, and, in most cases, tests are not offered.

Although some prospective students may be tempted to protest, "No one will recognize such education!" they may want to consider the possibility that those they minister to will recognize the value.

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Jon Rising, a frequent contributor to Ministry Today, lives in the Orlando, Florida, area.

 

This article appeared in the Nov/Dec 2006 issue.