Have you ever noticed how even though things are constantly changing in this fast-paced world that there are some things that remain unchanged? This shouldn't surprise us. We live in God's world and His truth surrounds us. The world, people, cultures will change but God's truth shall stand forever. And it's to his church and her preachers that he is given the task of communicating this life-giving gospel to the world. Each generation must train the next to proclaim passionately the Word of God. The world needs to hear of God's holiness, His grace, and goodness to His people. But how are they to call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? Pastoral care, discipleship, evangelism, preaching is at the hub and everything should flow in and out of preaching. So it's our conviction then that the better men are trained to preach, the better served the church is going to be. And so we see our role then as just helping the church by preparing men to preach, and our curriculum is designed to do that. So all our courses whittle, carve, mold the man so that those gifts can become useful to the church. Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary recognizes the absolute sovereignty of God and the authority of His decrees. We are therefore unequivocally committed to the inerrancy of Scripture as its foundational theological principle. The broad evangelicalism that often arises with Reformed churches points to a failure of her leaders to grasp fully the implications of this fundamental doctrine. We seek to work out this great doctrine in every area of our instruction. The church grows and spreads as the Word of God is sown. It's the Word that creates the church and the people of God. And so the Word of God is the foundation of the church, but it's also that which builds up the church. So by the time that students graduate from here, they'll have an intimate knowledge of the scriptures and be able to communicate them well for the people of God. The seminary primarily prepares men for the gospel ministry through its divinity program, both bachelor's and master's degrees. We offer other opportunities for study as well. The Master of Arts, available to men and women, includes several possible concentrations and is offered to those who are neither ordained nor seeking ordination, but who desire a general biblical and theological education. The Master of Ministry for Ruling Elders is for ordained elders seeking further education and other men approved by their church leadership. Our Foundations Year Classical Curriculum enables students to profit more fully from the remainder of our curriculum. They also train our students to be more careful thinkers and articulate speakers. We offer both on-campus and distance learning courses for our students, including extension classes and video conferencing classes. All programs emphasize personal piety, knowledge of the Word, and application of the Word. Here at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, we firmly and formally subscribe to the historic confessions of the Reformed faith. It is our conviction that the modern church must preserve orthodoxy by returning to full subscription to biblical truths as set forth in the Westminster and Continental Reformed standards, and that ministers and elders must uphold their ordination vows of full subscription to these standards. We subscribe to the historic confessions of the Reformed faith, especially what's known as the Westminster Standards, largely because this connects us to a historic Christianity. The purpose of creeds and confessions in the church is to serve as a unifying factor for the church, and so though we recognize that members in our churches come from all different walks of life and background, As Paul tells us in Ephesians 4, those ministering the Gospel are responsible to bring us to a unity of the faith. We are committed to training passionate, articulate preachers of the Gospel in the light of the historic Reformed faith, because the preaching of the Word is the God-ordained means for the spread of the Gospel. The priority of preaching is one of the main thrusts of a GPTS education. We believe that one of the great needs of the modern church is strong expository and applicatory preaching accompanied by humility of spirit and sincerity of heart. The Bible teaches that preaching is God's primary means of grace. When an ordained man preaches the Word of God, Christ speaks with a living voice. The Reformation standards have all affirmed that preaching is the primary means of grace, and so what the church needs above all are well-equipped pastor-preachers. The statements attributed to Calvin, send us your wood and we will send you arrows. So we want to see a man, a godly man, because those arrows are useless if the man is not a godly man. All programs emphasize personal piety, knowledge of the word, and application of the word. Our fundamentals include the languages of scripture, Christian heritage, missions and evangelism, a classical curriculum, accountability, and affordable tuition. So all truth should lead to the worship and service of God. So we teach that way, and we want as professors to live that way, as staff and administrators as well, and to help our students learn to live that way. All controversy within the church is to be settled by an appeal to the Old Testament in Hebrew and the New Testament in Greek. This means that in order for a man to be a good church man, he has to know the original languages. And we understand that if a man is going to preach the Word of God, he needs more than just a knowledge of the English version that he might be preaching from. Well, I think the The most significant thing about the way we teach languages here is that we require double what most seminaries require as far as language instruction. And then when you add that to the use of the languages in the systematic theology courses, I think that strengthens and emphasizes to the student, this stuff is really important. The emphasis here at Greenville Seminary is in a great deal, in large part, a recognition of the importance of history for the understanding of the Christian faith. The Bible itself is the most important history book of all time. Much of a narrative in the Bible is historical. It's important because it helps us stay focused on who we are. It helps us reflect on what's happened in the past and not make the same mistakes or to be able to do the things those men did when they did it well and know that we're in good company. We recognize we live in the 21st century and that there's a history of philosophy, there is other religions around the world, and so our emphasis is basically to train men in a full-orb ministry to try and reach the lost, those who have not known or do not profess faith in the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. When seminaries in the United States first got started in the 19th century, most students coming to seminary had what we would call a classical liberal arts education. That's not the case today. Most of our students, even if they have a BA, it's not in liberal arts. They haven't had Latin, they haven't had Greek, they haven't had logic, they haven't had rhetoric. That's why our curriculum is four years rather than three because we've got a number of those kinds of courses built into that first year. Accountability means a good bit to us. I have been involved with other schools that basically thought we know best so we'll do it our way. The attitude from Greenville from day one has been we want to listen to the church if we're here to serve the church. I'm very pleased with what we do for accountability. We want our men to leave here with a burden for the church, not a burden of debt. And so from day one, Greenville has had a commitment to very low tuition. Our tuition is two-thirds to three-fourths less than the other comparable schools in our tradition. Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary offers many opportunities for students and their families, both for fellowship and professional development. We have what we call the ladies' seminary wives. This was put together by the wives' faculty members. And so these ladies have developed a four-year curriculum to help the wives of the seminarians to know what's expected of them, how they can best serve as a pastor's wife. And the husbands are many times invited to attend. It's a great program. Our home city of Greenville, South Carolina consistently rates as one of the top cities in the United States by publications like Forbes, USA Today, MSN, Fodor's Travel Guide, and more. Anybody that knows Greenville, South Carolina knows it's an ideal location. Greenville was just recently in USA Today picked as one of the top ten cities in America to visit. But then spiritually, I don't know a town particularly the size with the surrounding county that has as many churches in our tradition as Greenville has. It's a great atmosphere. When you have a group of men that the Lord has called into the ministry who are pursuing the same goals, you end up with a very strong bond being created. So there's lots of opportunities for fellowship and just iron sharpening iron. One of our stated goals is for the students to develop friendships that will last them throughout their ministry. It's great to see them at another level yet, them functioning as friends, getting together, doing things together, both with faculty in our homes, but also just with one another. Our hope and desire is to see faithful churches led by faithful ministers. The world is transformed as the Lord blesses his truth when it goes from the pulpit to the congregation and then to the world. We invite you to join us. Explore your faith and share the word of the Lord.