Christianity Today posted a story on-line this week about a recent flap at Cedarville University. The story begins:
"Cedarville University has become entangled in a dispute over theology and academic freedom after it terminated two tenured professors in July 2007. Cedarville's board of trustees upheld Bible professor David Hoffeditz's termination Friday, despite a report from a faculty grievance panel of five professors that determined that the college had made "administrative missteps" in the termination process. In classrooms, the professors openly challenged other faculty members whom they felt encouraged postmodern or Emergent theology.
"[The board] examined all of the evidence and the testimonies and so on and were convinced without a shadow of a doubt that he had violated his contract. It was not over doctrinal, theological issues at all," President William Brown told Christianity Today. Brown declined to discuss the details why Hoffeditz was terminated but said that they have to deal with the university's standards. "[Standards] involved how you treat each other, how you talk about each other, what's acceptable, and what's not. [Those standards] among others were violated."
The story goes on to state:
"The theological aspects of the dispute center on the degree of certainty Christians can have regarding their beliefs about God and other central doctrinal matters. A Cedarville Q&A Webpage dedicated to the controversy indicates that some among the university community are concerned that the institution may be moving in a "postmodern" or "Emergent" direction.
All faculty are required to sign the "Truth and Certainty" statement, a document created in 2006 that states that objective truth exists, that the Bible is inspired, infallible, and inerrant, and that Christians can be assured of their salvation."
So, let me get this straight...Cedarville, like most Christian schools, have a few emergent profs who other, more orthodox profs feel are leading the students astray and when the latter challenged the former, they were canned for it. Now, I'm sure the fired profs were not as grace-filled as they should have been but, it also sounds like the profs falling in the former camp have violated the covenant they made with the university. Sad.
