"Do Right BJU lost its credibility ... The Facebook page just went from one crisis to another, responding in very bad ways. And that’s why nobody wore red on Monday."

I know too little about the situation at Bob Jones to comment, except to say that having read some of the written statements of critics yesterday, the talk is loathsome.

But as to Christians dissenting and soul liberty, the Bible certainly teaches it (see Romans 14). A great number of Christians in the past suffered and died for this principle, sometimes at the hands of other brothers and sisters in Christ. It needs to be maintained. Church leaders for years have caused unrest in their churches by forcing their agendas and then allowing no dissenting voice (or else defining dissent as unspiritual). But soul liberty does not stand alone as a biblical principle. Every Christian is entitled to his own views, and then to be judged by Christ for them. But what he does with those views is determined by a host of other Christian principles. Paul teaches freedom of conscience. He does not teach freedom of expression whenever you desire, however you desire (not even the Constitution of the US provides that). Here are a few of the ways Christian dissent is limited by Scripture:

What we say can be defiling. Isaiah confessed (6:5): So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts.” People actually learn to think bad because of all the evil they read and hear.

What we say needs to be said in grace: “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.” (Colossians 4:6)

Be truthful: “Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds.” (Colossians 3:9)

Be humble: (Philippians 2:1-8)

Speak with sobriety: “Likewise exhort the young men to be sober-minded, … sound speech that cannot be condemned …” (Titus 2:6,8)

Limit your criticism: “Be patient therefore … do not complain brethren, against one another.” (Romans 15:5)

Seek to honor Christ: “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” (Colossians 3:17)

Seek unity with other children of God (and most certainly in your own church): ” Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus,” (Romans 15:5)

The list is much, much longer than that. If we cannot confess that we are regularly maintaining this kind of spirit when we speak and write (James says we all mess up with our mouth sometime), then we can at least strive to attain it, and humbly let others correct us when we overstep our bounds.

Jeff Brown

[Jeff Brown] I Every Christian is entitled to his own views, and then to be judged by Christ for them. But what he does with those views is determined by a host of other Christian principles.
No disagreement there.

Certainly we are not all lawyers here. When I used the term dissent, I was using it as a synonym for griping. Forgive my overgeneralization. What I meant to say, more precisely, is that there is a difference between having a disagreeing opinion and expressing it. There are even differences in how that disagreeing opinion is expressed. Certainly BJU has understood that for a long time as the policy was “griping not tolerated. Constructive suggestions appreciated.” When a disagreeing opinion is offered constructively, then that’s a good thing. When offered in a spirit of “I know better than my authority and I need to stand up and say something,” then it’s not a good thing.

Moreover, it matters not if the authority is secular or sacred. Consider the passages dealing with how employees are to submit to their employers (Eph., 1 Peter, 1 Corinthians). These texts do not give even a bit of room to a griping spirit.

Matt

And that’s my complaint for the day! :)
The right way for a BJU student to dissent about BJU is not go there. I one cannot accept the direction of the school …. find a different school.

The “Do the right thing” protest … is “absolutely the wrong thing” for a BJU student to do. They will just get in trouble. Getting “shipped” will cost the BJU parent thousands of dollars and will be an educational setback for the student.

I agree with Jim…. I mean, His Most Noble Forum Directorness The Honorable Jim Peet. http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys.php] http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-happy105.gif

I have a hard time believing that parents and students don’t thoroughly research the university they plan to attend, and are completely blindsided by doctrinal beliefs and behavioral requirements and dress codes.

It seems to me that there is an element of confusion about how Christian institutions of higher learning fit into the spiritual scheme of things. Some Christian universities operate like a sort of church/college hybrid. While Scriptural principles can be applied in any situation involving authority structures, a university is not a church. The same necessity for unity as is important for a church situation need not apply for students to receive a solid education in their field of study. If they aren’t causing confusion or dissension, they can believe in blood-sucking angels from Jupiter for all I care.

Griping is often an expression of disagreement but soaked in a bad attitude. The exact same complaint could be made by another person who is tactful and respectful and it will be received and considered. Don’t expect to be taken seriously if you sound like a toddler who dropped their ice cream cone in the parking lot.

[Susan R] Griping is often an expression of disagreement but soaked in a bad attitude. The exact same complaint could be made by another person who is tactful and respectful and it will be received and considered. Don’t expect to be taken seriously if you sound like a toddler who dropped their ice cream cone in the parking lot.
Except, asking questions at this particular institution - even tactfully and respectfully - is considered griping.

