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About Studying With AletheiaAccreditation And Certification Course OverviewThe Aletheia Bible College Biblical Studies diploma course consists of three semesters. Each unit should take you about 2 or 3 hours in total- that's including the reading and writing of the assesment material. There are a total of 172 units in the entire course. Naturally, some units will take less, some more. And as with any course of study, the amount of work you put in will be reflected in the quality of your diploma. There are four pass levels- distinction, honours, upper pass, and pass. The first semester provides a foundation which you will build upon in the later studies. There are 22 units in the first semester, all of which must be completed by the student. In the second and third semesters, the student has the opportunity to specialize in a missions or a pastoral track. The missions track is relevant if you're interested in witnessing / preaching work, or simply would like to get a wider knowledge of others' beliefs. The pastoral track is relevant to those interested in doing pastoral work, or who would just like to study and receive training in handling the many personal issues which we encounter in Christian life. The second and third semesters are comprised of 110 core units, 54 in semester 2 and 56 in semester 3. All these must be completed by the student. Additionally, there are 36 Mission track units and 39 pastoral track units spread out over the second and third semesters. Over the course of semesters 2 and 3, the pastoral track student must complete 30 units from the pastoral units and 10 units from the missions track. The mission track student must complete 30 units from the mission units and 10 units from the pastoral track. In addition, each student must complete all the core units for each semester. Students must complete each semester within 18 months of starting it. We adopt this approach because we wish to have students who are seriously committed to their work. We want to give you an education, we want to prepare you for real, exciting and meaningful service within the body of Christ. We're here to empower you. But any education or course of study worth anything must have a certain commitment from the student. If you're committed, you'll be delighted by the mutual degree of commitment of our tutors. Each group of units is examined by essays and other exercises- there are sample lessons on view HERE. In addition there are 'virtual' tutorials / seminars between the tutor and small groups of students. In the second and third semester, there is a large degree of specialization possible, depending whether the student wishes to focus upon missionary or pastoral work. If you produce the essays and participate in the tutorials, it's unlikely that you will 'fail' the course. But the quality of your diploma and your tutor's report is what are all important for deciding your suitability for future service. For those who sincerely love the Lord and want to sincerely study His word, we believe our course gives you the opportunity to touch the sky. A personal tutor is assigned, who will have regular personal communication [additional to tutorials] with the student by online audio if the student so desires (e.g. via MSN Chat, Skype, PalTalk). There are also online tutorials with other students where possible. There are also 'visiting speakers' who give online audio talks which may be of interest to students. Additionally, there's an 'online campus'- you can log in and see which tutors and other students are also online, and chat with them as you would on a traditional college campus. Most students would typically complete the diploma course within two to three years. It depends how much time you can spare; it's possible to complete in far less than a year if you are prepared to work full time at it. Entry QualificationsThe Biblical Studies Diploma course is open to anyone who has completed basic education. We ask an 'in principle' acceptance of the Apostles' Creed- see the Statement of Faith of Aletheia Bible College. However, the required skills of textual analysis, reasoning etc. would better suit somebody who has completed high school up to age 18. If you have any questions, please contact us. About Studying OnlineEach unit of the course consists of a lesson outline, which contains links to other parts of the Aletheia Bible College web site. In a ‘unit’ of teaching at a traditional university, you would be going to various lectures and taking notes on them. When you ‘go’ to the material in the units of our diploma course, it’s like going into the lecture room to hear the Lecturer. Students pay attention to every word that’s said, critically following the argument and making their own notes. The advantage of the online College is that those ‘lectures’ are as it were transcripted, and you can look back at them. And of course it rather reduces the need to take notes. Each unit should take you two hours, including the time spent writing the assessment work. Of course this will vary- and the quality of your diploma will likely reflect the time and effort you've put in. As explained elsewhere, there are four pass levels- distinction, honours, upper pass, and pass. Your assessments will be marked out of 10; for each completed unit you'll receive an aggregate mark, which factors in your performance in tutorials too. In a traditional university, the lecturer gives the lecture and often distributes a reading list- a set of articles and books which can be read to ‘fill out’ the picture. That’s why traditional university students may spend say 2 hours / day hearing lectures and the same again in the library reading the material on the reading lists. The external links we offer are like you