Skip to content
Founded in 1992 by Dr. Norman Geisler and Dr. Ross Rhoads, Southern Evangelical Seminary and Bible College stands out with accredited programs deeply rooted in a classical philosophy of education. Our uniqueness lies in an integrated approach to philosophy, theology, and apologetics, setting SES apart as one of the country’s best apologetics programs and a top-ten evangelical seminary. Like assembling a puzzle, our systematic approach to Christian thinking unveils connections between seemingly unrelated truths, creating a unified whole. This distinctive integration, applied across all programs, equips you to proclaim and defend the Gospel persuasively in an increasingly hostile culture. It not only enriches your understanding of the “faith once for all handed down to the saints” (Jude 3) but also provides a transformative educational experience found nowhere else.
Founded in 1992 by Dr. Norman Geisler and Dr. Ross Rhoads, Southern Evangelical Seminary and Bible College stands out with accredited programs deeply rooted in a classical philosophy of education. Our uniqueness lies in an integrated approach to philosophy, theology, and apologetics, setting SES apart as one of the country’s best apologetics programs and a top-ten evangelical seminary. Like assembling a puzzle, our systematic approach to Christian thinking unveils connections between seemingly unrelated truths, creating a unified whole. This distinctive integration, applied across all programs, equips you to proclaim and defend the Gospel persuasively in an increasingly hostile culture. It not only enriches your understanding of the “faith once for all handed down to the saints” (Jude 3) but also provides a transformative educational experience found nowhere else.
Every believer equipped to effectively proclaim the Gospel, engage the bad ideas that stand in the way of the Gospel, and defend the truth of the Gospel in any cultural context
The mission of SES is to train men and women, based on the inerrant and infallible written Word of God, for the evangelization of the world and defense of the historic Christian faith
Every student will get an integrated and apologetics-focused Christian education that will equip them
to be steadfast in the truth
Did you know that over half of Americans believe all truth is subjective? Surprisingly, almost a quarter identify as ‘nones’ (atheist, agnostic, or “nothing in particular”). In a culture where 3 in 4 Millennials think personal truth is the only truth, confusion reigns. Our post-Christian society needs apologetics-focused evangelism and discipleship. The church faces challenges too, with surveys revealing only 41% of Senior Pastors having a biblical worldview. Shockingly, only 12% of Children’s & Youth Pastors share this view. Sadly, 54% of American churchgoers believe religion is personal opinion, not objective truth. Consider a degree or certificate from SES; be a positive force for the Gospel in our very confused world.
The goal of the SES faculty is to cause the student to discover truth in whatever context this discovery applies: biblical studies, theology, philosophy, or apologetics. The ideal student produced by SES will possess a love of the truth and the pursuit of the intellectual life, coupled with a love for God and growth in godly character. A conservative Christian orthodoxy in ethics and theology, if it be consistent, must also hold to a conservative Christian philosophy of education. It is the task of the educator to be responsible for his student’s intellectual life. His goal should be to shape the student’s mind in terms of its strength, focus, and precision, as well as modeling and instilling all the intellectual virtues that sustain a lifetime of faithful Christian scholarship. As Étienne Gilson says in “The Eminence of Teaching,”
"The good teacher then loves to teach because he loves to impart to his pupils the very best thing there is in him, namely, intellectual life, knowledge, truth. … The highest reward of teaching is the joy of making other minds similar, not indeed to ourselves, but to the truth which is in us."
In order to achieve our goal, we provide a unique educational opportunity where the Christian worldview is both a framework for thinking and a dynamic for living. To accomplish this, students should be taught not only to think correctly but also to pray fervently and to live uprightly (Jas. 5:16; Deut. 6:4–9; Mark 12:29–31). This occurs most effectively when both instructor and student relate properly to God and to one another through Christ, in view of His imminent return (Acts 1:7–8; 1 Thess. 4:13–18).
We believe our goal is best accomplished in an atmosphere where students are offered a Bible-based, Christ-centered (2 Cor. 10:5), and God-honoring education (1 Cor. 10:31); where teacher and learner endeavor to know both the truth and the times (1 Chr. 12:32; Phil. 2:14–15), and both the message and the milieu in which it is proclaimed. This philosophy of education carries over into how we approach online education via our immersive digital campus experience.
