Our Philosophical Roots
Myrtle Beach College is in many ways a continuation of the work begun in the late 1800s by Rev. John Heyl Vincent, a bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was one of the earliest pioneers of what is today called distance education.
Bishop Vincent and several colleagues established the Chautauqua College of Liberal Arts and the Chautauqua School of Theology, allowing students to study in their own community through a rigorous program of directed self-study. He and Lewis Miller also founded Chautauqua Institution which still flourishes today in Western New York as a center for arts, religion, and culture.
We have built upon Bishop Vincent’s belief that the opportunity for life-long education should be available to everyone. As a result:
- It is our belief that a person should be limited in the pursuit of higher education only by their desire and ability.
- We believe that the door to higher education, especially Christian higher education, should be a wide open door.
- We reject the corrosive concept that higher education must be thought of as a high priced commodity to be bought and sold rather than as a precious inheritance that one generation passes on to the next.
- We believe that it is the right and duty of every individual to perfect their God given talents and to have access to the kind of education that will enable him or her to do so. None of us has all of the gifts that God can bestow, but each one of us has at least one gift which can be a blessing to another.
- As a Christian institution we believe that education is to be considered a Human Right and is to be made available to all who wish to receive its blessings regardless of nationality, ethnicity, gender, age, status, or station in life.
"The times in which we live and the future vitality of the Church and our nation demand that people everywhere have access to easily accessible and affordable higher education. Such opportunity must be available to all, not just to persons of means or to those unfortunate souls willing to be burdened by years of barely manageable debt at the end of their higher education experience. "
WHAT IS CHRISTIAN HIGHER EDUCATION?
We are often asked, “What is higher education in Christian perspective?” All higher education builds upon a foundation of certain core concepts. For example, consider the question, Does God exist? And if so, what is that God like and how does God relate to us and we to God? How one answers these basic questions makes a tremendous difference in ones understanding of humanity, the world, and our human relationships. Christians, of course, believe in a personal God who has revealed himself to us in the natural world, through the Bible, and through Jesus Christ. This core belief is the foundation of any program of Christian higher education.
This orientation does not mean that every course in a Christian college is a Bible course. It is not. But we do aspire to help our students looking through a microscope or telescope to also see God, or when listening to a symphony appreciate the inherent beauty of harmony, or when walking through a forest or spending a day at the beach to remember the One who created our world. The college seeks to help students realize that the Christian faith is not a way of looking at certain things but a certain way of looking at everything.
As a new institution, we have considerable distance to travel before reaching many of our goals. Gaining full accreditation, a process which generally takes several years, is one of the highest priorities of our Board of Governors, as well as developing new and innovative educational programs to serve our students and the wider Christian community.
OUR EDUCATIONAL GOALS
We seek to help our students:
- Develop a usable understanding and appreciation of the cultural heritage of humanity through a study of the basic liberal arts subjects.
- Apply Christian principles to the pursuit of knowledge.
- Cultivate skills of communication in speaking and writing and an ability to evaluate what is communicated.
- Prepare for service to the church and world through certain intellectually-based vocations.
- Build a foundation for additional study in graduate and professional schools
- Understand the core beliefs of the Christian faith and understand how to apply Christian principles to the problems of personal and social life.
- Provide opportunities for the development of skills and interests which will contribute, in college and in later life, to physical and mental health through the satisfying and constructive use of leisure time.
- Prepare for active participation and leadership in a democratic society through learning and experience.
- Develop the ability to work with other people in a spirit of friendship and cooperation.
- Develop intelligent concern for the problems of the nation and the world.