Pentecostal or Catholic College

DrHuk&Duck

DrHuk&Duck

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As we’re beginning to narrow down college options for my daughter, she’s primarily interested in attending two colleges, one of which is affiliated with Assemblies of God and the other of which is a Catholic college. From a spiritual POV, I’m curious to know which college environment you would prefer for your kids.

Before we go down a rabbit hole, she’s not interested in going to college out of state, so Liberty University is out of the question, as is Bob Jones University. She’s not really a big fan of PCC, and we also don’t like the fact that it’s not regionally accredited, so most likely it’s not in the picture, even though it is located in Florida.

I don’t find either option to be overwhelmingly appealing, but I do prefer both options to a state university atmosphere. I should add that the plan is for two years of junior college first while living at home. We’ve agreed to her living in a college dorm after first completing junior college.
 
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What course of study is she interested in pursuing?
 
My university degree is in English, with an almost-minor in philosophy. Probably about half those English and philosophy credits were earned at a Catholic college (Canadian universities often have multiple church-based colleges federated with them).

My sense is that if her program is heavy on academics, particularly in humanities--say, courses in ethical issues--then the Catholic college is the better choice. From the psychology angle, St. Jerome's offered a degree in Sexuality, Marriage, and Family Studies. I've never heard of a Pentecostal-affiliated college in Canada--at least, not one with as close a relationship as St. Jerome's has with Waterloo. Something tells me they aren't big on scholarship (though I know of a few Pentecostal academics), but maybe that's less important for a more vocational program like nursing.
 
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DrHuk&Duck said:
As we’re beginning to narrow down college options for my daughter, she’s primarily interested in attending two colleges, one of which is affiliated with Assemblies of God and the other of which is a Catholic college. From a spiritual POV, I’m curious to know which college environment you would prefer for your kids.

Before we go down a rabbit hole, she’s not interested in going to college out of state, so Liberty University is out of the question, as is Bob Jones University. She’s not really a big fan of PCC, and we also don’t like the fact that it’s not regionally accredited, so most likely it’s not in the picture, even though it is located in Florida.

I don’t find either option to be overwhelmingly appealing, but I do prefer both options to a state university atmosphere. I should add that the plan is for two years of junior college first while living at home. We’ve agreed to her living in a college dorm after first completing junior college.
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Avoid the Pentecostals if you can, unless her background is doctrinally sound and strong. The emotional pull of the faux displays of spirituality and power is almost irresistible.

I can't say the same about clerical garb, icons and Latin.
 
Ransom said:
My sense is that if her program is heavy on academics, particularly in humanities--say, courses in ethical issues--then the Catholic college is the better choice. From the psychology angle, St. Jerome's offered a degree in Sexuality, Marriage, and Family Studies. I've never heard of a Pentecostal-affiliated college in Canada--at least, not one with as close a relationship as St. Jerome's has with Waterloo. Something tells me they aren't big on scholarship (though I know of a few Pentecostal academics), but maybe that's less important for a more vocational program like nursing.
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In addition to the financial savings of two years at junior college, one of the big reasons we don’t want her going straight to a four year college/university is so she has extra time to figure out what she’s interested in studying and possibly doing for a job. Her grades are decent, but unfortunately not strong enough to warrant academic scholarships to supplement the high tuition cost these days.
 
We do have a few more colleges to visit, though I have a feeling a couple are going to be not to her liking because they are just too small or in really rural parts of the state. Is anyone familiar with Palm Beach Atlantic University? I’ve never seen it mentioned on the forums, but it is considered a fairly conservative college. It seems to be formerly a SBC college that now just has SBC ties. https://www.pba.edu/
 
Ekklesian said:
Avoid the Pentecostals if you can, unless her background is doctrinally sound and strong. The emotional pull of the faux displays of spirituality and power is almost irresistible.
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It’s not my first choice, but I do like the fact that the Pentecostal college is strictly a dry campus, whereas the Catholic college seems to be semi-dry.
 
DrHuk&Duck said:
She’s not completely sure. She’s leaning towards either nursing or something related to the psychology/counseling field.
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I would suggest that she attend a local community college for the first couple of years. Get her gen ed requirements out of the way at the low end for cost. By then she should have a better idea of what she wants to do and will have a better idea for choosing the school best suited to her needs.

I don't know her. I don't know you. I do know way too many young people who went to private colleges for a year or two, borrowing a lot of money before dropping out with nothing but a transcript of disconnected credits and large loan payments.
 
subllibrm said:
I would suggest that she attend a local community college for the first couple of years. Get her gen ed requirements out of the way at the low end for cost. By then she should have a better idea of what she wants to do and will have a better idea for choosing the school best suited to her needs.
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I would suggest you read my entire post before commenting.
 
