Thread by @wad3mullen

In 1981, @CTmagazine published an article titled "Short-cut Graduate Degrees Shortchange Everybody," citing the case of Toledo Bible College, a school "claiming to be something it wasn't."

The Ball & Puls book was based on a study conducted for that school's DMin program. THREAD

https://twitter.com/reachjulieroys/status/1157000730030432256

According to the @CTmagazine article, Toledo Bible College and Seminary was started in the 1960's by John D. Brooke, who "for all practical purposes...awarded himself the Th.D. from Toledo, since he received it not long after he started the school."

Many of their faculty had questionable credentials. One had received 3 degrees in 3 years from the school: Th.B, Th.M., and a Th.D.

Another had a Ph.D. from California Christian University, a place that, at the time, would give someone an honorary doctorate for $1000.

In 1978, Toledo Bible College was "for all practical purposes...forced out of the state by the Ohio Board of Regents for awarding degrees without a state certificate of authorization."

The school quickly moved to Indiana where the laws were not as stringent.

Soon after moving to Indiana, Toledo Bible College changed its name to Trinity College of the Bible and Theological Seminary.

It continues to offer degrees using online, webinar, and independent study courses and claims to have more than 1000 students enrolled.

On its accreditation page, Trinity claims it is "authorized and approved to grant degrees in the State of Indiana under Article I, Sections 2, 3, and 4, of the Indiana State Constitution." trinitysem.edu/about-trinity/…

Those sections have nothing to do with academics.

The 1981 @CTmagazine article noted, "It is not 'state-chartered' in the sense that the state gives it any recognition for the degrees it offers. Because it is a Bible school, it needs no recognition under Indiana law."

Such statements about "authorization" can mislead students.

So when one of its D.Min students decides to propose a study in 2013 to test his hypothesis that NPD exists at a higher rate among pastors than the general population, Trinity approves it, and a "dissertation coach" is willing to help.
darrellpuls.com/theprocess.html

Trinity approved the use of a survey designed by two Dutch scholars to measure "everyday narcissism," who explicitly state in numerous publications that it doesn't measure NPD.

The student received their permission to use it, but didn't tell them he was measuring for NPD.

The student embeds the survey in a longer survey on leadership, administers it to pastors in a Presbyterian denomination in Canada, uses his own scoring mechanism and powers of interpretation to determine how many had NPD, and then writes a final report, which gets accepted.

His dissertation coach then turns the study into a book, Let us Prey, and gets it published by @wipfandstock. He presents a paper at a conference put on by the American Association of Christian Counselors and writes a blog for their website. aacc.net/2017/12/11/let…

At a large conference of christian counselors he claims,

"If the percentages hold true, 96,300–112,350 congregations in the United States are pastored by clergy with diagnosable Narcissistic Personality Disorder.”

darrellpuls.com/images/AACC_20…

He goes on the radio and continues to spread the findings of the study, claiming,

"31.2 percent of the active clergy of that particular denomination, which is fairly conservative, met the diagnostic criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder"
soundcloud.com/janetmefferdto…

An online profile then describes him as an expert in "mental illness" and "clinical health psychology" who "Tested clergy in Canada for Narcissistic Personality Disorder - 32.1% diagnosed with NPD"

researchgate.net/profile/Darrel…

In 2018, the Church of England cites the study from Trinity Theological Seminary when they announce their plans to examine the possibility of screening clergy for NPD.

telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/07/1…

Hundreds of victims of narcissistic abuse reach out to Ball and Puls, abuse advocates and those in related professions cite the study, as do graduate students, reporters, and bloggers.

An entire denomination is "dismayed" that 31.2% of their active pastors apparently have NPD.

The ministers who participated in the study wasted their time, then received results that perhaps caused them to fear they might have a serious mental illness.

And the dutch researchers have both their academic reputation and the credibility of their work threatened.

This isn't the first time Trinity has produced such a mess.

An Ohio newspaper exposed a Trinity graduate in 1981 who was advertising himself as a "psychologist in private practice" after receiving a PhD in Psychology for completing a dissertation on the Psychology of Music.

Our churches and communities do need to become safer places, and we need to pursue an accurate understanding of all the factors that harm others, but "short-cut" degrees and shoddy scholarship do "shortchange everybody" and hinder our ability to address serious problems.