The Master's Seminary

For The Master's University, see: The Master's University

THE MASTER'S SEMINARY
Motto Omne Verbum Inspiratum, Omne Verbum Praedicatum
Every Word Inspired, Every Word Preached
Type Theological Seminary
Established 1986
President John F. MacArthur
Dean Irvin A. Busenitz
Academic staff
 17
Students 385
Location Sun Valley, CA, USA
Campus Urban (Los Angeles)
Affiliations The Master's University
Grace Community Church
WSCUC
Website www.tms.edu

The Master's Seminary (TMS), the graduate seminary division of The Master’s University and Seminary (TMUS), is located on the campus of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California.

History

The Master's Seminary opened its doors in fall 1986 under the leadership of John F. MacArthur, known worldwide as a master Bible expositor, church leader, and author. The seminary launched its inaugural year with 95 students and four full-time faculty members. Since then, the faculty and administration has expanded to 17 full-time members. At the same time, the student population has increased from 95 to almost 2,000.

During this period of steady growth, the seminary has maintained a singular commitment to its core purpose of training men and trainers of men for a ministry in biblical exposition and pastoral work. Over 1300 graduates now minister on six continents, with approximately 85% ministering in a full-time capacity and one-eighth of those serving overseas. Since the beginning of the seminary in 1986, the library has grown from a church library of just 7,000 volumes, to a major biblical and theological studies collection of over 350,000 volumes. Additionally, access to a wide breadth of online databases allows for researching almost two million other full-text resources. In March 1998, the seminary completed construction of its own facility on the church campus. The 32,000 square foot building houses the seminary administrative and faculty offices, library, studio facilities, and smaller class and seminar rooms.

The Master's Seminary first received WASC accreditation in 1988 and in 2009 received an eight-year reaccreditation. The seminary is organized around four degree programs: Master of Divinity, Master of Theology (added in 1992), Doctor of Theology (added in 2000), and Doctor of Ministry in Expository Preaching (added in 2004). The last three programs were added after a process of substantive change and subsequent WASC approval.

The Master’s College (TMC) began as Los Angeles Baptist Theological Seminary in 1927. In 1959, the campus relocated to Newhall, CA. In the 1950s, an undergraduate program was developed. During the process of acquiring accreditation from WASC in the early 1970s, it was decided that the original seminary would separate and relocate (becoming Northwest Baptist Seminary in Tacoma, WA). The college remained and became Los Angeles Baptist College. After Dr. John MacArthur became president of the college in 1985, the name of the school was changed to The Master’s College. The central college campus remains in Newhall (now incorporated as the city of Santa Clarita), while TMS has been located on the church campus from its beginning.'"[1]

Doctrine

Theologically, The Master's Seminary is conservative and evangelical, affirming biblical inerrancy, a Reformed view of soteriology, and a Dispensational, premillennial position in eschatology. They have an extremely thorough doctrinal statement, which covers all aspects of their beliefs in a systematic fashion. All members of the Board of Directors, Seminary Administration, and Faculty must annually sign a statement affirming complete agreement with the doctrinal statement. The belief system is incorporated in the instructional tenents of their programs, emphasizing intense study of the Biblical languages in preparation for expository preaching.[2]

The Master's Seminary Library

The seminary library began in 1986 with 7,000 volumes. The collection been built into a major biblical and theological studies collection of over 350,000 volumes. The library collection is available online through the Voyager and Primo Systems of Ex Libris. The library provides access to a wide variety of research databases including ATLA, Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (TLG), Early American Imprints, Ad Fontes LIbrary of Classic Protestant Texts, and others.

A view of the English Bible Collection room, including a wall poster of the History of the English Bible

The collection also has a room dedicated to the history of the English Bible and has examples of the Bibles in English from the era of 1523 to 1611. The collection includes a 1611 King James Bible, the so-called "He Bible", several editions of the Geneva Bible, along with originals and facsimiles of The Wycliffe Bible (1382), the Tyndale Bible (1523), the Coverdale Bible (1535), Matthew's Bible (1537), the Great Bible (1539), and the Bishops' Bible (1568). Recently a 17th-century Torah scroll was donated to the seminary and will be on display in the library in the near future.

Torah scroll in the TMS collection
King James Bible, 1611, "He" Bible. A typographical error in Ruth 3:15 had the text read, "and he went into the city" instead of the proper "and she went into the city." The error was corrected in a subsequent printing in 1611.

The Master's Seminary Journal

Begun in 1990, The Master's Seminary Journal (ISSN 1066-3959) is a publication of the faculty of The Master's Seminary. It is published semi-annually and contains articles dealing with the Biblical text, theology, and issues related to pastoral ministry. It also contains reviews of current books and significant articles relating to these issues.[3]

The Master's Seminary Journal (MSJ) is indexed and abstracted in all of the leading research tools including: Elenchus Bibliographicus Biblicus of Biblica, Christian Periodical Index, Guide to Social Science & Religion in Periodical Literature, New Testament Abstracts, Old Testament Abstracts. It is also indexed in the ATLA (American Theological Library Association) Religion Database and it is also included in the full-text ATLASerials.

An annual lecture series by the seminary faculty, "The Richard L. Mayhue Lecture Series" (named in honor of the former dean) is presented in chapel services in the spring and then published with full research documentation in the fall issue of the journal. Those series have included:[4]

Distinguished Scholars Lecture Series

Since 1990 the seminary has hosted their Distinguished Scholars Lecture Series, a course taught by a visiting professor noted for expertise in a particular field of biblical or theological studies.

Notable Faculty

Notable alumni

References

  1. ↑ Map of Graduates
  2. ↑ Link to M.Div Description
  3. ↑
  4. ↑ "The Master's Seminary - Faculty Lecture Series".

Coordinates: 34°13′14″N 118°25′17″W / 34.22056°N 118.42139°W / 34.22056; -118.42139

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