Atheist (David Fitzgerald noted the common bullying and intimidation within Evangelical Protestant scholarship and apologetics. The following are two examples from well-respected scholars, Mike Licona and Bruce Waltke. Ask yourself this: if the following examples (and they can be multiplied) were instances of LDS scholars and apologists being mistreated and bullied into resignation, etc., how many Protestants would latch onto this as evidence of the cultic nature of “Mormonism”? In reality, much of Evangelical Protestantism is anti-intellectual and is truly cultic:
CASE ONE: Mike
Licona
CRIME: Daring
to admit something in the Bible might not be true.
PUNISHMENT: Lost
his job and speaking engagements.
Mike Licona is a well-known
Christian apologist who specializes in defending the resurrection of Jesus in
debates and in print. He was also the Apologetics Coordinator for the Southern
Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board – that is, until he dared
suggest one of the wiggier events in the Gospels might not be literally true.
In his 2010 book, The
Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach, Licona briefly
questioned the historical reality of this unique incident that immediately follows
Jesus’ death on the cross – an event found nowhere else but in Matthew’s
gospel:
“ . . . and the graves were opened;
and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves
after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.”
(Matt. 27:52-53)
. . . he made the modest suggestion
that this “strange little text,” as he called it, might – might – only be
metaphorical apocalyptic imagery.
Naturally, such blasphemy
triggered a paroxysm of outrage from fellow evangelical apologists like Norman
Geisler, who accused Licona of denying the full inerrancy of “unorthodox,
non-evangelical, and a dangerous precedent for the rest of evangelicalism” (Bobby
Ross, Jr., “Interpretation
Sparks a Grave Theology Debate,” Christianity Today, November 7,
2011) The president of Louisville, Kentucky’s Southern Baptist Theological
Seminary, Albert Mohler, praised Licona’s book as a masterful defense of the
historicity of the resurrection; yet spent most of his review criticizing what
he called Licona’s “shocking and disastrous” (ibid.) questioning of Matthew’s
mass resurrection.
At least two Southern Baptist entities,
including the New Orleans seminary and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention,
rescinded invitations for Licona to speak at their apologetics conference. And
a year later in 2011, Licona resigned from both as a research professor at Southern
Evangelical Seminary and as the apologetics coordinator for the North American
Mission Board. Licona said he offered to resign rather than cast a shadow over
the mission board and its president, and the NAMB swiftly eliminated Licona’s
position.
A few leading evangelical scholars
such as William Lane Craig, J.P. Moreland, and Gary Habermas tried
unsuccessfully to come to Licona’s defense, but most scholars feared showing
their support openly. Apologist Paul Copan, president of the Evangelical
Philosophical Society, admitted, “I know a good number of evangelical seminary
professors who have privately expressed support for Mike Licona, but cannot
do so publicly for fear of punitive measures (ibid.).
In Christianity Today, New
Testament professor Craig Blomberg complained of “the tragedy of ‘witch hunts’
of this nature” and accused Licona’s critics of “going after fellow
inerrantists with whom they disagree and making life miserable for them for a
long time in ways that are unnecessary, inappropriate, and counterproductive to
the important issues of the Kingdom” (ibid.). (David Fitzgerald, Jesus: Mything
in Action, 3 vols. [The Complete Heretic’s Guide to Western Religion 2;
[Create Space, 2016], 1:63-65)
CASE FOUR: Bruce
Waltke
CRIME: Speaking
out in favor of not denying evolution
PUNISHMENT: Lost
his job
Dr. Bruce Waltke was a big name in
evangelical theology; he has often been called the preeminent Old Testament
scholar in the field. But, like so many other conservatives before him, a video
led to his downfall. Only in this case, it was not for closest homosexuality or
any sexual shenanigans. His crime took place during a video interview at a 2009
workshop for the BioLogos Foundation (the Christian non-profit founded by
Francis Collins to promote the idea of harmony between science and religion),
where, according to several accounts by those who have seen the video, he said
this:
“If the data is overwhelmingly in
favor of evolution, to deny that reality will make us a cult . . . some odd
group that is not really interacting with the world. And rightly so, because we
are not using our gifts and trusting God’s Providence that brought us to this
points of our awareness.” (Available online here)
As it turned out, warning
Christians that burying their heads in the sand would openly marginalize them
further was completely intolerable to those Christians with their heads buried
the deepest. Waltke’s evangelical employers, the Reformed Theological Seminary,
promptly went ballistic. Dr. Waltke’s suggestion that perhaps Christianity
needed to acknowledge basic tenets of science so upset the seminary that he was
pressured to ask BioLogos to first remove his interview from their web site,
and then to post a clarification where he dutifully reaffirmed his support for
creationists and his belief that Adam and Eve were real. BioLogos obliged in
all this, but it still wasn’t enough backpedaling to save Waltke; and RTS soon
announced it had accepted his resignation. (Incidentally, that same year, Tremper
Longman III, another noted Old Testament scholar, was “disinvited” from RTS for
doubting the historicity of Adam.)
The uproar over Waltke’s comments
in more retrograde evangelical circles was matched by his scandalized academic
evangelical colleagues who were greatly disturbed to see such a distinguished
Christian scholar first bullied so harshly, and then fired – not for casting
doubt on any basic Christian dogmas, but for merely recognizing the need for
religion to acknowledge established scientific facts. BioLogos’s
response pulled no punches:
“The fact that Dr. Waltke felt he
was unable to leave the video in place, despite the fact that he still agrees
with its contents, is an extremely important statement about the culture of
fear within evangelicalism in today’s world. Leading evangelicals who support evolution
are rightly fearful of personal attacks on the integrity of their faith and character
. . . There are countless people, especially young people, who are discovering
that the world of science is not out of touch with reality. . . When young people discover that neither
the science they’ve been taught in their churches nor the theology that
undergirds it are credible, many will feel that they have to throw out their
faith.” (cited in Ibid.)
Beliefnet columnist (and
Christian) Rod Dreher agreed with the seminary that Waltke’s remarks were
controversial and overstated, but even he expressed his shock at their
treatment of Dr, Waltke, saying:
“ . . . It is all but
incomprehensible that in 2010, any American scholar, particularly one of his
academic distinction, could be so harshly bulled for stating an opinion consonant
with current scientific orthodoxy. Doesn’t Waltke at least have the right to be
wrong about something like this? Don’t mistake me, I believe that any and every
religion, and religious institution, has the right, and indeed the obligation,
to set standards and to enforce them. But is this really the hill these Reformed
folks want to die on?” (read more here)
He added:
“I spoke with an ex-Evangelical
friend today telling her how mysterious Waltke’s bullying was to me. She said it’s
not the least bit surprising to her. ‘You didn’t grow up with it, so you have
no idea how central biblical literalism on this stuff is,’ she said, ‘It’s all
about biblical inerrancy. If Genesis is not literally true in every respect, in
their minds the whole thing falls apart. They can’t give an inch on this.’” (cited
in Ibid.) (Ibid., 1:69-71)