Dear Friend,

Welcome to the NIITS.  As you consider the council of your family and friends and seek the Lord’s will for your life in terms of theological training, you may be struggling with the question, “Is it necessary to go to a Bible College or Seminary for training?”

It is true that the Word of God emphasizes the moral and spiritual qualifications for a minister more than it does the natural and intellectual qualifications (1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1: 5-9). These verses do require, though, that a Christian worker be “able to teach” and that he hold fast “the faithful word as he has been taught that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.”

Furthermore, Paul admonished Timothy to be “a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15), and to “guard what was committed to your trust” (1 Tim. 6:20). A teacher of the Word, then, must be thoroughly trained in the exposition and defense of the Word of God.

North India Institute of Theological Studies will provide you with an education in the Bible (in the Old and New Testament departments), in the historical outworking of the Bible (in the church history department), in the topical expression and defense of the teaching of the Bible (in the systematic theology and Christian apologetics department), and in the application of the Bible to the lives of the people of God (in the ministerial or practical theology department). The whole curriculum is designed to educate men and women who will be faithful and able teachers of God’s Word and ministers of his sacraments; individuals who will give their lives to the equipping and edifying of the saints.

The theological education and ministry training in the BTh and MDiv degree programs at NIITS are accredited by Asia Theological Association (ATA).  One not only gets quality certified education, but also later on can build on it by pursuing higher theological education anywhere in India, Asia, or for that matter, the World!  At NIITS, BTh can be earned in three years of full-time residential study and MDiv in two years of residential studies.

I hope you will take the necessary steps for God-honoring decision to acquire the needed theological training to serve the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ; I did that in 1986 and never regretted it.

Rev. Dr. Sukhwant S. Bhatia
BSc, ThM, PhD
Principal

 

Dr. Sukhwant Singh Bhatia came to the Lord Jesus Christ after an exhaustive 4+ years of comparative study of other religions with the Bible.  He graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary with a ThM (Master of Theology) degree.  He earned his PhD in Higher Education Administration at the University of North Texas, in collaboration with Dallas Theological Seminary.  He is married to Vinita Bhatia since 1988 and they have two adult daughters, Priyankaa and Akanksha.

Dr. Bhatia’s passion is imparting instruction and learning to others. Here evidenced by some of his many encounters with lerners over the years.