It is no accident that Tennessee Bible College has the word Bible in its name. We are and always have been a school that believes the Bible is the inspired and authoritative Word of God. We make no apologies for that stance and we have no intention of changing. Brother Malcolm Hill made that clear when he founded the school in 1975.
The winds of liberalism had been blowing from Europe to America for almost 200 years. Higher critics in the 1800s scrutinized the text of the Bible and attacked the idea of its inspiration. These so-called Bible scholars preached that Isaiah really didn’t write all the book of Isaiah. They said that the Bible has gone through numerous revisions by men they could not even name. According to them, the Bible could no longer be trusted. Seminaries and Bible colleges began to use the books of these theologians. Who were they to argue with the experts?
This modernistic view of the Bible was like an atomic bomb exploding on the landscape of religion in America. Preachers in different kinds of churches gradually gave in to the peer pressure of the schools in their denominations. They no longer cited the Bible as the authoritative Word of God. To make matters worse, the theory of evolution and the philosophy of agnosticism were making inroads into these institutions of supposed higher learning.
In the late 1800s and early 1900s some preachers warned that a storm was coming. A few generations later, Americans found themselves in a whirlwind of moral and religious change. Young people rebelled and gave themselves to sex and drugs. Time magazine posted the question “Is God Dead?” on its cover. Atheists proclaimed victory over God and the Bible. Meanwhile, Bible colleges and seminaries caved in to modern views of God and the Scriptures. “God” became whatever man wanted Him to be and the Bible was viewed as a mostly human production in some denominations. For members of the church, the battle was on and it continues to this day.
Brother Malcolm Hill founded TBC to defend Christianity against this onslaught of progressive thinking and to equip ministers of the gospel and others to build up the body of Christ. TBC was established on fundamental principles: we can know the truth, truth does not change, God exists, the Bible is the inspired Word of God, and Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Courses on these and other subjects were developed and continue to be taught to this day. In the beginning days of the school some Christians saw the word “apologetics” connected with the programs at TBC and wondered what this word had to do with Christian education. Some of us who took classes in the early days of the school had the same question. In time all of us have seen not only what the word means but also why it is so needed.
Preachers get an education somewhere, somehow, from someone. Even preachers who did not attend a school of some kind are taught by others. There are no purely “self-made” preachers. We all learn from books, other preachers, and other Christians in general. On the other hand, some preachers go to school to learn more about the Bible and their work in preaching. In the wake of the liberal movement, brother Hill saw the urgency of starting a school that would give practical training to preachers and teach them how to analyze and respond to anti-biblical arguments. This type of training is unique. Very few schools offer the kind of courses we offer here. Where else can you find graduate courses on Marxism, Islam and gender in light of the Scriptures? That is certainly no boast. It is too tragic to brag about it. Every other school should be just as alarmed as we are. Some are teaching these subjects, but many more are needed.
I certainly don’t want to paint the picture darker than it is by giving too much attention to the postmodern movement. We see encouraging signs every week at TBC. Members of the church are waking up to the reality of the liberal movement. They are becoming more concerned about their children and grandchildren. They are showing more interest in Christian education and more willingness to participate in it. In a real sense, the work and the battle have just begun.
I have been at Tennessee Bible College forty-four of the fifty years of its existence either as a student or as a teacher. I have seen times when the numbers, the spirit, and the finances were low and I have seen times when these things couldn’t have seemed better. As we celebrate its fiftieth anniversary, I can confidently say that I have never seen as many open doors as we have now. May God bless you for your prayers and help to continue to make this work possible.
-Kerry Duke, Vice-President of Tennessee Bible College
