Posted on 01/10/2006 8:04:31 AM PST by sharkhawk
A former Wheaton College professor who was fired because he converted to Catholicism found himself this week at the center of a debate about diversity and theological perspectives in private, faith-based schools.
Faculty members at the west suburban evangelical Protestant college must sign a faith statement that the Bible is the final authority. Catholics follow the authority of Scripture and the pope.
Joshua Hochschild, an assistant professor of philosophy at Wheaton College for four years, became a Catholic on Easter 2004. He was dismissed last spring.
(Excerpt) Read more at suntimes.com ...
WHAT THEY SAID These were among comments posted on the Freerepublic blog:
*"Wheaton has a right to hire whomever they want. They hang themselves out as an Evangelical School, they have a right to have an Evangelical faculty."
*"Since he had a contract that required him to be a practicing protestant, he broke the contract by converting to Catholicism. He should have tendered his resignation. He had a legal and moral obligation to resign."
*"Ideally, Hinduism should be taught by a Hindu, Islam taught by a Muslim, etc. That's the way Cardinal John Henry Newman defined the Idea of the University."
*"Heck, I want Catholic universities to fire the atheists, feminists, and communists who have taken over. I can't exactly fault Wheaton for taking similar measures to preserve their identity, though I do think it's their loss."
*"This is not a new issue for religious schools. Sooner or later, you're going to be forced to choose which is more important to you -- the best available scholar and academic, or the one with the right profession of faith. Sometimes you'll get lucky and both those qualities will exist in one person, but sooner or later push will come to shove and you'll have to decide which you prefer."
*"Having a Catholic on the faculty would not sit well with some donors, no matter how evangelically minded his brand of Catholicism may be. Other schools have kept their blanket prohibitions on alcohol use or dances for similar reasons."
Yep. I'm relieved that UD does not require me to be a Catholic, but would certainly understand if they did.
Well, good. FR does offer more insightful comments than your average lib on the street. A nice, articulate collection of quotes.
He's lucky. If he had converted from islam at a muslim university, he'd have been beheaded.
And the MSM wouldn't even consider it news.
She quoted very selectively from the FR thread and she didn't even try to understand the issues involved. She took entirely the Wheaton line. I'm sure Hochschild explained it thoroughly but she obviously was incapable of understanding the fact that Wheaton simply did not follow it's own doctrinal statement.
Hi, Leslie!
I was just amazed that a main stream newspaper would use Free Republic as a source. I went back to the original thread and saw a great discussion of the pros and cons of the decision, and it made me proud to be part of a forum that could intelligently discuss what could be a very devisive issue. I can't imagine some poor reporter who was forced to go to a lib site such as DU and try to find intelligent quotes.
I know there are a lot of fine Roman Catholics. I know there are many Roman Catholics who are "saved." One of my favorite college professors was a (charismatic) Catholic woman.
That said, of course Wheaton is free to follow their guidelines and insist that their faculty adhere to their doctrines.
This is not a "Protestant/Catholic" argument. It's a "Wheaton has policies" argument.
how come they didn't behead him, is that belief also restricted? . . /sarcasim
"I can't imagine some poor reporter who was forced to go to a lib site such as DU and try to find intelligent quotes."
Isn't that the truth!
Now, compare these FR comments to the intelligence of some of the comments on DU. Very interesting.
Uh... nope. We believe in the authority of Scripture and Sacred Tradition as handed down by the Apostles. The Pope does the same thing as a job requirement.
Some conveniently forget that the first epistles were written beginning 30 years after Jesus's crucifixion. Before that time, there was only the tradition to be shared. The epistles were written to clarify matters of faith when errors arose, not as a complete catechism of all doctrines.
On the flip side I would have no problem with a Catholic college firing a professor who became Protestant either.
Protestant means protester, called that because they protest many of the Catholic teachings. Catholic colleges should have faithful Catholic teachers just as Protestant colleges should have Protestants, being private they have the right and should be discriminating about their teachers.
Good Catholics don't squirm when the topic of Mary comes up. She is the Mother of our Savior and deserves respect. She is not worshiped as protestants would like to accuse us of. Worship is reserved for God.
And what "negative spiritual baggage" do you think we carry?
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