going off to the library, reading list in hand. And you’re likely to skim read that material, focusing upon key ideas. Your assessment essays, like in any diploma course, will reflect not only the fact you ‘did the reading’ and attended the lectures; but that you’ve processed that information, reasoned with it and through it, and looked to push back the frontiers of research and to suggest new paradigms of approach. The online seminar contact you have with your tutor and other students, like the contact in university tutorials, will seek to develop this potential in you. That’s what the assessors are looking for. But we’re about the glory of God, transforming lives, not just breaking and extending paradigms as we sit in front of our computer screens. The new frontiers and paradigms you’re going to open up are to be shared with others in order to more deeply and powerfully transform their lives, in the same way as they have transformed your own. May this be our united prayer. Study Guide- Approach all your studies with prayer- prayer that you will rightly understand God's word, and apply it to your own life and character, and learn how to share that with others in ways that bring glory to God. - Read the whole outline for the semester, so you know the overall direction
things are taking - Then reread the unit outline, reading the linked material / lectures
in the order in which they are presented, taking notes, eg questions,
thoughts, references, and anything which might help you with the assessment - When quoting the thoughts of others, reference them in the same way as is done throughout the lectures. This means that if you come across something interesting in the extra reading, you don't just lift words from the writer as if they are your own. You quote them, reference them, and make your comment and use of them. Aletheia Bible College will not tolerate plagiarism- i.e. the presentation and use of others' words and research as if they are your own. As an example: If you read something by J.M. Bloggs about the immortal soul, you would reference it like this: "J.M. Bloggs(1) stated that "the phrase 'immortal soul' never occurs in the Bible, but it is a widely used phrase amongst many Christians". I think that given the evidence I've presented, this is actually incorrect, but Bloggs has a point in that...". Then at the end of your essay you would add as a footnote: Notes (1) J.M. Bloggs, The Immortal Soul (London: ABC Publishing, 1900) p. 63. The format of footnotes should be: Initials of the author; surname of the author; the name of the book in italics; then in brackets, the city where the book was published, a colon, then the name of the publisher, a comma, then the date of publication and close brackets; and then the page number. It's quite acceptable to reference a website- but give the full URL and name of the author. You would write: (1) J.M. Bloggs, and then give the URL in full. If you're quoting more than once from the same writer, it's usual to use the terms op cit and ibid. Op cit means 'as previously cited'; ibid means that you have just quoted the same writer and book in your preceding footnote. So an example would be: Notes (1) J.M. Bloggs, The Immortal Soul (London: ABC Publishing, 1900) p. 63. (2) Bloggs, ibid, p. 102. [You use ibid because you've quoted Bloggs in the preceding footnote] (3) A.B. Turner, Life Today (New York: XYZ, 1901) p. 60. (4) Bloggs, op cit, p. 99. [You use op cit because you've already referenced Bloggs, but not in the preceding footnote] It often happens that a person is the editor of a book in which there are chapters by different people. You should always reference the author first rather than the editor, in this format: (1) A.B.Turner, 'The soul in Ecclesiastes', in X.Y. Bloggs (ed.), The Soul: A Collection Of Essays (London: XYZ Publishing, 1901) p. 43. This references the writing of A.B. Turner, which appears as a chapter in a book edited by X.Y. Bloggs. Notice that the name of the chapter doesn't go in italics- it is put within quotation marks. In quoting from journals or magazines, the format goes like this: R.K. McIver, ‘One Hundred-Fold Yield’, New Testament Studies Vol. 40 No. 5 (1994) pp. 606-608. The name of the author comes first, then the name of the article within quotation marks but not in italics, and then the name of the journal in italics, followed by the Volume Number, then perhaps also the number of the magazine or the month of issue [e.g. January], and then the page numbers. Don't worry, you won't be marked down for slipping up here! But we want to help you adopt a professional approach to your study and research which fits in with the ethos of Aletheia Bible College. AssessmentAssessment is based upon these criteria: - theological integrity - Biblical accuracy - practical relevance - evidence of wider reading, thought and research - evidence of independent thought and personal spiritual application. Additionally, students are also expected to 'attend' live tutorials. Tutorials take the form of a pre-arranged discussion between the student, the tutor and perhaps other students. The tutorials are held online at a time convenient to all. They are conducted by audio where possible, and students are expected to have access to audio facilities or an online chat facility. Your performance in tutorials will be factored into your final grade. There will also be a tutor's report upon your development whilst studying with us, your strengths and weaknesses, and suitability for ministry. Each unit is marked out of 10. If you have complaints about your grading, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the College which will be examined and responded to. The detailed course content and more information is viewable here Accreditation And CertificationUntil a