Theological University of Apeldoorn

Theological University of Apeldoorn

Type	Seminary
Established	1894
Location	Apeldoorn , The Netherlands 52°13′16″N 5°57′51″E / 52.2211°N 5.9643°E / 52.2211; 5.9643

The Theological University of Apeldoorn (TUA) is the Dutch theological university of the Christian Reformed Churches (Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerken). More than 130 students study at the university in Apeldoorn, Netherlands. The theological course lasts six years. The student is in the bachelor's program for the first three years. This has a more orientating character, and includes the languages Classic Greek and Koine Greek, Latin and Biblical Hebrew. In the three-year master's program that follows, further studies and specialization are discussed. The training is specifically aimed at educating pastors (for the Christian Reformed Churches). Furthermore, one tries to keep together the reformed character of the faith and the church and the scientific level of the university. The syllabus consists of subjects such as ethics, apologetics, Old and New Testament, canonical studies, dogmatics, church history, church law and civil subjects.^[1][2]

Although the university is mainly a preacher training for the Christian Reformed Churches, a minority of them become preachers or preachers within this church federation. In addition to students from the Netherlands, there are also students from outside the Netherlands, especially from Korea, Indonesia and other countries in Asia. Students come from various confessional backgrounds and from various countries. National student evaluations have ranked TUA for several years as one the best Dutch universities.^[3]

There is also contact and cooperation with the Theological University of the Reformed Churches in Utrecht. By integrating their research programs, the theological universities of Apeldoorn and Utrecht are able to present a combined tradition of more than two centuries of classical theology. Their research program aims to combine two fields of research that are often kept quite separate: Biblical Exegesis and Systematic Theology (BEST).