Posted on 01/07/2006 8:11:15 AM PST by jude24
Wheaton College was delighted to have assistant professor Joshua Hochschild teach students about medieval philosopher Thomas Aquinas, one of Roman Catholicism's foremost thinkers.
But when the popular teacher converted to Catholicism, the prestigious evangelical college reacted differently. It fired him.
Wheaton, like many evangelical colleges, requires full-time faculty members to be Protestants and sign a statement of belief in "biblical doctrine that is consonant with evangelical Christianity." In a letter notifying Mr. Hochschild of the college's decision, Wheaton's president said his "personal desire" to retain "a gifted brother in Christ" was outweighed by his duty to employ "faculty who embody the institution's evangelical Protestant convictions."
[snip]
In a 2004 book titled "Conceiving the Christian College," Mr. Litfin argued that hiring Catholics would start Wheaton down a slippery slope. Wouldn't having Catholic faculty, he asked rhetorically, "lead to a gradual sacrificing of Wheaton's distinctives?"
In an interview, [Wheaton President] Mr. Litfin acknowledges that a ban on Catholic faculty "narrows the pool that you can draw from." But he says that the school's niche is also a key to its success. "If you look at the caliber of our faculty, this is an amazing place. It's thriving."
[snip]
Yet a question nagged Mr. Hochschild: Why am I not a Catholic? As he saw it, evangelical Protestantism was vaguely defined and had a weak scholarly tradition, which sharpened his admiration for Catholicism's self-assurance and intellectual history. "I even had students who asked me why I wasn't Catholic," he says. "I didn't have a decent answer."
His wife, Paige, said her husband's distaste for the "evangelical suspicion of philosophy" at the school might have contributed to his ultimate conversion. The Hochschilds say some evangelicals worry that learning about philosophy undermines students' religious convictions.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
" It's just a matter of time. Come over to the dark side...."
And see, here I thought that shiver I felt was a demon outside the library here when in fact it was a disturbance in The Force! :)
Also, I think ideally, Hinduism should be taught by a Hindu, Islam taught by a Muslim, etc. That's the way Cardinal John Henry Newman defined the Idea of the University. It's a Catholic thing. (Of course it's also the same reasoning the Jesuits abuse so they can hire every commie pagan under the sun to teach in their colleges).
I couldn't disagree more. I want to hear all sides of the story told. Any other way might be nothing but apologetics/propaganda.
Agree.
A mixed faculty is a bit like a mixed marriage.
No doubt. If that's the case, all I'm saying that he put his faith second.
The more you study the medieval period, the more you realize that the Reformer misrepresented the period. Luther, for instance, never studied Aquinas, This was one reason why he and Cajetan, the leading Thomost of Luther's day, could hardly communicate when they met.
Or Otrthodox, anyway. I am thinking of Jaroslav Pelikan, the Lutheran scholarwho became Orthodox.
Heck, I want Catholic universities to fire the atheists, feminists, and communists who have taken over. I can't exactly fault Wheaton for taking similar measures to preserve their identity, though I do think it's their loss.
I'm not a subscriber, so I couldn't read the full article.
Who is stirring this pot? Did somebody seek out this professor, or did he seek out the media? This is an intra-Evangelical issue, too, so perhaps those Evangelicals aiming for academic respectability have adopted the guy as a cause celebre. I sure hope the professor didn't go whining to the press. Academic positions are hard to come by, but decisions have their consequences.
Did he have such a contract? He was REQUIRED to be a Protestant by contract? If that is the case, then I suppose Wheaton had a right to let him go. But on the other hand, one wonders why he didn't just go to the board of directors more quietly. Who knows of his motives and the whole story. I wonder about the requirement. Being that this man was an instructor, what sort of religious freedom are they teaching? What sort of conviction does the board have with their own faith? Interesting.
Regards
I guess this is as smart as demanding a white doctor when there might be a better choice of physician available to you. It's one's right to make such a choice but a more informed choice might consider quality first.
Either way, this is not a new issue for religious schools. Sooner or later, you're going to be forced to choose which is more important to you - the best available scholar and academic, or the one with the right profession of faith. Sometimes you'll get lucky and both those qualities will exist in one person, but sooner or later push will come to shove and you'll have to decide which you prefer. And no matter which you choose, there will always be some who wanted you to make the other choice, and will reconsider you as an institution for making the "wrong" choice.
§ 2. All teachers and all administrators, at the time of their appointment, are to be informed about the Catholic identity of the Institution and its implications, and about their responsibility to promote, or at least to respect, that identity.§ 3. In ways appropriate to the different academic disciplines, all Catholic teachers are to be faithful to, and all other teachers are to respect, Catholic doctrine and morals in their research and teaching. In particular, Catholic theologians, aware that they fulfil a mandate received from the Church, are to be faithful to the Magisterium of the Church as the authentic interpreter of Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.
§ 4. Those university teachers and administrators who belong to other Churches, ecclesial communities, or religions, as well as those who profess no religious belief, and also all students, are to recognize and respect the distinctive Catholic identity of the University. In order not to endanger the Catholic identity of the University or Institute of Higher Studies, the number of non-Catholic teachers should not be allowed to constitute a majority within the Institution, which is and must remain Catholic.
A study of Church History and the Church Fathers has resulted in exactly opposite actions at times. Such is life.
I think yours is a more Catholic idea. Catholics interpret Scripture through the lenses of the Fathers, the Councils, and the Creeds (Tradition). From my experience with Protestants, most do not hold to reading Scriptures through the lenses of Tradition, but their own private interpretation. I suppose the tension at Wheaton between the professor converting and the other Christians would have been too much on such issues.
Regards
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