'Arlington Baptist College' is a private four year
Bible college in
Arlington, Texas. The current president is David Bryant. Enrollment is generally near 150 students.
History
Founded by the well-known
Fundamentalist J. Frank Norris in
1939 as 'Fundamental Baptist Bible Institute', it changed its name to 'Bible Baptist Seminary' in
1945 and adopted its present name in
1972. The school has been affiliated with the
World Baptist Fellowship for its entire existence.
The school first held classes at Norris' First Baptist Church of
Fort Worth, Texas until his death, then leased the facilities of the former Brantley Draughon Business College in Fort Worth. The lease on the temporary quarters was lost a year later. A search began for a more permanent home for the seminary when the Elmo White property, located on US Highway 80 (now
Texas State Highway 180) in Tarrant County, was purchased. Plans were being made to construct buildings on this site. In
1956 the former Top O' Hill Terrace property became available. This property was purchased and the seminary relocated; Arlington Baptist College has been on this site for 50 years.
Academics and athletics
The college is accredited by
Association for Biblical Higher Education. It offers four year
Bachelor of Arts and
Bachelor of Science degrees. While it was known as the Fundamental Baptist Bible Institute and (later) Bible Baptist Seminary, the school granted Master's and Doctoral degrees, but does not now do so.
The ABC athletic program has been inactive for several years. The school has traditionally competed with the Patriot as their mascot.
Alumni
★
John Birch, namesake for the ultra-conservative
John Birch Society. One of the school's first graduates in 1940.
★
Kirk Franklin, the
Grammy-winning gospel singer attended ABC for one semester, playing on the basketball team during his time at the school.
Trivia
The Arlington campus is notable as being the site of a former casino which attracted the likes of
Joe Louis,
Humphrey Bogart, and
Bonnie Parker and
Clyde Barrow. Because of its notoriety the campus was declared a
Texas state historic site on May 17,
2004.
Links
Arlington Baptist College homepage