After reading several of the Creation-Evolution threads here, I thought would ask this question. Has anybody ever came across the science textbook put out by Bob Jones University for Chrisitain Education?
I was in a Christian bookstore recently and notice them and pick them up to see what kind of science is being taught in Christian schools. The high school level textbook mainly deals with basic chemistry (periodic table, compounds) and physics and some biology. The biology section was very weak. Mainly was just human and animal anatomy plus classification of organisms. And lab experiments dissecting frogs?
The part to me that was weak is there was no discussion at all that I noticed on the fossil record, geology, or any extinct organisms (dinosaurs or mammoths). It was just left it out.
At the beginning there a general discussion about the holes in evolution such as their understanding the law of thermodyanmics and how the whole theory conflicts with a literal interpretation of Genesis 1 and 2. Also there was a weird discussion how the origin of the moon. Basically they stated the theory of capture sounded ridiculous. They tried to make a joke about the theory sounded to much like an adventure story about a pirate capturing another ship. That was the analogy they used. I guess they were trying to be funny.
Sorry for the rambling. Just wanted to share that with y’all.
Comments?
It sound to me like they dont wanna let people think for themselves because it would threaten thier belief system. A belief system based on ignorance (omision of facts) is a system that i wouldn’t want to be a part of.
I don’t think it can get too deep into anti-evolutionist creationsism and still be an accredited science text. I don’t think they can put factually incorrect information into a science curriculum, so they just try to avoid the topic all together or just raise the point that some people think that evolution conflicts with the Bible, or, prerhaps make a half-hearted attempt to portray evolution as more hypothetical than it really is or suggest that it still has unanswered questions (which it does).
I do wonder what classification scheme they are using. Since most attempts at classification involve classifying on the basis of relationships, such a scheme would be meaningless in a creationist context. All they could really do in order to maintain some sort of biblically-literal consistency is to group “like with like” on the basis of appearance. And, of course, they would have to come up with a meaningful definition of “kind”.
It basically means that the degrees given from an institution are recognized by some body–the state, perhaps, or maybe some group like say the American Chemical Society for chemistry majors. I’m a little shaky on the details myself, but I know that any employer with any sense won’t go hiring someone for a skill position if their degree is non-accredited.
Wow, I didn’t know Bob Jones U. was so out to lunch as to not even deserve accreditation. I’ve known some accreditors and it’s pretty hard to lose college accreditation unless 1) you’re bankrupt or broke, like what’s happening (sadly) to Morris Brown College, 2) you’re brand-new and still getting your act together or 3) your enrollment or full-time faculty level has dropped to the extent that you really can’t say you have a program.
Is there any non-credited “university” that gets even 1% of the attention or money as Bob Jones?
Well, er, the official name notwithstanding, it’s not like it’s a real “university”, not like Princeton or Harvard or the University of Illinois. It’s a liberal arts Bible college, is what it is. Everything is pretty much geared towards the professional Christian ministry. They specialize in training pastors and Christian Ed administrators and teachers who will teach in private Christian schools, not scientists.
The College of Arts and Sciences includes, on the “science” end, Biology, Computer Science, Chemistry, Physics, Electronics, Mathematics, Linguistics, Nursing, something called Family and Consumer Sciences (which is probably Home Ec), and something called General Science. Here are all the Biology courses they offer.
In other words, it’s just a basic overview. You don’t go to BJU to get a degree in genetics or biology. You go to BJU to get your teaching certificate, and then you get a job in a private Christian school. You don’t need to know how to teach evolution at the Decatur Christian Academy.
And no, BJU is not accredited. Here’s their statement defending it. Personally I find their reasoning specious–“God commands us to be in the world but not of the world, so we cannot allow a secular group to pass judgement on us.” Pah. There are plenty of other liberal arts Bible colleges out there who manage to live in the world and not be of the world and still have themselves accredited so their graduates aren’t S.O.L. in the job market.
So what it means is, if you get a B.A. from BJU, and then you want to get your master’s degree from the University of Illinois, the U of I will not recognize the fact that you already have a B.A., since it’s from a non-accredited school, and they will not allow you to enroll in their Masters program.
And you will have trouble finding jobs in the non-Fundie job market.
In Illinois, getting a job as a teacher or a school nurse in a public school requires a degree from an accredited institution. Which BJU isn’t.
Thanks DDG, to be sure, I didn’t think that they would be accredited-I just thought that an institute that is labeling itself as a “University” would at least be interested in teaching the truth and not subjecting their students to falsehoods. I mean when I think of University, I think of a place of knowledge, not one of deceit.
Oh well, I suppose I’m a little more jaded now…
On another note; My fiance’s cousin is going to some “Christian” college in Boston (the name escapes me currently). Should I be worried about her not getting a proper education?
If you can find out the name of the college, it’s easy enough to check its accreditation online. There are plenty of very good Christian universities (Notre Dame) but there are also some wacky “Bible colleges” (Oral Roberts, Pat Robertson’s Regent U.) which really are just fundie indoctrination camps with no real acdemic merit.
Baylor University (not associated with my medical school!) in Waco got into a bunch of doo-doo recently after having a go-round with the intelligent design people. IIRC, they wanted to open an ID center at the school, but after a bit of clamor, the administration came down against it and they ended up using the funding for something else. It upset a lot of people. Baylor is reknowned for being one of the more conservative Baptist schools around, and if they are getting into trouble for espousing ID, then I can imagine other less conservative schools stay right away. I know that their curriculum does include evolution.
A quick google check shows that Eastern Nazarene College is fully accredited. I tried digging around to find out about their science curriculum and I couldn’t find anything specific about evolution, but they offer some basic biology courses which seem to be taught by instructors with legitimate PHD’s.