Wheaton fires a prof over his divorce

Apparently the prof declined to share details with the administration, so they couldn't evaluate whether or not the divorce was biblically justifiable. Story here. I'm not sure how I feel about that. On one hand, I'm all about private, religious colleges sticking to the standards they had the profs sign. I don't question their "right" to do this--employment is at will, and even if he had tenure, I'm sure there was a clause in there that allows this... freedom to contract and all that...

But on a more pragmatic level, the quotation from the prof, "I also don't want to be in a position of accusing my spouse, so I declined to appeal or discuss the matter in any way with my employer," strikes a chord. We paint Joseph positively for wanting to put Mary away privately rather than publicly accuse her, right?

Maybe this is a disciplinary matter that would be better left to the church? Perhaps the school would be wise to alter their employment terms to "in good standing with a local church that holds to _____ confession." Wouldn't that take care of their concern about their professors being of good moral character without having to involve them in these kinds of situations?

Of course, the prof could as easily object to "publicly accusing" his wife to the church [leadership]. But I might have less sympathy for that. If you can't be transparent with church authority, maybe you need to reevaluate the extent of your individualism.

One account of Fundamentalist history

I came across this entry defining and describing Fundamentalist Christianity and found it really interesting. I can't tell who wrote it--it looks like a wiki-style encyclopedia, and there's a link to Christianity Today, but I haven't poked around enough to figure out who this guy is or if it's a group (I suspect the latter).

Anyway, history can be told from many points of view, and this guy has his own, but I find the history he presents really interesting. The "five fundamentals of the faith" were actually promulgated at a Presbyterian conference. Hmm. Dispensationalism really didn't become a part of the Fundy movement until later, but some leaders still adhered to Princeton Theology instead. I confess I don't know what that is. I guess I have some link-clicking to do.

After finals, though. Meanwhile, any thoughts?

random unsolicited update

I've not posted in a while. Sorry. Update:

Spring is trying to come. A couple days ago it was 83 degrees. It is supposed to snow tonight. This morning I saw a pair of baby bunnies and a goldfinch in my back yard. I moved the basil in so it won't freeze. Welcome to Indiana.

Thanks for kind inquiries about my cat. He got a thumbs-up from the vet today, and I think he'll be fine. Whatever was wrong with him seems to have passed, and he is back to chasing the dog and invisible carpet demons like his old self.

No, I'm not sure what I'm doing next. There's a possibility I'll be in the Chicago area. There is an alternate chance I'll be in Bethel, Alaska. If neither of those happen, there is a possibility (a slight one, mind you) that I could go to Rwanda for a year. But don't hold your breath. International Justice Mission is a neat program, but the fellowships aren't funded, and I'm not sure where the money would come from. I'll keep you posted. For now it looks like I'll be in South Bend for the summer to study for the bar.

Indiana Earthquake

I was awakened early this morning by my bed, which was creaking and swaying a little bit. My first groggy thought was "hmm. Must be earthquaking." My second slightly-less-groggy thought was "It's Indiana. They don't get earthquakes. Must be the dryer or something." But it didn't feel like the dryer--it was too strong and the pattern was all wrong. Also, even if the dryer had been inexplicably running at about 5 am, I would have heard it.

Vindication: There was a fairly strong-ish earthquake centered near Evansville early this morning. People reported feeling tremors as far away as Georgia.

See, I'm not losing my mind.