Is a moderate/liberal Christian college possible?

[PloverWing]

(Preface: My thoughts have been prompted by the recent situation of Larycia Hawkins at Wheaton College, but I don't want to debate her specific case here; it's been debated already at great length in the News & Current Events forum.)

I attended two Christian-affiliated colleges. One was Wheaton College (Illinois). Wheaton has a specific statement of faith that faculty agree to. The statement describes a conservative Evangelical Protestant body of beliefs; many Catholic, Orthodox, and mainline Protestant Christians would not be able to sign it. (For the record, Wheaton understands that Evangelicalism is only one subset of Christianity.) There are a number of Evangelical colleges with approaches similar to Wheaton; they are designed to teach the Christian faith to their students, alongside other subjects.

My other school was Duke University, which has a strong United Methodist affiliation (including a seminary), but whose non-seminary faculty hold a wide range of religious beliefs, including non-Christian religions and atheism. I know of a number of colleges like this -- including Harvard, Yale, and many Catholic colleges -- with a religious heritage, but no specific attempt to teach Christianity to all the students in their classes.

Wheaton's constraints allow it to have a specifically Christian vision, which I think it wonderful -- but Christians with moderate-to-liberal beliefs or Catholic beliefs would not be allowed to teach there. Duke is much more open, but there is no specifically Christian vision in its curriculum.

So, my question: Are there moderate-to-liberal Christian colleges with a mission similar to Wheaton's -- explicitly teaching Christianity throughout the curriculum -- but with a statement of faith that's broad enough to accept Catholic, Orthodox, and moderate-to-liberal Protestants among their faculty? Is such a thing possible, or is there an inherent conflict when one actually tries to implement it?

 

[Qyöt27]

My guess is that it's that moderate-to-liberal Christians and denoms are simply not predisposed to *require* that students take religiously-flavored courses unless that's what they want to do. The closest you'd probably get would be schools established by or in covenant relationships with a denomination (like how Eckerd College was founded by the two forerunner denominations of the PCUSA and still maintains a covenant relationship with the current denomination), but they probably do continue to compartmentalize a lot.

 

[LloydK]

I'd check out the Quaker colleges, although they're probably expensive and I think colleges don't really provide a good education. They just brainwash people, same as grade school and high school. So I think the internet is one of the best places to get educated, along with the library.

 

[Butterfly99]

My mom went to Duke Divinity School! I wonder if you were there at the same time as her. The world can be small sometimes!

 

[PloverWing]

I'd check out the Quaker colleges, although they're probably expensive and I think colleges don't really provide a good education. They just brainwash people, same as grade school and high school. So I think the internet is one of the best places to get educated, along with the library.

We'll have to agree to disagree about the value of formal college education. The college courses I took in theology, philosophy, and mathematics have deeply shaped me as a person and as a Christian. It's possible that I could have gained similar knowledge by spending many hours in a very good library, but it would have taken a great deal of self-discipline, as well as wisdom in knowing which books were the best investment of my time.

There is a trio of excellent Quaker-heritage colleges near me -- Bryn Mawr, Haverford, and Swarthmore -- but they are more like Duke than Wheaton in their approach to religious studies. On the other coast, I know of George Fox by name, but I don't know much else about it, so it might be a possibility.

 

[PloverWing]

My mom went to Duke Divinity School! I wonder if you were there at the same time as her. The world can be small sometimes!

I was there 1982-1990. (My graduate studies took rather a long time.) When was your mom there?

 

[Butterfly99]

I was there 1982-1990. (My graduate studies took rather a long time.) When was your mom there?

She got her Masters in the late 90s. I don't remember the exact yr & she's already in bed so I can't ask. It was before I was born but not that much. Then when I was like 7 she went back for a couple more yrs for another degree. It took a really long time to do everything but she didn't do it all at once. It's such a great school. It's one of the schools I def. plan on applying to next yr for college. If I don't go there for college I want to go there for grad school, but not for divinity probably. I love everything about it.

 

[KitKatMatt]

I'd check out the Quaker colleges, although they're probably expensive and I think colleges don't really provide a good education. They just brainwash people, same as grade school and high school. So I think the internet is one of the best places to get educated, along with the library.

There's a vast difference between brainwashing and education.

 

[TMSigSys]

I know that the University of Valley Forge specifically with their online programs do not require you to be a Christian to attend. But their curriculum is Christ-centered. So if you go there you are getting a Christian education but a Christian from any background can attend.

 

[PloverWing]

I know that the University of Valley Forge specifically with their online programs do not require you to be a Christian to attend. But their curriculum is Christ-centered. So if you go there you are getting a Christian education but a Christian from any background can attend.

