The Baptist Standard
Editorial: Muslim seminarian shows ideology trumps theology
*
(http://www.baptiststandard.com/opinion/editorial/16482-editorial-muslim-seminarian-shows-ideology-trumps-theology?tmpl=component&print=1&layou
t=default&page=)
May 21, 2014
By Marv Knox / Editor
Sometimes, life is so upside-down you couldn’t make it up.
For example, Paige Patterson has emerged as an ecumenical leader among
Baptists.
You may remember Patterson. He’s the president of Southwestern Baptist
Theological Seminary. In the past few days, he’s created a stir, because
Baptists have learned he _admitted a Muslim student_
(http://www.baptiststandard.com/news/texas/16479-southwestern-s-muslim-doctoral-student-sparks-controvers
y) to the Fort Worth school.
Patterson broke seminary rules to accept a practicing Muslim into
Southwestern’s Ph.D. program in archaeology. According to the school’s
catalog,
prospective students must give evidence of “mature Christian character.”
They must demonstrate a desire to enter Christian ministry and show a record
of active church involvement. Presumably, a devout Muslim fails to meet
these requirements.
On the seminary’s website, Patterson _acknowledges_
(http://www.swbts.edu/campus-news/news-releases/patterson-responds-to-questions-regarding-muslim-stu
dent-at-southwestern/) admitting the Muslim student to the seminary.
Patterson calls him “a man of peace” who “loved our people and asked to study
with us.” Patterson says the student’s admission to the seminary has
enabled Christians “to share biblical truths” with him.
Reaction has run the gamut. Positively, Patterson’s action affords
opportunities to evangelize a non-Christian and/or engage in interfaith
dialogue.
Negatively, the admission violates seminary policy, squanders funds
Southern Baptists provided to educate Christians and counters the seminary’s
mission to train ministers.
But here’s the real irony: Patterson extended the kind of grace to a Muslim
he has spent his lifetime denying to fellow Baptists.
A little history
>From the 1970s into the ’90s, Patterson led a revolt that upended the
Southern Baptist Convention. Depending upon perspective, observers call it the
“
fundamentalist takeover” or the “conservative resurgence.” Patterson led
the charge from the far right, claiming the SBC—and particularly the
seminaries—were led by “liberals.”
Patterson provided the theological fuel to the political fire. He
understood theology well enough to know questions of biblical interpretation
require
complex answers, particularly from scholars whose inclination is
precision. He recognized the political power of demanding yes-or-no answers to
complicated questions. He realized his faction could translate a pause, a
halting answer into a steady refrain: SBC leaders are liberals. They don’t
believe the Bible.
Politically? Brilliant. Morally and ethically? Abhorrent.
So, Patterson led the charge to cast out from the convention legions of
faithful, Bible-believing lifelong Baptists. And now he admits a Muslim to his
seminary. You couldn’t make this up.
But maybe you could see it coming.
More than three decades ago—when Patterson’s movement within the SBC was
just beginning—Baptist historian Bill Leonard _predicted_
(http://www.abpnews.com/opinion/columns/can-i-get-a-witness) U.S. Christians
would realign.
They would shift from affiliation by denominations to groupings along a
spectrum from liberal to moderate to conservative to fundamentalist.
Denominations still exist, but history soon validated Leonard’s prediction.
With the rise of the religious right, Christians jumped denominations to
cluster around social issues, such as opposition to abortion and, later,
other conservative issues such as homosexual marriage—to cite two examples. On
the left, Christians vaulted denominations to oppose nuclear armament and,
later, to affirm other progressive issues such as homosexual marriage.
Social issues trump theology
Now, Patterson’s acceptance of a Muslim student to a Southern Baptist
seminary extends that trend toward its logical conclusion.
Patterson is willing to override longstanding seminary policy and practice
that requires students to hold traditional, orthodox beliefs about the
Christian faith. Devout Muslims don’t believe the same things about the Bible
and Jesus as any Baptist—either fundamentalist or liberal.
But Muslims embrace social values that apparently run deeper than theology.
They don’t drink or smoke or go with girls who do. They oppose all
abortions and gay marriage. They deny full equality to women.
Logical consistency links ideology to ideology, fundamentalism to
fundamentalism. Theology must not be so important, after all.
--
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[RC] More about the Muslim student at a Baptist seminary
BILROJ via Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community Mon, 26 May 2014 12:20:00 -0700
