- announcements
appear at the homepage
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- What You Should Know About ISBS
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- Name & Purpose
- Programs of Study
- History
- Online Learning
via ISBS
- A Word of Encouragement
About Online Learning
- Who Is Responsible
For ISBS?
- What Are The Guidlines
Of ISBS?
- What Courses Are
Offered Through ISBS?
- How Do I Apply?
- How Do I Enroll?
- Frequently Asked
Questions
- Please Tell Others
About ISBS
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- Our Name
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- Internet School of Biblical Studies
(abbreviated ISBS) - ISBS has but one purpose: teaching God's
word. Through teaching lost souls become Christians and Christians
become better preachers, teachers, elders, deacons or just better
Christians. The "Internet" part of our name tells you
how we engage in this training - online via the internet. Using
our URL TheBible.net/ISBS
anyone anywhere in the world with internet access can connect
to our site, apply, register for classes and study the word of
God to their heart's content. Note: We do not restrict enrollment
to Christians: anyone can take classes.
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- Our desire is to help carry out the command given by our
Lord to preach the gospel to all the world (Matthew 28:18-20).
We believe that this can be best accomplished by training Christians
to teach others (II Timothy 2:1-3). Doctrinally, we neither add
nor take away from God's Holy Word (Deut 4:1ff). We are determined
to speak "as the oracles of God" (1 Pet 4:11). In matters
of opinion, we have charity or love (Rom 14; 1 Cor 8, 10, 13).
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- Our Programs of Study
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- Our classes are both doctrinal and practical. Doctrinal classes
focus on topics such as:
- Topical Studies
- Textual Studies
- Original Language Studies
- Apologetics & Christian Evidences
- Survey Courses (OT & NT)
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- Practical classes focus on topics such as:
- Leadership
- Training Bible Class Teachers
- Leadership Training Class for Men
- Evangelism Studies
- Ladies Classes
- See the course
schedule pages for more details. These pages contain a listing
of all courses currently available.
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- Our History
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- The Internet School of Biblical Studies began as the Internet
School of Preaching and Christian Growth -- it officially "opened
its doors" in September of 2001. In our first term 56 students
enrolled to study the Bible and Bible related courses online.
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- In the late spring/early summer of 2000, Harold Bigham and
Jody Apple began to work together to provide online lists of
churches seeking preachers and preachers seeking churches. Harold
was already doing this via e-mail and Jody offered to host those
lists at TheBible.net. These lists complemented the page that
provided, at that time, information about brotherhood lectureships.
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- Over the next few weeks Harold expressed an interest in creating
an online school that would allow preachers, those planning to
preach and ultimately, all Christians to study the word of God
via the internet. Jody indicated a desire to work with Harold
to accomplish this good work and offered to host the school at
TheBible.net
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- In the following months they planned classes, created schedules,
added faculty -- and an online school began to take shape. They
spent countless hours in building ISBS (now ISBS) on paper and
online -- all in an effort to help Christians become better servants
of the Lord.
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- During the planning stages Harold did the lion's share of
the work in creating the school "on paper," as well
as a great amount of work in developing online content. Jody
worked with the material that Harold initially created and converted
it to the original site. Through constant e-mail consultation,
and a tremendous amount of online trial and error, Harold, Jody
and Tim Smith made a dream become reality. These men served initially
in administrative roles with ISOP (now ISBS) -- Harold as the
director, Jody as both the Dean of Admissions and Dean of the
School of Preaching Division, and Tim as the Dean of the Christian
Growth Division (these divisions no longer exist separately).
Together with the men and women who have consented to serve as
faculty (see the faculty
page for a complete list), ISBS developed into what you see
today.
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- While our history is short - we believe that the good work
our students will accomplish will "write our history"
better then anything we say here. We hope and pray that you will
consider helping us make our future history great by enrolling
and studying the word of God through ISBS - and then telling
others about this great opportunity and encouraging them to do
the same.
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- Online Learning via ISBS
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- The goal of ISBS is not to replace or compete with faithful
brotherhood schools - either resident or internet based. Those
who can attend a faithful "brick and mortar" school
to study the word of God are encouraged to do so. Circumstances
in life, however, can prevent attendance at a resident school
-- and those who desire to study the word of God further are
often left without reasonable alternatives.
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- Our goal is to fill that void by allowing any one with access
to the internet the education of a "brick and mortar"
school without having to physically attend one. ISBS does this
via the internet. Though you can't interact with instructors
face to face -- you can still benefit from their years of learning
and teaching via online courses and e-mail. This form of distance
learning requires a greater degree of independent study than
resident learning, but using the technology available, a dedicated
student can gain the same education online that he/she can by
physically attending a resident school.
