Distinctives

Since Christ is the Head of the Church, and the Father has put all things in subjection under His Son’s feet (Eph. 1:22-23), it is imperative that everything about VBTS pushes its students toward the person of Jesus Christ. Every course, every assignment, and every chapel has the singular purpose of making Jesus great in the eyes of each student. We believe that biblical exegesis, theological disciplines, and mentorship relationships are divine tools to mark our graduates as competent servants of Christ.

The core of our identity is what Paul calls in Galatians 1: “the gospel of grace.” The goal of VBTS is to help each student appreciate the meaning and significance of this textual phrase.  We believe that an effective pastoral and/or teaching ministry will have far-reaching results if biblical grace is properly understood and taught by its proclaimer (Titus 2:11-14).

The signature degree of VBTS is the Master of Divinity. Since Jesus made it clear that the Scriptures testify of His person and ministry (Jn. 5:39), it is indispensable for each student to be immersed in the Scriptures – both old and new Testaments – fully acquainted with the biblical languages.  From the biblical text our students develop their theological and practical disciplines. We believe that preachers are not ready to preach, nor teachers ready to teach, unless they have developed into accurate, textual thinkers.

VBTS exists as a tool of Christ preparing His future shepherds for His church around the world.  It is our understanding that the seminary exists for the church. So, we believe that our mission as a seminary is to prepare both the hearts and minds of future pastors and missionaries to love Christ’s church and to be fully equipped to lead it.