Christianity: Details about 'Westminster Seminary California'
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Home
|
Westminster Seminary California is a Reformed Christian graduate educational institution located 25 miles north of San Diego, California in Escondido. The seminary traces its commitment to Reformed theological education back to the Reformation and especially to John Calvin and his educational approach at Geneva Academy. In America, that education heritage was maintained at Princeton Theological Seminary in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The old Princeton Seminary was devoted to the inerrancy of the Bible, outstanding scholarship, fine academic education, and service to the church in its preaching and missionary work. When, in 1929, Princeton Seminary was reorganized to tolerate theological liberalism, several faculty members, led by the distinguished scholar, J. Gresham Machen, left Princeton to found Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The new seminary preserved the heritage of Old Princeton and passed it onto Westminster Seminary California. Westminster Seminary California was initially a branch campus of the Philadelphia school until 1982 when it became fully independent. Dr. Robert B. Strimple and Mr. Robert G. den Dulk shared the administrative responsibilities for founding the Seminary, moving to California in 1979. Dr. Strimple became the first president of Westminster Seminary California in 1982, overseeing the movement of the Seminary from its temporary home in San Marcos to its beautiful, permanent campus in southeastern Escondido. In 1988 Dr. Strimple returned to full-time teaching and scholarship. Mr. den Dulk became president, increasing the size and financial strength of the school. In 1993 Dr. W. Robert Godfrey, who had joined the faculty in 1981 as professor of church history, became the third president of the seminary. Westminster Seminary is by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC); a regional accrediting agency and by the Association of Theological Schools, (ATS); a national accrediting agency. The seminary currently offers the following accredited degrees:
The WSC Board of Trustees and Faculty pledge their commitment to those full historic statements which have been the doctrinal bond of fellowship for churches of Reformed persuasion for more than three centuries: The Westminster Confession of Faith, the Westminster Larger Catechism, the Westminster Shorter Catechism, Heidelberg Catechism, Belgic Confession of Faith, and the Canons of Dort. Students come from more than 10 countries across Asia, Europe and Africa as well as 21 states, and 30 denominations and independent congregations. Westminster Seminary California past and present faculty include theologians and scholars such as W. Robert Godfrey, Edmund Clowney, Steven M. Baugh, John Frame, Michael Horton, Robert B. Strimple, Meredith Kline, Derke P. Bergsma, Peter R. Jones, R. Scott Clark, and D. G. Hart.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||