(WARNING! ANECDOTAL INFORMATION TO FOLLOW!)

My dear wife and I attended this particular institution from graduating year 1977 to 1981. We, and those who matriculated with us, eventually figured out that students were not allowed to ask questions. However, once a student became a graduate, he could ask any question he wanted, and the institution would listen. So several of our classmates went on to advanced degrees and very prominent, successful careers. Then they went back to the administration and expressed their opinions of the institution. And (wonder of wonders!) things began to change.

I don’t know how it is now, but back then a question - *ANY* question - was considered griping or a bad attitude. Tact didn’t matter. Respect didn’t matter. 100% unvarnished loyalty was all that mattered.

That’s my personal, first hand observation. If your experience was different, please share it!

[Susan R]
I have a hard time believing that parents and students don’t thoroughly research the university they plan to attend, and are completely blindsided by doctrinal beliefs and behavioral requirements and dress codes.
Susan, you’re making assumptions that simply don’t reflect the reality for many BJU students. First, you’re assuming that students, along with their parents, exercise healthy autonomy. Second, you’re assuming that students and parent view themselves as having choices about college attendance. Also, some students are blindsided by the rules. As far as I know, they don’t give handbooks to prospective students, and many of the rules are not in the handbook at all, but are distributed orally through hall meetings.

Many BJU students come from churches where attending BJU is a spiritual duty, or nearly so. Their college options are limited to what the pastor says. Even if there isn’t an overly authoritarian pastor in the picture, the church may be so shaped by a particular school identity that it would seem awkward for a teenager not to go to the school. At my Christian high school, which was attached to a fundy church, graduates went either to Pensacola (the spiritual ones), BJU (the smart ones), or Liberty (the mildly rebellious ones). Those who chose otherwise were not spoken of; they were prayed for. Many students’ parents told them they could go either to BJU or not go to college. So, a student may end up at BJU almost by force, and the imposition of the rules is then not so much a freely chosen undertaking. It’s sort of like children in the middle ages who were dropped off at monasteries.

Once a student reaches BJU, they are constantly told that it is God’s will for them to be there and that any thought of leaving must be due to a spiritual problem. If a student expresses to a member of the RA staff (or whatever it’s called) that he or she is thinking of leaving, meetings with staff will soon occur. These meetings are not optional. During those meetings, whatever reasons might be given for leaving will be deemed insufficient, and the fault will be placed firmly on the student. I know this from personal experience and from more than a few of my good friends. Children of faculty are literally forced to attend BJU. If staff/faculty parents permit their children to attend schools other than BJU, they can be fired. I have a friend who had to pretend to be in rebellion against his parents and had to sever most contact with them in order to attend a different school. That’s insane!

So, when BJU says that those who don’t like the choices the administration make can leave, they’re smirking. Because they know that many people can’t leave. The emotional cost - losing family, friends, and church - is too high. Besides, at this point they tell you that your credits won’t transfer very many places. Funny how that didn’t come up in admissions. Faculty can’t really leave either. They make almost no money. Some of them live in housing provided by BJU at a relatively cheap rate. Those would lose their house and be unable to find equivalent lodging elsewhere. (Sound like a mill town strategy?) Since their degrees, often granted by BJU or a similar school, won’t be recognized elsewhere, they can’t just go teach at the local state school. BJU is the whole world to many of these students and staff. So, when BJU says, “Like it or leave,” it’s like someone saying, “If you don’t like Earth, go somewhere else.” There’s nowhere else to go.

My Blog: http://dearreaderblog.com

Cor meum tibi offero Domine prompte et sincere. ~ John Calvin

Karl, I pretty much agree with what you are saying, given my experiences. In general, any type of “why” question, no matter how respectful, was seen as suspicious, if not griping or a complaint (this was 81-85). In one particular instance when I asked a (respectful) question, the answer was essentially “You are a junior — you should know better.” It became clear pretty quickly that any type of question (at least from a student) was strongly discouraged, if not completely off limits.

That’s not to say I didn’t learn to come to terms with the regulations — I did, but it was clear that many of the unwritten rules were considered at least as important as the written ones.

Dave Barnhart

This may sound weird coming from me, but when I was at BJU in the early ‘80’s, dissent was not a problem, so long as one was discrete, sensitive, respectful, and submissive. I made frequent trips to the office of the Dean of Students and the Dean of Men to dissent from existing policies, make observations, make a Biblical case for alternatives, etc. I frequently found them to be receptive, and occasionally saw concessions. I always received thoughtful communication back.