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- Serious students of the word of God work in tandem with faithful
gospel preachers and teachers via online courses, chat sessions,
discussion forums and e-mail to study the word of God. Regardless
of the respective geographic location of students and teachers
this method of instruction can provide quality one-on-one tutoring.
Instructors and technology work together to provide a system
that can attain high academic standards while being flexible
and considerate of the student's needs. You can now choose your
own learning environment, eliminating common constraints such
as time schedules and geographic locations.
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- The opportunity of study the word of God via Internet School
of Biblical Studies:
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- allows study by anyone
- allows study anywhere
- allows study anytime - students learn day or night at their
convenience
- allows study with no tuition costs (students are responsible
for study materials, books, etc.)
- allows one-on-one interaction with faculty via e-mail, instant
messaging, discussion forums
- allows for student interaction via discussion forums
- allows for quality instruction of God's word
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- A Word of Encouragement About Online Learning
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- The greatest feature of ISBS is the opportunity it creates
to allow Christians to study the word of God in their own homes,
at their own pace, and with little or no cost (students are only
responsible for study materials, books, etc.).
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- The greatest negative of ISBS is that the opportunity it
creates to allow Christians to study the word of God in their
homes, at their own pace, and with little or no cost is not fully
appreciated and taken advantage of.
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- Taking classes via ISBS takes time: the biggest problem we've
encountered in our short history is this - students have been
all too willing to enroll and take several courses, only to discover
that there is more work than they can handle at any given time.
They become discouraged and either cut back drastically or quit
altogether
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- We want you to succeed - we don't want you to be discouraged.
You can learn and grow in your knowledge of the word of God,
but please be aware that such comes only as a result of the
dedication, time and effort that you invest. Taking classes
via ISBS doesn't cost you much in dollars and cents - it costs
you in time (studying, reading, writing, memorizing) and
effort (learning, testing, questioning), etc.
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- Plan your study habits, and thus your course load, wisely.
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- Who Is Responsible For ISBS?
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- ISBS is presently served by the following men:
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- Harold Bigham - Founding Director of ISBS
- Jody L Apple - Dean of ISBS
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- More information about these men including brief biographical
information and how to contact them can be found at these two
pages:
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- (1) TheBible.net/ISBS/contacts.html
- (2) TheBible.net/ISBS/faculty.html
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- We are hoping to find an eldership to oversee this good work
and help it grow to its full potential.
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- What Are The Guidelines of ISBS?
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- ISBS guidelines are found at the following pages:
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- TheBible.net/ISBS/admissions.html
(how to apply and register for classes)
- TheBible.net/ISBS/general.html
(general information about ISBS - this is the page you are presently
on)
- TheBible.net/ISBS/faq.html
(frequently asked questions about ISBS)
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- General principles:
- (1) Anyone can enroll to study via ISBS - we exclude no one
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- (2) Enrollment does not equal endorsement - taking courses
and completing a program of study carries no imprimatur from
ISBS
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- (3) All work is done via online courses, instant messaging,
discussion forums and e-mail with administration and faculty
of ISBS.
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- What Courses Are Offered Through ISBS?
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- Courses are contantly being added to our catalog. They cover
both old and new testament textual courses, languages, practical
studies, doctrinal studies, courses aimed at those preparing
to preach, and courses for general Christian growth. A complete
listing of past courses is available at TheBible.net/ISBS/coursesched.html
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- How Do I Apply?
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- Complete application and registration information is available
at our admissions page - TheBible.net/ISBS/admissions.html
- This page will explain the application and registration process
and provide you with links to our online application and registration
forms.
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- How Do I Enroll?
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- Enrolling is a two step process:
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- (1) complete an application form (you only apply once)
- (2) complete a course registration form (you must
register each term you wish to take courses)
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- Both of these forms are online and accessible through the
admissions page - TheBible.net/ISBS/admissions.html
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- Frequently Asked Questions
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- Numerous questions and answers are presented on this "general
information" page, but a more comprehensive set of questions
and answers about ISBS can be found at our F.A.Q. page. The link
for this page is included in the graphic that loads at the top
of every main page in our directory - it is also available at
this page
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- Frequently
Asked Questions
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- Please Tell Others About ISBS
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- Please tell others about the Internet School of Biblical
Studies in one of the following ways:
- Direct them to this site - http://www.TheBible.net/ISBS
- E-mail Christians on your distribution list - tell them about
this site
- Encourage the leaders of the congregation where you work
and worship to begin "cluster classes" using the ISBS
resources. Contact Jody
Apple for details
- Send us the names and e-mail addresses of prospective students
- Contact Jody Apple
for details
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