Some observations and suggestions:

1. This is a conflict so it is helpful to recognize some dynamics of conflict. Our goal should be to have helpful conversations where both sides can feel heard. One thing to recognize is how anger impacts our capacity to listen well to each other and to resist a lot of sinful habits we all have learned. The Bible says “in your anger do not sin.” I’ve read some popular notions of brain function that asserts that once we have activated our fight/flight regions of the brain other portions of the brain aren’t able to function as well. In my experience this debate in Christian circles regularly activates the fight/flight regions of our brain. When we are angry it is probably important to be careful around keyboards and microphones lest we say things that are not fair, generous, kind, accurate or honest.

Also this kind of debate tends not to be one where the combatants will likely do a lot of changing positions. It is assumed that those listening in are the audience that both sides wish to influence. For that reason it is important to recognize that it is probably true that the most persuasive arguments are those that resist characterizing others, leaning hard on assuming the motives of others, and indulging in sarcasm or insults.

2. Recognize that different groups have different roles to play in this matter in the broader Christian community. A college is not a church. Professors are not pastors. The task of doing theology is not identical with gospel proclamation. Part of what makes this discussion complicated is that there are differing ideas about what it means to be a “Christian” college. How does the requirement to sign the form of subscription impact how a professor goes about his or her work? Because we have different institutions I think it is important to understand how these institutions should function within the economy of the broader body of Christ. We must also consider how that body must function within its context in the broader world. All of these levels are important to keep in mind as we work through an issue like this.

2a. What is a “Christian” college and how should it understand its in relationship with the church, the broader body of Christ and its relationships outside the church?

The steward of the mission of Calvin College is its board of trustees. That is the body that is tasked by the CRCNA to govern the school and steward its mission. I hope and pray that the group is a healthy board that understands its mandate and is diligent towards its task. I have no reason to believe that any of this is not so at this point but I also have no experience with that body at all. Having had experience with governing boards I do know that they can be complex and ever changing.

In my opinion the mission of Calvin College is to create a space where young people are taught to faithfully engage the “the two books” described in Article 2 of the Belgic Confession, the creation (general revelation) and the Bible (special revelation). I wrote about this in a previous blog post: https://paulvanderklay.wordpress.com/2009/10/12/the-need-for-calvin-college/. Part of that is modeling which means that a central task of the faculty is that they themselves are always engaged in this process.

A major part of how this works is for academics to explore ideas and offer ideas for broader discussion and evaluation. This is how I understand the articles published by Profs. Schneider and Harlow.

Now some are saying “there are ideas in these papers that aren’t in line with the doctrinal standards of the CRC” and that may very well be true. That alone, however, does not mean that either of them have violated the Form of Subscription. The Form of Subscription recognizes a difference in being involved in discussion and doing theological exploration verses promotion of ideas as settle theology or representing them as the teachings of the church. There is a difference between what someone might put in a theological journal for peer review and discussion, or what is presented to students for debate and discussion verses what one preaches from the pulpit. These men have presented their ideas as their ideas and they are putting them forward for debate. The best way to respond to the ideas is to respond to the ideas.

I think all of this is exactly what should he happening at Calvin College. The college doesn’t need professors simply espousing settled theology. Books can do that. We need professors to think, engage students, wrestle with ideas. This isn’t far from the admonitions of Miss Frizzle: “take chances, make mistakes, get messy!” This is the work of human learning.

Why should it happen at a Christian college? A Christian college hopefully offers a safe space where multiple voices can be heard and hopefully understood. It provides a common background and language that hopefully can help bring clarity to issues and make discussions helpful.

Part of what a Christian college should offer is a context of hope. We understand that nobody gets everything right and that ideas have to be tested, evaluated and worked through. To do this well we want an open place where people can be honest about what they believe, about what they are thinking, and can hopefully share them where there will be listening, fair minded challenges, and earnest struggle. I hope that is what all of the faculty of Calvin College is engaging in.

2b. How does it help the CRCNA to have Calvin College processing these kinds of issues. These issues are important ones in terms of missiology in the developed world. We learn often by dissonance and when things don’t square up we are forced to re-evaluate assumed ideas and seek better answers to long standing questions. Sometimes these questions come from Scripture, sometimes they come from general revelation. The CRCNA is blessed to have a relationship with a community of people wrestling with these things. These are things that churches are not equipped to deal with. There may be a scientist or two, and probably only one person trained in theology or Biblical studies and those two people may likely be engaged in a variety of other important task beyond working on some of these difficult puzzles. A community like Calvin College allows the CRCNA to be attached to broader conversations that individuals in our churches may only get snippets of.

It is also important to recognize that Calvin College is NOT a church and the church is NOT Calvin College. Calvin needs to do its thing in conversation with the church and visa versa but that conversation can only happen if both parties understand their roles and converse from within them. The point of connection between the two is the Calvin Board of Trustees.

3. Helping both sides to understand each other.

Because I’m a pastor with an interest in Biblical studies and theology and because I read blogs by various scholars I know that the topics being discussed by the Calvin profs in question is being done within a broader discussion very much within the evangelical community. By virtue of knowing people who know these people, and knowing the institution in question, I don’t have any concerns that in fact these are fine, Christian men who have both the courage and integrity to do their jobs which I think they are in fact doing. That doesn’t mean that all of their ideas are “right”. They will probably be the first to say that they may be wrong about much. That is part of the academic project. What it does mean is that these people are highly trained, highly learned, and highly specialized in working through very difficult ideas and exploring possibilities. These are idea-athletes. They work with ideas all the time and they are good at it.

I am a pastor of a church with very regular people doing very regular things most of which doesn’t touch the kinds of things these specialized people are focusing on. What touches them from their work are usually some basic, attention grabbing headlines that touch on some pretty important things.

What I see are idea-athletes who are nimble, agile and in a sense mountain climbers when it comes to working with ideas. They come back and say “that mountain can be climbed!”. That’s fine. I’d love to hear about what they explore. Part of what I say in response to them is “it’s fine to tell me how you are able to climb the mountain. You are an athlete and a very adept climber. You practice climbing all day long. You have learned the tricks, the rules, the ropes, etc. It is one thing to say that you, and other skilled climbers can get through those mountains. It is an entirely different project to ask me to get my village through those mountains. We have young and old and a good many people with no small amount of baggage.”

With this little word picture I hope both sides will understand something about each other. We need idea-athletes in a place like Calvin College to be up there playing on the rocks in places where many of us should probably not dare to play on. Yes there are slippery slopes and slippery slopes can cost you your life. People in the village shouldn’t say “you people better stay out of those mountains. You might get hurt!” Let the idea-athlete-climbers do their exploration. What they discover in the mountains will likely become useful down in the village.

At the same time the idea-athlete-climbers should understand (and probably do) that being a villager is a very different thing from what they do. Villagers may enjoy the mountains and look to them regularly and get their water from the mountains but their knowledge of the mountains is limited and they spend most of their lives doing things that climbers too depend upon. Raising kids, working farms, tending shops, etc. Both groups have their roles and should understand something about how they both need each other to do their jobs for the sake of the others.

enough for now. More later I’m sure. pvk