Restless Wanderings

The Midwestern Baptist College years 1976-79

Midwestern Baptist College was started in 1954 to train Fundamentalist Baptist preachers for the ministry. Men from all walks of life came to Midwestern to train for the ministry. Since Midwestern  was a non-accredited, private religious institution students were not eligible for student aid. Most students worked full-time jobs while attending Midwestern.  There were a large number of older, married men taking classes. My father-in-law was in his mid-thirties when he attended Midwestern.

The academics at Midwestern were very substandard. Most teachers taught at an adult Sunday School class level.  In fact, some adult Sunday School classes I have taught over the years were much more challenging than many of the classes I took at Midwestern.  Many of the teachers were graduates of Midwestern.  The Bible classes were most often taught by pastors who had graduated from Midwestern. (I should note that the founder of Midwestern had a earned doctorate from Wayne State/

I wonder if it could have been otherwise. With a large number of older students, and with most students working full time jobs, a rigorous academic program would have resulted in a large number of failures.

The man who taught English  was a closet homosexual.  He was single and lived in the dorm. He and I did not get along very well. I knew what he was (remember  I was quite homophobic at the time) and we clashed repeatedly. He finally told me to stay out of his class. If I would do that he would give me a passing grade. Worked out great for me.  I got a passing grade without doing the work and I got to shoot baskets during the time for English class.

The man who taught business classes at Midwestern was a schizophrenic. Great guy. Single. Lived in the dorm. As long as he took his meds he was fine.  But, he didn’t like to take his meds.

One night he drove his car to the black section of Pontiac, got out of the car, and handed his keys to the first person he saw.  He then walked back to the dorm.  It took us a week to track down his car and retrieve it.

The man who taught Missions was a former missionary. I really enjoyed his class. Lots of stories. Very personal. He was passionate about missions and his passion infected everyone who took his class.  He only taught one year.

World History was taught by a pastor’s wife who literally read the textbook to the class. She spoke with a monotone voice. The highlight of the class was when someone would fart.

The Bible and doctrine  classes I took were all taught by pastors. Most of the classes were taught  in a devotional manner.Since the Bible was the inerrant Word of God (KJV only) we never discussed textual variants or alternative explanations or understandings of a text.  God said it and that settled it.  I learned very little bible in BIBLE college.

Biology class was the biggest joke of all. No lab. All lecture. The teacher was a racist and he spent a few classes talking about why we should only marry  our “own kind.” The teacher was a pastor with no meaningful science training.

I have come to see that Midwestern did not exist for the purpose of giving me an education.  It existed for the purpose of indoctrinating me in the Fundamentalist, Independent Baptist faith. Difference and dissent was quashed. Troublemakers were thrown out. (also known as shipped) Academic freedom did not exist. Either a teacher taught the party line or they were fired.

The College had a library. It had very few books and most of the books it did have were castoffs from pastor’s libraries. I only used the library a handful of times.

What learning I now possess I do not owe to Midwestern.  A few years into the ministry I realized that the education I received at Midwestern was academically inferior.  I began to buy books and started the long, arduous task of learning the Bible. Over the years I ended up with a library of over 1,000 theological books. (all of which I have since sold on EBay)  More than once someone would come into my study, and upon seeing the books, ask me if I actually read all of them.  Yes, was the answer.

I know of more than a few fundamentalist pastors whose whole library would fit on two shelves. No need to read or study. The Bible is all we need.

Ignorance among Fundamentalist, Independent Baptists is far too common. Winning souls is the priority. It should come as no surprise when men trained this way teach error or become cultic in their practices.

I plan to write a good bit more about my time at Midwestern Baptist College. Stay tuned.