There's a faculty job posting on Valley Forge's web site that states: "Applicants are expected to be openly committed Christians, living a Spirit-filled life (Acts 2:4, Ephesians 5:18ff), and affirming a doctrinal position consistent with Assemblies of God beliefs." Depending on just what that entails, Valley Forge may be like Wheaton, requiring its faculty to affirm a very specific form of Christian theology that would exclude many Catholic, Orthodox, and mainline Protestant Christians.

I don't know if there are any schools out there that only require, say, the Nicene Creed as a statement of faith.

 

[redblue22]

many schools have an exclusive statement. they want to rule out all people who are not on their detailed page. on the other hand, there are schools with an inclusive statement. they want to agree on the very minimal basics so as to have students from a great variety of backgrounds. my school, trinity, was evangelical, but one of the few schools open to a wide range of christian traditions in the students.

 

[PloverWing]

Looking at the University of Valley Forge brought me to looking at nearby Eastern University, also in Pennsylvania. Eastern may be close to what I'm looking for. They do have a statement of faith that must be affirmed by all faculty, but it's less constrained than many of these statements are, closer to a "mere Christianity". While their statement of faith affirms baptism by immersion, there's a clause specifically stating that "a non-Baptist individual ... shall not be required to subscribe to that part of the Doctrinal Statement regarding the mode of water baptism." Some of the most divisive elements that I often see in statements of faith (inerrancy, denial of human evolution, particular doctrines of the end times, LGBT issues, gender issues) are absent from Eastern's statement.

 

[PloverWing]

my school, trinity, was evangelical, but one of the few schools open to a wide range of christian traditions in the students.

Is this the Trinity in Deerfield, IL? (There are several schools around with the name "trinity" -- a popular name, go figure .)

 

[redblue22]

yes, that's the one.

 

[Butterfly99]

What about Texas Christian University or Pepperdine? They're both great Christian schools.

 

[keith99]

Looking at the University of Valley Forge brought me to looking at nearby Eastern University, also in Pennsylvania. Eastern may be close to what I'm looking for. They do have a statement of faith that must be affirmed by all faculty, but it's less constrained than many of these statements are, closer to a "mere Christianity". While their statement of faith affirms baptism by immersion, there's a clause specifically stating that "a non-Baptist individual ... shall not be required to subscribe to that part of the Doctrinal Statement regarding the mode of water baptism." Some of the most divisive elements that I often see in statements of faith (inerrancy, denial of human evolution, particular doctrines of the end times, LGBT issues, gender issues) are absent from Eastern's statement.

Thinking of Lewis I don't think there can be a liberal Christian school in the mold one thinks of when it comes to conservative christian school. Something Screwtape saw as a disadvantage of his Enemy, that God cannot compel, He can only woo (I think because compelling pretty much ruins the whole idea of willing followers).

I think the more liberal Church recognizes this and sees that an attempt to compel agreement is a road to failure.

 

[LloydK]

"I think the more liberal Church recognizes this and sees that an attempt to compel agreement is a road to failure."

Correctamundo!

 

[TMSigSys]

I see what you are saying PloverWing. I looked at that job description. To an extent I'm sure UVF wants Assembly of God faculty because that is the denomination the college is rooted in. But in terms of belief differences between AG and other denominations the only one I think would be controversial is the AG belief of Baptism by the Holy Spirit that is physically proven by speaking in tongues. I don't know what UVF would say if someone applied that was a different denomination. But if, as a believer in Jesus, you can look past this denominational difference, and you're qualified, I'm sure the university would consider hiring. I think the biggest aspect is focusing on what unites us as Christians, that being Jesus.

 

[PloverWing]

Thinking of Lewis I don't think there can be a liberal Christian school in the mold one thinks of when it comes to conservative christian school. Something Screwtape saw as a disadvantage of his Enemy, that God cannot compel, He can only woo (I think because compelling pretty much ruins the whole idea of willing followers).

I think the more liberal Church recognizes this and sees that an attempt to compel agreement is a road to failure.

You may be right. As much as I like what schools like Wheaton are trying to do, the whole concept of compelling a particular statement of faith is troubling to me, and I don't see a good way around it.

 

[SnowyMacie]

What about Texas Christian University or Pepperdine? They're both great Christian schools.

Texas Christian University is not a Christian school anymore. They're removed "Christian" from their athletic team names are simply "TCU", the seminary at the university is now a completely independent school, and are working on removing their affiliation with the Disciples of Christ.


I went to ACU (Abilene Christian University), the mission statement is this: "To educate students for Christian service and leadership throughout the world." ACU is affiliated with the Churches of Christ, and requires it's faculty to be a member of it, but due to the unique nature of the CoC, there's a wide variety of beliefs within it. I had liberal professors, conservative professors, and everything in-between.