California Biblical University and Seminary

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California Biblical University or California Biblical University and Seminary, CBUS, is an unaccredited fundamentalist Christian higher education institution in Irvine, California. It was founded to "give the liberals a heart attack by educating Bible-believing pastors, missionaries, and scholars."[1] The school is co-located in the Church founded by Robert Morey. The building displays the church name as Faith Defenders, but weekly bulletins are in the name Faith Community.

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[edit] Ideology

In February 2005, the founder of the school proclaimed "schools in the area are under the control of humanists and liberals. We need a new school that will not compromise the truth for fame or fortune, and will stand against the wicked heresies taught on every hand today."[2]

[edit] Accreditation

California Biblical University and Seminary is not accredited by any recognised accreditation body. As such, its degrees may not be acceptable to employers or other institutions, and use of degree titles may be restricted or illegal in some jurisdictions.According to CBUS' website they are "pursuing accreditation,"[1] but are absent from the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) list of schools applying for accreditation. [3]

In December 2005, the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education gave CBUS "religious exemption" from the "minimum" California requirements of higher education.[4]

[edit] Criticism and controversy

The primary faculty member is Robert Morey, who received a Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry from the fully accredited Westminster Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Philosophy in Islamic Studies from the unaccredited Louisiana Baptist University in 2003 [5]. Morey has been accused of academic fraud over claims about his education.[2] In 1997, the Faith Theological Seminary Gujranwala Pakistan Board of Directors "said that Robert Morey was not on graduation list of FTS in year 1996 nor the FTS was aware of awarding DD degree to Dr. Morey."[2] The school stated "Therefore any degree awarded to any one that is not awarded in the month of March from Gujranwala Pakistan is forged, fake, illegal and fraud and Robert Morey stands guilty of all the charges that are mentioned above."[2] It even went as far as to mail him a copy of a cancelled degree.[2]

On April 28, 2006 The Los Angeles Times reported a "clash" between Muslim counter protesters and Christians who claimed "Islam denied believers freedom of expression and freedom of religion."[3] The article further noted "The critics of Islam, many of them members of the evangelical Faith Defenders, an Irvine-based Christian organization that runs the unaccredited California Biblical University & Seminary, chanted 'Remember 9/11' and sang 'God Bless America' and 'We Shall Overcome.'"

Controversy also surrounds the written works of Robert Morey. Robert Morey’s book The “Islamic Invasion” [4] is an adequate book for those who only require a rudimentary level of knowledge regarding Islam. However, the quality of the level of scholarship of this book is questionable. On page 3 of Islamic Invasion Robert Morey is self described as “. . .an internationally recognized scholar. . .” [4] Morey as the self described scholar has completely overlooked the fundamental fact that the first English Quran by a Western Scholar is the 1649 edition by Alexander Ross. [5] An example of a fundamental scholarly inaccuracy occurs on page 209 of Islamic Invasion. On this page it is states “The first English Translation of the Quran by Western Scholars was by George Sale in 1734.” [4] Additionally, this 1649 Quran was reissued in 1688. The 1734 Quran of George Sale is the third English printing by the second Western Scholar; not the first. But the premiere example of sloppy scholarship is Robert Morey’s booklet titled “An Analysis of the Hadith.” [6] This booklet is an amateurish attempt to consolidate 9 volumes, which is thousands of pages of English Islamic Hadiths into 25 page self published stapled booklet. Not only is this booklet a wholly inadequate attempt at cataloging, but it abounds in a multitude of errors. This one example will suffice. On page 11 alone there are 5 citation errors which are completely inaccurate and will not lead the inquisitive researcher to the correct source. This is merely one example amongst dozens that could be cited.

Jon Nelson also has criticized Morey for deceitful/incorrect quotes.[7] Nelson explained in Morey's The New Atheism (1986) quoted Nicholas Capaldi's book The Art of Deception as an example of atheist deception, but the "problem is that Capaldi never says this (or anything like it) on this or on any other page. Morey has numerous other false quotes attributed to Capaldi, such as: 'Refuse to be convinced. Even if you feel that he has a good argument and that your case is weaker, refuse to be convinced of your opponent's case'. Nowhere does Capaldi advocate, as Morey accuses him of doing, that atheists should 'use any invalid or deceptive argument as long as it helps him (to) win his case.'[7] Nelson described "However, Morey has an 'out'. There are no actual quotation marks on these alleged quotes." Furthermore, "most theists will not be dissuaded from their beliefs by any amount of contrary evidence. Although they will never admit it, it is obvious that comfort is more important to them than intellectual integrity."[7]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Claims of accreditation are Official website and California Biblical University and Seminary catalog page 7
  2. ^ a b c d Facts about Robert A. Morey. Pakistani Christian Post. 2003.
  3. ^ Susannah Rosenblatt. A Clash of Beliefs in Riverside. The Los Angeles Times. April 28, 2006.
  4. ^ a b c Morey, Robert. The Islamic Invasion. Harvest House: Eugene. 1992.
  5. ^ Ross, Alexander. The Alcoran of Mahomet. London: 1649.
  6. ^ Morey, Robert. An Analysis of the Hadith. Research and Education Foundation: Orange. 1992
  7. ^ a b c Jon Nelson. The Dishonesty of Theism. Atheist Alliance, 2006.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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