Messiah University — Local services in Upper Allen Township

This is not a Christian University!!

To be clear, I hold no ill feelings towards anyone or any group of people. I came to Messiah University to be educated while also growing in my faith and relationship with God. I believe in the Bible, and I believe in God’s Word. If He says it is wrong, then it is. If He says it is right, then it is.

Messiah University’s Biblical Beliefs.

My experience with biblical studies at this school is the reason I left. I took a Bible course called Encountering the Bible with Professor Eric Seibert. Professor Eric Seibert taught the class and I that certain parts of the Bible were not true and that there were errors in the Bible. Included in his reading packet he assigned to us were a few pages from a book he wrote himself called “Disturbing Divine Behavior.” When I saw the title of his book, I was deeply disturbed. How dare someone call the behavior of God, the Alpha and Omega, “disturbing?” Eric Seibert has another book called, “The Violence of Scripture: Overcoming the Old Testament’s Troubling Legacy.” There were several things said in this class, and I ended up having to walk out because I could not bear to hear it any longer. There was another student in my class who raised their hand to say that they were questioning everything they ever believed in. The Encountering the Bible class with Eric Seibert really traumatized me and had me questioning my foundational beliefs. I was able to strengthen my faith once again with the help of my family and friends who felt the same. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS A FOUNDATIONAL COURSE THAT MOST STUDENTS WILL NEED TO TAKE AT SOME POINT.

Messiah University’s Lack of Reverence to God.

Within the first few weeks of being on campus, I was already starting to see different signs that showed me Messiah University did not show reverence to God. The school put the new students into many groups where we did various activities. One activity included the option to make a skit for the new students to see. My group picked the skit activity which was to make a joke out of scripture. One person in my group was to play Jesus while another was to play the woman who washed his feet. Instead, they planned to pretend to polish the toenails as a joke to basically mock scripture. I wanted no part of it, so I left.

I write this review because I am very disappointed in the way things transpired at this school. My father went to this school in the 90s and he was even more disappointed. I was trying to figure things out for my first year of college while also trying to keep my faith strong in a school where I felt I was constantly being attacked.

I am thankful that God guided me with the Holy Spirit to know when something wasn’t right, when I needed to leave the room and finally when I needed to leave...

For a college that claims to be Christian, they certainly don't do a good job portraying it once you are locked into a semester. They make it seem so nice and wonderful and highlight all the good parts about the college in the showcases, but after that you get rammed with secular thoughts and ideas. Their explanation for this is that they want to be an open Christian society. The whole point behind being a Christian is to stand out from the crowd, and not bending to the outside as much as they do. I'm not the only one with these experiences, I have come across NUMEROUS young adults that aren't happy there, and the only reason they stay is because they are getting a free ride or they are being forced to by parents. Complete joke of a college, you'd be better off going to a community institution for...

Watching history professor John Fea on CSPAN today, discussing the Enlightenment with his class. I went to Westmont College myself, similar to Messiah as a liberal arts college. I am stunned by the low scoring comments here, stating grievances about how a liberal arts education is somehow anti-Christian. The dogma that the Religious Right pushes is frankly a calculated attack on the biases of religious people to push them further toward a singular ideology that does not resemble the message of Jesus. Dare I call it brainwashing. A liberal arts education encourages students to think freely, study complex ideas dispassionately, and examine their own biases and ultimately think for oneself. Good for you,...