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Our Philosophy
Our philosophy is to provide authentic, legitimate Bible College material to the Church at large in ways that are both economical and as easy to access as possible. To this end we provide: 1. Bible College material for individual Students by distance education. 2. Materials for local church-based Resource Centre Bible College with direct links to our network 3. The provision of high quality Accredited and Recognized Distance Education courses in Christian Ministry and Theology.
The role of Vision Christian College is to bring the Bible College to students unable to attend college. While we admire and endorse the efforts of traditional Bible Colleges, we at Vision Christian College are deeply committed to the concept of training people within the walls of their own local church, and environment, to the provision of excellent teaching material and study options for Christians everywhere. Where better to equip people than in the very place where they serve Christ? Who better to train them
than successful pastors who are daily engaged in fulfilling the principles of the gospel? We treat the entire local church environment as part of our campus activity: its worship; its witness; its fellowship; its teaching; its ministry - are all reckoned to be part of the training process of equipping men and women to serve Christ. Our function is to add a theological, academic, component that few churches can provide by themselves while the practical component of training up a ministry can be left in the hands of the local pastor and the ministry team. The strength of a traditional college - the sequestering of people from ordinary life, so that they can focus entirely upon their studies - is also its greatest weakness. Students must spend three or four years in a social and cultural milieu that differs greatly from the local church. Often they emerge from such colleges richly taught in doctrine, yet ill-equipped to step back into normal ministry.  The maelstrom of urban life and spiritual warfare is far removed from the halls of the college. Some fine Bible Colleges, of course, are closely attached to a large local church. Yet even there the environment, in relation to an average, is removed a long way from what most students will experience when they go out into Christian service or ministry.
On the other hand, our seeming weakness - the lack of a full-time facility, and the part-time nature of our program - is also our greatest strength. Our students do not have to leave their homes or their employment; they remain in their churches; they train “on the job” they are taught by instructors, their own pastors, who are fully active in ministry; they are immediately able to relate what they learn to the spiritual battles that surge around them every day; they can immediately apply the healing balm of Christ to the hurting people they meet.
Who better to train God's troops for war than those who are his
chosen commanders on the field of battle? “How then do you maintain academic quality?” someone may ask. Simply by the provision of very high quality text-books, carefully structured lecture notes, and appropriate assignments. This combination enables us to control the theological and scholarly excellence of our syllabus, while local pastors and teachers keep the program spiritually alive, dynamic, and relevant to the needs of the local church. So our structure may be different - that is, non-traditional - but the curriculum is first-class.
Students who complete the full undergraduate program will have studied at least 40 fine text-books, and completed at least 40 assignments, in the process of which they will acquire a fine reference library which will assist their ministry into the future. And of course, throughout that period, the students will have been active participants in the life and ministry of their churches.
Educational PhilosophyUnderlying the way in which we present our materials, and the kinds of assessment we employ, there is an educational philosophy based upon the following principles. 
1. Christian education must stand upon a strong theological foundation (cp. the injunctions and warnings about sound doctrine in 1 Timothy 1:10; 4:13; 2 Timothy 4:3; 2 Peter 2:1-3; Jeremiah 6:16; 1 Corinthians 3:10-13; etc.). 2. The Bible is a self-revelation of God, who discloses himself and his glory in scripture. We accept the divine inspiration of the Bible and its infallibility and authority in all that it actually affirms concerning God and our relationship with him. 3. They recognized that the scriptures could be understood fully only by revelation (Luke 24:45; Ephesians 1:15 ff.)
4. They believed that knowledge of God is the same as meeting God (Romans 1:19-21)
5. Their attitude is summed up in 2 Timothy 3:15-16. All teaching must aim for an intelligent, believing response to the word of God, leading to a life of obedience to the will of God, and of conformity to the character of Christ. The practice “open-book” assessments, and mostly multiple-choice exams, not primarily as a matter of practical necessity, but because of their connection with the philosophy outlined above. The combination of “open-book” with multiple choice achieves the double aim of obliging students to work through their text books several times, and of learning to think analytically and discern shades of doctrinal meaning. We are concerned with the students comprehension of the material, not their memory or capacity to prepare for an assignment. We depend upon the local church to provide “field” experience, through the students' active participation in the worship, work, and witness of the church. No other place is closer to the “front-line” of spiritual warfare than where the local church, in its proclamation of the evangel, is intermingled with society and combats the world's rebellion against God. We are committed to
- the absolute lordship of Christ
- evangelism as the supreme task of the church
- charismatic renewal as the great need of the church
- the importance of the local church in the program of God.
Within that broad framework we aim to be impartial. Where there are significant differences among the views held by various Christians we try to present the major alternatives. Thus our curriculum is effective for anyone who shares our general philosophy and accepts the authority of the Bible. - We are a conservative and charismatic school, working within the mainstream of Christian belief and practice.
- We accept the divine inspiration and authority of the Bible, and we endorse those formulations of the faith that have been received by all the major branches of the church across the centuries.
Our theme could be summarized as:- the Word of Christ Preached
- the Name of Christ believed
- the Power of Christ experienced
- the love of Christ shared
- the Coming of Christ expected
- the Splendour of Christ exulted
Christian Life-Style Our view of Christian life is that it should be loving, joyful, affirmative, fruitful, and diverse. Our curriculum reflects that positive outlook, set within a framework of good scholarship, which avoids both stifling legalism and excessive dogmatism.
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