It appears that the Los Angeles Times has learned that many conservative Christian colleges are having a difficult time navigating the political and cultural changes of the last decade or so.
Here is a taste of Thomas Curwen’s piece on Biola University:
Today students can take classes in criminology, physics, accounting, gender studies and cinema. They sign a statement of faith during the application process, and each year faculty sign Articles of Faith pledging allegiance to the truth of Scripture as it articulates “God’s vision for humanity” and prescribes a course for living in this broken world.
University President Barry Corey quotes Isaiah — to “rebuild the ancient ruins and … raise up the age-old foundations” — in arguing that Biola graduates are ready to make the necessary repairs.
“Our students — whether they are screenwriters or accountants, policy wonks or research nerds — are Gospel witnesses,” Corey said. “We want their vocations and lives to be a reflection of their Christian faith and a longing for others to know the redeeming love of Jesus.”
But some students and faculty wonder if that is enough.
To argue that the Bible is without error means more than accepting its origin stories. It means accepting that the problems of the world derive from Adam’s sin and can be solved only by Christ. For some that means the Second Coming.
As dean of faculty for the theology school, Scott Rae, said last year about climate change: “Our best hope for the planet is that God’s coming back to reclaim it and to set things right and to heal what had been previously broken.”
Rae qualifies that statement (“I’m not suggesting we passively wait,” he said; “we have responsibility now”), but the role of Christ’s return has divided the evangelical community especially as it wrestles over its response to oppression and injustice in American society.
For some Christians, the path ahead is simple: Pray, proselytize and prepare your hearts. For others, fixing and reforming the world can’t wait.
“The party line,” said one Biola professor who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity out of concern of reprisal, “is that Jesus died for your sins and to have a personal relationship with Jesus is to have eternal life. Anything else is a distraction. But we think the Gospel is also about bringing healing, restoration, justice and love to a broken world.”
The debate has taken on red and blue hues.
“In some parts of the university, there is a flowering of a more progressive, justice-oriented Christianity,” said a colleague who also asked not to be identified. “In other parts, there is pushback, a fear of a liberal Christianity that strays from Biola’s conservative roots.”
Dissent is hard to find at a university known for its culture of niceness. Yet fractures are conspicuous.
Not long after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, the opinion editor for Biola’s student-run news site called on millennials and Gen Z to help guide Christians away from their support of the Trump presidency.
That editor, Evana Upshaw, cited Scripture to argue that, just as Moses encouraged the Israelites entering the promised land not to repeat the sins of earlier generations, young Christians need to chart a new course toward “hope and healing.”
“Our faith, now synonymous with unwavering support for Donald Trump, is causing many to question how Christians could sell out women, immigrants, Black people, Indigenous people, people of color, the LGBTQ+ community and the poor for the sake of political power,” she wrote, concluding that “Gen Z sees the hypocrisy of Christians today. … It’s time to pass the torch.”
Reaction was quick. Readers, commenting online, branded the piece as “propaganda,” “racist and trash,” “riddled with unfounded assumption and presumption.”
When the faculty advisor asked Upshaw, who identifies as Black/biracial, to start publishing more conservative opinions, she felt sidelined.
“I didn’t want to fight it. I felt like I was the only one giving Black issues a voice, and I was exhausted,” said Upshaw, who eventually transferred to another university.
Race, as much as politics, cuts through campus life at Biola. In 2020, during Black History Month, posters of African American leaders were defaced with a racial slur, and the university held a “lament session” for students to talk about discrimination on campus.
Corey acknowledges that “polarization and the toxic nature of the culture” have found their way to Biola.
“It grieves me deeply when students don’t feel like they are welcome here,” he said. “We’re in the business of helping students think deeply and express themselves in a reasonable, civil and humble manner, but this is taking more work than it did 15 years ago.”
And this:
Frustrated by the university’s doctrinal rigidity, some current and former Biola students are having their own theological discussions. They gather two miles off campus at a United Methodist Church every other Sunday with the belief that faith is more than an either/or proposition.
They call themselves the St. Thomas Collective for the apostle who questioned the resurrection until the crucified Jesus stood before him. Christian in spirit, nondenominational in practice, they want to provide what they haven’t found at Biola: a nonjudgmental space for open inquiry.
The group started in 2016, initially meeting in a garage “to voice their questions and doubts and wild ideas.” They currently have up to 50 members at large.
“This is the community that Biola should be trying to hold on to,” USC’s Flory said. “Most young people don’t care about religion, but if you have young people trying to grapple with their faith — so they can make sense of it, given the world they experience — you should listen to them.”
Read the entire piece here. If these debates have not emerged on your Christian college campus yet, they are coming–very soon.
If you are patron, feel free to respond to this piece in the comments section. (If you are not patron, click the red “SUPPORT” above and become one!) 🙂 I will weigh-in as well.
Very biased article from the Los Angeles Times.
What parts did you think were biased, David.
I won’t give a point by point analysis, nor in full disclosure have I ever been to Biola. But one of the problems in my opinion was mentioning David Gushee as an ethicist without mentioning his background as one who has moved from right to left. Also, in broad generalities the article gave short shrift to the concept of Biola holding to its original (and biblical) principles.
If you check on Facebook, Roman Catholic theologian Tony Esolen, who has spoken at Biola, sharply criticized this LA Times commentary, calling it a hit piece.
I am a former student of BIOLA College during its early years aa a college and not a Bible institute (1961-64). At that time many students opposed the rule we had to agree to that we would not attend movies. There were quite a few (not me) who went to movies anyway. We also agreed not to dance. Yet there were those who did. I don’t know of any discipline applied to those who were caught doing these things.
At that time the book, The Genesis Flood, came out and the school feted the authors, Morris and Whitcomb, and promoted the book. The book purported to be a scientific support for six, 24-hour days of creation. That was the the generally agreed upon interpretation. In today’s Christian schools there is more leeway given to evolution. Also, political conservatism was always in the background. A rumor was that when a certain revered prof spent a dime he had to turn it over so that he wouldn’t have to see FDR’s face. Another prof made public his condemnation of a popular comedy TV show because in a skit a man wore woman’s clothes and pretended to be a woman. Not too many people get hot about that today. It is in the Bible and so is the law against tattoos. How’s that going now?
Today there are few to none Christian schools who don’t allow movies or dancing. Biola changed its rules. Was it caving in to the world? In my own Christina high school there were several pages in the Parent/Student Handbook as to why dancing was against God’s will. But, many years later that same school sponsored dances. The Devil’s work?
My point is that times change and we change our ideas of what is acceptable at a Christian institution. Almost everything we have required of students in the past but don’t anymore was justified as being biblical. I think those who run and those who fund Christian institutions should rely more heavily on humility. Listening to students is better than berating them. This article does favor change toward Christian gay students. They don’t want to dwell in the closet while learning to be better Christians. They want to be themselves. What is the Spirit saying?
Thanks, David.
Terry Mattingly also commented:
https://www.getreligion.org/getreligion/2022/6/13/nowhere-to-hide-los-angeles-times-hit-job-spotlights-one-side-of-biola-university-tensions