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.
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.