Trinity Southwest University Explained

Trinity Southwest University
Affiliation:The Association of Christian Schools International
Head Label:Executive Dean
Head:Steven Collins
State:New Mexico
Country:United States

Trinity Southwest University (TSU) is an unaccredited evangelical Christian institution of higher education with an office in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Principally a theological school that encompasses both the Bible college and theological seminary concepts of Christian education, it offers distance education programs and degrees in Biblical Studies, Theological Studies, Archaeology & Biblical History, Biblical Counseling, Biblical Representational Research, and University Studies.

History

TSU was founded as Southwest Biblical Seminary in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where it provided Bible-oriented education for local students. In 1989 it relocated to Albuquerque, New Mexico. According to TSU, in 1990 it began an official association with "an internationally-known Bible college and seminary" (not identified), but it became an independent institution of higher education in 2001.

Most TSU students enroll in distance education. As of 2007 the typical student was an adult between 40 and 49 years old. At that time, the school occupied a former church in Albuquerque. As of October 2021 its location was described as "a strip mall in Albuquerque."

Doctrine

TSU is evangelical Christian in its orientation; it calls itself "trans-denominational". The school holds that biblical scripture, specifically "the ancient Hebrew Tanakh and the New Testament", is "the only written, divinely inspired representation of reality given by God to humankind, speaking with absolute and authority in all matters upon which it touches."[1]

Affiliations and accreditation status

TSU is not accredited by any accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education. The institution's position is that "any governmental association or oversight ... is inappropriate for a faith-based organization or institution, and constitutes a fundamental violation of church/state separation". Accordingly, students are ineligible for governmental financial assistance.The institution states that it operates in New Mexico under a religious exemption authorized by state law. TSU is a member of the Association of Christian Schools International.

Archaeology

Since 2005, TSU's Executive Dean, Steven Collins, has directed excavations at Tall el-Hammam in Jordan, a Bronze Age settlement which he argues was the biblical city of Sodom.[2] [3] [4] He has written several books on the topic.[5] [6] [7] Other biblical archaeologists have rejected the identification because it is inconsistent with biblical literalist chronology;[8] [9] [10] according to Christianity Today, "few archaeologists outside of those working on the excavation team believe that Tall el-Hammam is Sodom."[11]