Sometimes the concessions I received were so extreme I was afraid the administrator might be shipped!

I said “discrete, sensitive, respectful, and submissive.”
Discretion came in selecting the right administrator to talk to. There were a few who were inflexible.
Sensitive, respectful, and submissive were merely the logical and Biblical way to approach an authority to whom one was in subjection.
The important distinction between me and some others who found themselves quietly shipped away was to not appear like a firebrand who would be unable to live with BJU’s position. It was important not to appear to think oneself as the new Martin Luther.
They graduated me knowing I disagreed on some things, I’m sure.

I agree with Charlie - Jim’s idea (wait - make that “His Most Noble Forum Directorness The Honorable Jim Peet” :)) of not going if you disagree is true, but that doesn’t work for everyone. Some quick examples:

1. Parents who send students to BJU in hopes of ‘straightening them out’ (Dr. Berg mentioned this at a CIT session I was in).
2. People who had no idea about any of the Phelps/Anderson mess prior to getting to BJU and consequently were pulled in unawares…I have a friend who went to Liberty last year but had no idea of the Ergun Caner brouhaha.
3. Students who wanted a good education but aren’t aware of the student rules or guidelines (like the rule on no headphones for students).
4. People like myself who went there even though we knew and disagreed with some of the rules, but decided that getting the education was worth the hassle of submitting to rules we disagreed with.

Then you add in the factors that Charlie mentioned, and you’ve got all kinds of possibilities for bad things to happen. Not to mention the fact that finding a school that someone is 100% in agreement with is increasingly harder to do for any self-styled fundamentalist, young fundamentalist, or evangelical.

"Our task today is to tell people — who no longer know what sin is...no longer see themselves as sinners, and no longer have room for these categories — that Christ died for sins of which they do not think they’re guilty." - David Wells

It’s been 39 years since I finished at BJU, having spent twelve years total, first in the Academy, then University and Grad School (now Seminary). I must agree that some complaints on this thread are, in my opinion, true. I think it took me at least five years from departure before I was able to separate what is Biblical from what is tradition in the Christianity to which I was exposed at BJU.

But all in all, I believe the whole experience was good for me. The training I received, and the strength of commitment for standing for truth was invaluable. Having to sort out, for myself what is Biblical and what is merely traditional was also a good exercise. I have since observed that all Christian organizations and institutions have various traditions, and everyone influenced by whatever style of Christianity needs to do what I did in separating revelation from opinion.

BJU has always had strengths and weaknesses. So have all other Christian institutions. So have I and everyone who reads this. If one gets hung up on the weakneses, he will be unable to benefit from the strengths. If one believes it is his mission in life to correct all the weaknesses he finds in others, he will make little or no progress correcting his own.

I agree that BJU has encouraged a measure of criticism by behaving, at times, as if they were above criticism. That is a form of pride which needs to be abandoned. But so many of the critics display an equal if not greater measure of pride, as if they have been appointed by God to render infallible judgments, make official pronouncements, and demand corrections in keeping with their decisions.

I have expressed various concerns about BJU over the years, hopefully making them in a spirit of love and humility, and directing them to the right source. I refuse to become an enemy of BJU because I received so much that was good, and I believe people who love Christ and are committed to His Word deserve our encouragement and support. I believe it is wrong to receive benefit from those who love Christ and sacrifice of themselves to help me, and then turn around and stab them in the back.

By God’s grace, I have grown and changed over the years. It’s called progressive sanctification. By God’s grace, BJU has grown and changed over the years as well. I see movement in an ever more Biblical direction. That’s what I want for myself. That’s what I desire for BJU, and that is sadly all too rare among professing Christians. I pray for BJU, and wish them well as they continue to “work out their salvation in fear and trembling.” I think we will better please Christ if we treat them as our Christian brothers and partners in the cause of Christ.

Sincerely,
Greg Barkman

G. N. Barkman

I want to make sure I present a complete and proper picture of my approach to this thread.

I LOVE THE EDUCATION I GOT AT THIS INSTITUTION! I loved learning what I learned there - academically. Some of my heroes were on faculty - staff there. I made lifelong friends there. God provided a wife for me there: I met her first day of classes freshman year. There were some definite positive experiences during my time there. (I crammed 3-1/2 years into 5… :-) )

It’s just all the other *STUFF* that drives me nuts.
[Charlie]
Susan, you’re making assumptions that simply don’t reflect the reality for many BJU students. First, you’re assuming that students, along with their parents, exercise healthy autonomy.