It depends on the Pentecostal college. If it's Oral Roberts University, avoid it like the plague. But if it is Southeastern, well, that is another story. Catholics will be prolife and won't push the Speaking in tongues agenda. But if it is just pentecostal in affiliation, and not a full blown one, like ORU, I'd choose that. At least they are bible believing. Roman Catholicism is not Christianity.
 
Bob Jones VI said:
That is a good school, brother.
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That’s good to hear. We’re going to do some more research and a school visit in the near future. I know the college has a lot of church affiliations, so I figured it can’t be too bad.
 
DrHuk&Duck said:
It’s not my first choice, but I do like the fact that the Pentecostal college is strictly a dry campus, whereas the Catholic college seems to be semi-dry.
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The one instance where Catholics are actually more biblical than most Baptists is their stance on alcohol. The use of alcoholic beverages is not expressly forbidden by the scriptures and (yes, I am going to go ahead and say it) Jesus himself drank alcoholic wine in social settings and (yes) the wine he made from water was alcoholic as any other wine of that time that was served at weddings and feasts! What is expressly forbidden (and condemned as sinful) is drunkenness, drinking for the express purpose of getting drunk, getting someone drunk in order to take advantage of them and so forth.

Do you really think a "Dry Campus" would keep kids from going OFF CAMPUS, attending a "kegger" and "tying one on?" If all kids were taught is that "alcohol is wicked" rather than being raised with a solid, biblical foundation, you had better believe that once they have a little bit of "freedom," they are likely going to have such a shaky foundation challenged and will likely go to a much greater excess than someone who was raised in an environment where personal character and responsibility was stressed!

I know you just want to protect your kid but the best way to do so is to stay on a firm scriptural footing rather than adding on additional things that may seem like additional safeguards but do not address the heart of the matter!

I agree with Ransom here, Catlicks tend to be much more academic than Pentecostals if acadamia is your primary goal. You likely are not going to be exposed to Catholic teaching unless you take specific religion and theology courses and just because a University is Catholic, Pentecostal, Snake-handling, or whatever, does not mean that everyone attending is Catholic, Pentecostal, Baptist, or whatever.

And you will have reprobate, humanist, and "woke" professors at a "religious" university just as you would at a State University ("Satan U") so teach you kid to keep her guard up wherever she may be attending!
 
Baptist Renegade said:
The one instance where Catholics are actually more biblical than most Baptists is their stance on alcohol. The use of alcoholic beverages is not expressly forbidden by the scriptures and (yes, I am going to go ahead and say it) Jesus himself drank alcoholic wine in social settings and (yes) the wine he made from water was alcoholic as any other wine of that time that was served at weddings and feasts! What is expressly forbidden (and condemned as sinful) is drunkenness, drinking for the express purpose of getting drunk, getting someone drunk in order to take advantage of them and so forth.

Do you really think a "Dry Campus" would keep kids from going OFF CAMPUS, attending a "kegger" and "tying one on?" If all kids were taught is that "alcohol is wicked" rather than being raised with a solid, biblical foundation, you had better believe that once they have a little bit of "freedom," they are likely going to have such a shaky foundation challenged and will likely go to a much greater excess than someone who was raised in an environment where personal character and responsibility was stressed!

I know you just want to protect your kid but the best way to do so is to stay on a firm scriptural footing rather than adding on additional things that may seem like additional safeguards but do not address the heart of the matter!

I agree with Ransom here, Catlicks tend to be much more academic than Pentecostals if acadamia is your primary goal. You likely are not going to be exposed to Catholic teaching unless you take specific religion and theology courses and just because a University is Catholic, Pentecostal, Snake-handling, or whatever, does not mean that everyone attending is Catholic, Pentecostal, Baptist, or whatever.

And you will have reprobate, humanist, and "woke" professors at a "religious" university just as you would at a State University ("Satan U") so teach you kid to keep her guard up wherever she may be attending!
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A lot of good points. And yes, I fully realize that all college kids can get access to alcohol, even kids attending colleges such as Pensacola or Bob Jones. My hope is just to have it not openly endorsed and in plain sight/easy access like it is at Satan U (which is where I attended). I’m a former drinker from years ago, and my wife and her family are light drinkers, so she hasn’t grown up completely sheltered from alcohol.

In a nutshell, we’re looking for her to have a somewhat traditional college experience without the extremes of a Satan University or a Pensacola. Somewhere in the middle is our preference.
 
DrHuk&Duck said:
Yes - it’s Southeastern University. It’s a top three candidate, probably edging to #1 choice as of today.
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Coincidentally, I am working with a young Baptist pastor right now who did his undergrad at Southeastern.
 
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