Collins and his colleagues claim that Tall el-Hammam was destroyed in a sudden catastrophe, based on the discovery of burnt brick, melted pottery and geophysical signatures of high temperatures.[12] [13] In a 2021 paper, they argued that this was a meteor air burst similar to the Tunguska event.[14] Soon after its publication, physicist Mark Boslough, who is cited in the paper, raised several concerns about its contents and the background of its authors, and Elisabeth Bik, an expert in investigating scientific misconduct, identified possible doctored images.[15] [16] The authors initially denied tampering with the photos but eventually published a correction in which they admitted to inappropriate image manipulation.[17] On February 15, 2023, the following editor’s note was posted on this paper, "Readers are alerted that concerns raised about the data presented and the conclusions of this article are being considered by the Editors. A further editorial response will follow the resolution of these issues."[18] Additional problems with this research related to TSU continue to be discovered and reported on PubPeer.[19] These include accusations of unattributed and misattributed text in the TSU Ph.D. dissertation of co-author Phillip Silvia.[20]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: About . Trinity Southwest University . 16 July 2022.
  2. Web site: 2021. Tall el-Hammam, Jordan. September 25, 2021. Biblical Archaeology Society.
  3. Collins. Steven. Sodom: The Discovery of a Lost City. Bible and Spade. Associates for Biblical Research. 20. 3. 2007. 72. subscription.
  4. Collins. Steven. A Response to Bryant G. Wood's Critique of Collins' Northern Sodom Theory. . 1938-694X. TSU Press. 7. 7. 2007. 27. subscription. https://web.archive.org/web/20090815164929/http://www.biblicalresearchbulletin.com/uploads/BRB-2007-7-Collins-Response_to_Wood.pdf. August 15, 2009.
  5. June 6, 2012. Archaeologists Return to Excavate Possible Site of Biblical Sodom. dead. Popular Archaeology. https://web.archive.org/web/20161018125830/http://popular-archaeology.com/issue/june-2012/article/archaeologists-return-to-excavate-possible-site-of-biblical-sodom. October 18, 2016. August 1, 2017.
  6. September 2012. Archaeologists Excavate Massive Ancient Gateway in Jordan. dead. Popular Archaeology. https://web.archive.org/web/20151016052656/http://popular-archaeology.com/issue/september-2012/article/archaeologists-excavate-massive-ancient-gateway-in-jordan. 16 October 2015. August 1, 2017.
  7. September 28, 2015. Possible site of ancient Sodom yields more finds. Popular Archaeology. https://web.archive.org/web/20181208091856/https://popular-archaeology.com/article/possible-site-of-ancient-sodom-yields-more-finds/. December 8, 2018. September 25, 2021.
  8. Govier. Gordon. April 2008. Looking Back: Claims to new Sodom locations are salted with controversy. Christianity Today. 52. 4. 15. subscription. https://web.archive.org/web/20080418031354/http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/april/5.15.html. April 18, 2008. September 25, 2021.
  9. Merrill. Eugene H.. 2012. Texts, Talls, and Old Testament Chronology: Tall Hammam as a Case Study. ARTIFAX  - the Bible Archaeology News Magazine. The Institute for Biblical Archaeology and the Near East Archaeological Society. 27. 4. 20–21. Eugene H. Merrill (academic).
  10. Web site: Bolen. Todd. February 27, 2013. Arguments Against Locating Sodom at Tall el-Hammam. July 3, 2013. Biblical Archaeology Society.
  11. Web site: Govier. Gordon. 2021-09-24. Sodom Destroyed by Meteor, Scientists Say. Biblical Archaeologists Not Convinced.. 2021-09-26. Christianity Today. en.
  12. Gerson. Ian. June 5, 2014. Making the Case for Sodom. dead. Popular Archaeology. https://web.archive.org/web/20171008202835/http://popular-archaeology.com/issue/06052014/article/making-the-case-for-sodom. October 8, 2017. May 14, 2017.
  13. News: Beamon . Cindy. May 11, 2016. Signs of a Cosmic Blast: Local researchers find evidence of fiery end for Sodom in Bible. The Daly Advance. May 14, 2017.
  14. Bunch. Ted E.. LeCompte. Malcolm A.. Adedeji. A. Victor. Wittke. James H.. Burleigh. T. David. Hermes. Robert E.. Mooney. Charles. Batchelor. Dale. Wolbach. Wendy S.. Kathan. Joel. Kletetschka. Gunther. 2021-09-20. A Tunguska sized airburst destroyed Tall el-Hammam a Middle Bronze Age city in the Jordan Valley near the Dead Sea. Scientific Reports. en. 11. 1. 18632. 10.1038/s41598-021-97778-3. 34545151. 8452666. 2021NatSR..1118632B . 2045-2322.
  15. Web site: Marcus . Adam . Criticism engulfs paper claiming an asteroid destroyed Biblical Sodom and Gomorrah . Retraction Watch . 2 October 2021 . 1 October 2021.
  16. Boslough . Mark . Mark Boslough . vanc.
  17. James P. Kennett . Bunch . Ted E. . LeCompte . Malcolm A. . Adedeji . A. Victor . Wittke . James H. . Burleigh . T. David . Hermes . Robert E. . Mooney . Charles . Batchelor . Dale . Wolbach . Wendy S. . Kathan . Joel . Kletetschka . Gunther . Patterson . Mark C. L. . Swindel . Edward C. . Witwer . Timothy . Howard . George A. . Mitra . Siddhartha . Moore . Christopher R. . Langworthy . Kurt . Kennett . James P. . West . Allen . Silvia . Phillip J. . 8 . free.
  18. Web site: Journal investigating Sodom comet paper for data problems . Ellie . Kincaid . Retraction Watch . February 21, 2023 . February 27, 2023.
  19. Web site: Various commenters . PubPeer - A Tunguska sized airburst destroyed Tall el-Hammam a Middle Bronze Age city in the Jordan Valley near the Dead Sea Scientific Reports (2021) - 117 Comments . PUBPEER. Comments starting in September 2021.
  20. Web site: Various commenters . The Middle Bronze Age Civilization-Ending Destruction of the Middle Ghor . PUBPEER. Comments starting in August 2022.

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