relatively few years ago, if you wanted to study the Bible deeply you went to a traditional university and did a three or four year full time, residential qualification in theology or Biblical studies. And you can still do that. And have more kudos than having studied and obtained an online qualification- although times and perceptions are rapidly changing. But people are looking far more at what a person knows, the skills they possess, and how they were trained- rather than where or through which medium they trained. If you wanted to go into ministry, as a missionary or pastor, then you went to the Bible college or seminary attached to your denomination. If you wanted to be a Catholic or Anglican priest, then you went to the appropriate seminary. If you wanted to be a Baptist missionary, then you went to a Baptist missionary training college. And if these are the specific things you want to do, then our course likely isn't for you. But the Christian world has changed remarkably in the last 20 years. Churches and denominations have come together. The move is now towards non-denominational churches and missions. To be frank about it, non or inter-denominational churches like "High Street Bible Church" and "Suburbia Christian Fellowship" are becoming the order of the day, whilst the traditional denominations are nearly everywhere in decline, or becoming themselves far less 'denominational'. The majority of pastors, missionaries and people "in ministry" in the new Christianity are people like you who've trained with a Bible College like our own. The opportunities and possibilities for well and appropriately trained enthusiastic people are huge. We sincerely believe, we even dare to say we know from much experience, that the training we're giving people is indeed high quality and what they need. When you graduate from us, you'll not only receive a nice embossed certificate, but more importantly you'll be able to legitimately embark upon practical Christian ministry if that's what you want. Of course there are many people who simply want to seriously study the Bible in depth, and we believe we're ideal for that too. But it's what you've learnt and how you've learnt it that's important. When a church or mission organization wants to use someone "in ministry", they're looking for them to have had some training, both practically and theologically. Most Bible colleges offer qualifications, like we do, which are not recognized by traditional universities. But this is not important to most churches. They want to see that you've completed a course, not that you're an ivory-tower academic; and especially, want to see how well you've completed it, what the course was about, and what your tutor's report on you is like. This is what's important. Due to the separation of church and state in many countries, the majority of online Bible colleges aren't accredited by the state anyway. Aletheia Bible College is based in Australia and is currently in process of receiving accreditation from various international agencies. Frequently Asked QuestionsHow long does it take to complete the course? This depends upon how much time you're able to spare. There are 172 units in total, and you should spend around 3 hours / unit, including doing the assessment work. Initially, you may find it takes more time than this. However, it will depend upon your existing familiarity with the Bible, your speed of reading and study etc. You can do the course in less than a year, but it can take up to three years if you go slowly.
There are a variety of assessment tasks, including essays, writing emails, and also tutorial discussions with your tutor online. You can view some sample lessons here- and take note of the kind of assessment tasks. How do students submit test papers to the college for assessment? You have an individual tutor, to whom you email your assessment work. Do I need to attend any classes? No How Much Does It Cost? The course is free. We suggest you make a donation to Carelinks Ministries, who are involved in spreading the Gospel and ministering to persecuted Christians world-wide. But that is not at all obligatory. We manage to do this because our tutors are genuinely committed to educating others in God's word and training them to go forth with that word into this world.
You can have a look at some sample lessons here. If you have finished basic High School education, you shouldn't have any major difficulties. Can I contact other students? Yes. See the online campus. Also, there are student testimonies here.
Help can be given by your personal tutor, with whom you'll be in regular contact by email.
No. You can buy some of the course books in hard copy if you wish, but this isn't vital. All material which you need will be available online. If you wish to buy the course books so you can read in hard copy, then you can do so here.
There are many links given in each unit to further online reading and
online resources. See too our Online
Bible Study Resources page. When do the courses start? Whenever you register! You'll be assigned a tutor immediately and be
able to start the first units. Are any previous qualifications required to enrol on the diploma course? No, although we expect you to have finished High School. You can contact us directly if you have any specific doubts about this. Can I enrol from anywhere in the world? Yes What happens if I have any further questions? You can contact us directly by email.
Or you can speak with us directly. You can call us in Australia between
09:00 a.m. and 5 p.m. Australian Eastern Standard Time [GMT + 11] on +61407787908,
or we can arrange to have an online chat with you via skype, paltalk,
MSN etc. You can also call our European representative on +3717464571
between 10:00 a.m. and 6 p.m. GMT Monday-Friday. |