:SNIP:

At my Christian high school, which was attached to a fundy church, graduates went either to Pensacola (the spiritual ones), BJU (the smart ones), or Liberty (the mildly rebellious ones).
I attended a Christian Academy that was sometimes refered to as a northern extension of the particular instituion under discussion. So when I arrived in Greenville, I was completely familiar with the culture found there. My attendance there was my choice, directed by God, supported by my parents and even my Pastor (who was not a big fan). If the choice to attend had *NOT* been my choice, I probably would have left organized Christianity, never to darken the door of a church again. One person, who is very, very close to me, DID leave organized Christianity for 25 years.
[Charlie] Many BJU students come from churches where attending BJU is a spiritual duty, or nearly so.
I heard an administrator say this (or something VERY CLOSE to this) in chapel one day: “Any graduate who does not send their children here is the lowest, slimiest kind of gutter rat.” If I remember correctly, this adminstrastor’s tenure with the university stretched all the way back to College Point, FL. (But I could be wrong about that.)

I had great times at this institution. I had experiences unmatched in joy and blessing while I was a student there. But I will not *SEND* my son there. If God leads and provides for him to go there, I won’t stop him. However, if God leads and provides for him to matriculate somewhere else, or if (::GASP!::) God leads him into a trade instead of an academic setting, I won’t stop him. I want my son to find God’s will, and do it. And, believe it or not, God’s choices for higher education are not limited to the Wade Hampton Blvd campus.
[dcbii] Karl, I pretty much agree with what you are saying, given my experiences. In general, any type of “why” question, no matter how respectful, was seen as suspicious, if not griping or a complaint (this was 81-85). In one particular instance when I asked a (respectful) question, the answer was essentially “You are a junior — you should know better.” It became clear pretty quickly that any type of question (at least from a student) was strongly discouraged, if not completely off limits.
A few years after her graduation, my Dear Wife had opportunity to visit with the Dean of Women in her office on campus. (Evidently, my Dear Wife had spent a LOT of time in the DoW office as a student: they knew each other well!) During the conversation, the DoW told my wife “Your class was the first of the Bad Years.” My Wife, and her friends, would ask questions about the rules and policies of the institution, and ask how those rules were supported by The Bible. (I’m not talking about “Why do we need to wear a tie before lunch, but not after lunch?” type of questions, but sincere, spiritually based, honest questions.) Imagine that: wanting to know how the Bible is applicable to the practicalities of life. That was considered “Bad” by this particulat administrator.

P.S.
My favorite chapel quote of all time, by the son of the Founder: “If God had meant for you to have hair on your face, He would have given it to you.”

Greg,

I very much agree with what you wrote. The negatives I experienced (and there were plenty) were far outweighed by what I gained. If my children would ever choose to go there, I would want them to know much more about the school than I did when I went, so that they go in with eyes completely open, but I have also seen a lot of growth and change in the school since I was there. I hope that it continues.

Dave Barnhart

The idea that someone can channel God and make declarations about God’s will for another person is false doctrine and should be treated as such. It is cute, it isn’t funny, it isn’t endearing. It is an indication of a seriously dysfunctional view of authority and loyalty. It is idolatry, pure and simple.

I’m amazed that people who vehemently oppose the KJVO notion of double inspiration will just sit there and smile indulgently at someone who believes that “Any graduate who does not send their children here is the lowest, slimiest kind of gutter rat.” How is this any different from other false teachers who say they have special revelation from God?

I understand that there are churches whose dynamic is as Bro. Charlie described. But you know the phrase “A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine?” Well, a lack of spiritual maturity and discernment, as well as the absence of a spine, is not a legitimate excuse for this kind of false doctrine to be allowed to propagate to the point where it has woven itself throughout the fabric of Fundamentalism. Yes, it is very disappointing if you lose time trying to pursue an education, and somebody gets mad at you and calls you nasty names, but are we principled or not? Is God in control or not?

“Any graduate who does not send their children here is the lowest, slimiest kind of gutter rat.”

That was supposedly stated over 30 years ago, right? Is the person who said it still there? Is that same thing being stated in chapel nowadays?

Also, perhaps a less coarse word to describe one’s dismay could be that something totally “stinks” instead of, well, a word that has other connotations I’d rather not have in mind while reading this blog.