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Bob Jones science and Catholics


Moxie
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I don't know anything about their science per se, but Bob Jones stuff is so anti-Catholic in general that I would not buy their science even if never mentioned Catholics. I suspect the most problematic area other the YE stuff would be any discussion of Copernicus and Galileo.

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I don't really know anything about BJU or anti Catholic vs. pro Catholic, but I'm just curious. What kind of info is anti-Catholic? I've seen quite a few complaints about certain curriculums being anti-Catholic, but I don't know what is said about the Catholic church that is considered anti-Catholic. Are there inaccuracies?

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I've used Bob Jones in the past for certain subjects. I haven't seen Anti-Catholic stances but then I used the elementary subjects. You might find some in the high school science and history, especially when they talk about the Reformation but even then I haven't really heard anything about it, but then many Catholics don't use BJU.

 

The company I have heard is anti Catholic though. Bob Jones was used for us before we became Catholic. But even when I wasn't I didn't come across anything anti Catholic in it. But then I only used their math , and did have a grade 4 curriculum, math, english, science, history etc and didn't come across anything anti Catholic then. If anything they focus on their faith more.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Jones_University

 

Criticism of Catholicism and Mormonism

The three Bob Joneses, especially Bob Jones, Jr., sharply criticized the Roman Catholic Church. For instance, Jones, Jr. once said that Catholicism was "not another Christian denomination. It is a satanic counterfeit, an ecclesiastic tyranny over the souls of men....It is the old harlot of the book of the Revelation—'the Mother of Harlots.'" All popes, Jones asserted, "are demon possessed."[91] In 2000, then-president Bob Jones III referred, on the university's web page, to Mormons and Catholics as "cults which call themselves Christian."[92] Furthermore, in 1966, BJU awarded an honorary doctorate to the Rev. Ian Paisley, future British MP, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, and Moderator of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster, who has referred to the Pope as a "Roman anti-Christ." [93] Bob Jones III has argued that the university is not so much anti-Catholic or anti-Mormon as it is opposed to the idea that all men, regardless of religious beliefs, will eventually get to heaven: "Our shame would be in telling people a lie, and thereby letting them go to hell without Christ because we loved their goodwill more than we loved them and their souls…. All religion, including Catholicism, which teaches that salvation is by religious works or church dogma is false. Religion that makes the words of its leader, be he Pope or other, equal with the Word of God is false. Sola Scriptura. From the time of the Protestant Reformation onward, it has been understood that there is no commonality between the Bible way, which is justification by faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ, and salvation by works, which the faithful, practicing Catholic embraces."[94]

[edit]

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Drexel gave a great summary.

 

As for the science, I believe it is Young Earth. The (Catholic) Church doesn't require us to be specifically "young" or "old" earth and believes most modern science is compatible with our faith; many Catholics (including myself) are Theistic Evolutionists/Old Earth.

 

I wouldn't use their science specifically because I am not Young Earth; I wouldn't use their materials specifically (as a whole) because the "company" itself is notoriously anti-Catholic... with no apologies or denials about it.

 

I live across from Bob Jones University. Hard to get away from here. If I want my daughter to take the ITBS this year, I have to go through them.

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I live across from Bob Jones University. Hard to get away from here. If I want my daughter to take the ITBS this year, I have to go through them.

 

Triangle Educational Assessments also provides the ITBS. I used them just because I can't stand BJU.

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I think it depends on your state's requirements. Brewer Testing out of North Carolina supplies the ITBS and the parent can administer the test.

 

http://www.brewertesting.com/

I just looked it up through Triangle. So long as the parent submits information and has a BA or BS, they can administer the ITBS.

I think we'll order it in May :)

Better alternative to testing through BJU.

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Even in the literature, the young earth position is very clear. My daughter is using Reading 1. This is the last year I use BJU materials for anything due to the fact I disagree with YE. Plus it is hard for me to stomach funding an organization with strong political viewpoints I disagree with. However the books are well-written. Obviously the science is going to be young earth position. But their religious viewpoint is found throughout their materials. I use secular science as we did in Catholic school when I went through it. BJU holds a large market-share in home school textbooks, however there are so many fantastic curricula out there. So if you don't want YE focused material there is a lot of choices available. If you don't mind YE or just teaching around it, the books are well organized and have been around a long time. So happy planning.

Edited by tarahillmom
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I don't really know anything about BJU or anti Catholic vs. pro Catholic, but I'm just curious. What kind of info is anti-Catholic? I've seen quite a few complaints about certain curriculums being anti-Catholic, but I don't know what is said about the Catholic church that is considered anti-Catholic. Are there inaccuracies?

 

Hi Angie. Basically, if a person / text / opinion is anti-Catholic, it means they are against the Catholic Church and its teachings. This can come across in inaccuracies, bias, or simply the tone and attitude towards the church.

 

Last Christmas, for example, a Baptist preacher give the children's talk at the local public Christimas Carols. He went on and on about how Mary and Joseph had s_x after they were married. There was absolutely no reason for this, except he was putting forward his 'anti-Catholic' view - using the opportunity to put forward his opinions; it was completely inappropriate, and not the time nor the place.

 

Some books may say such things as: 'The Catholics believed that the Pope was the head of the church, however, we know that it is not man, but God who is the head of the church'. Both Protestants and Catholics would agree - God IS the head, but as Catholics, we believe the Pope holds the position of the head of the church ON EARTH until the return of Christ.

 

So often, it's not what is said in these curriculums, but how it is said. And, in history books in particular, the Catholic Church is presented in a bad light, as an evil institution rather than a church which serves God.

 

I hope that helps,

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