Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Defends Decision To Accept
Muslim Student
Greg Horton ("The Huffington Post," May 22, 2014)
In the first instance of its kind, Southwestern Baptist Theological
Seminary, the flagship school of the Southern Baptist Convention, acknowledged
it
has admitted a Muslim to one of its doctoral programs.
Ghassan Nagagreh, a Palestinian Muslim, recently completed his first year
of doctoral studies at the seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. Nagagreh, a Sunni
Muslim, has worked with the seminary since 2008 as a volunteer on an
archaeological site in Israel. He is pursuing a doctorate in archaeology.
“This young man asked about the Ph.D. program, and I told him we don’t
normally admit non-born-again believers to the seminary, but there is no
reason we can’t,” said Paige Patterson, Southwestern’s president.
Patterson said that as many as 80 people work on archaeological digs, and
only about a quarter come from Southwestern, so it is not unusual to find
students and volunteers from different schools and different faiths.
But Nagagreh’s presence at the school has touched off controversy within
the SBC.
Wade Burleson, an Enid, Okla., pastor and former member of the SBC’s
International Mission Board, posted a lengthy piece on his personal blog on
Friday (May 16) accusing Patterson of ordering the administration office to
admit Nagagreh in violation of the school’s charter.
Burleson, who describes himself as actively interfaith, said the issue has
nothing to do with any particular person or faith but is instead a matter
of principle.
“Not only do we have decisions being made secretly and by presidential
fiat, we have not addressed the possible use of cooperative funds being used
for the education of a practicing Muslim,” Burleson said.
Cooperative funds are collected as part of tithes and offerings at SBC
churches and are used for various projects, including missions, relief work and
seminary subsidies.
Nagagreh said he has had a very good experience at the seminary thus far
and will return for his second year in the fall. Patterson said he agreed to
admit Nagagreh because Nagagreh agreed to follow the seminary’s lifestyle
covenant, which covers personal behavior such as smoking, drinking and
sexual relations.
“I also thought it provided a chance for us to have an influence on his
life,” Patterson said.
Meanwhile, Burleson or others may bring up the issue at the SBC’s annual
convention June 10-11 in Baltimore.
“The floor of the convention is the worst place for this,” said Joel
Rainey, executive director of the Mid-Maryland Baptist Association and adjunct
professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C.
“First, we have an odd proclivity for making public arguments into
arguments about people, and there is a young man whom God created at the
center of
this discussion,” he added. “Second, I don’t want our work with Muslims
and other faith groups damaged by what might be said in the midst of this
debate.”
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