The June 8 issue of Chr. Renewal contains a reprint of a couple of articles originally published in Michigan papers about the evolution controversy surrounding some Calvin College professors. Two of the articles were taken from the Grand Rapids Press. Judging by what is said there about the views of some of our leaders in the CRC, we have reason to be disturbed. One begins to wonder about their integrity. All of them have signed the Form of Subscription in which they promise to “reject all errors that militate against this doctrine” (contained in the creeds) and that they are “disposed to refute and contradict these and to exert themselves in keeping the Church free from such errors.”
Howard Van Till has made it very clear that he does not believe that the early chapters of Genesis describe real history. He does not believe in an actual man and woman who were deceived by an actual serpent who was the devil himself. Genesis is only the “packaging” around the real thing namely that God is concerned with His world. It is only illustrative in nature; it is not meant to convey actual history. That much is clear.
It is also as clear as a bell that such a view contradicts our confessions. That is too obvious to need further comment.
But what does former Calvin Seminary president John Kromminga say about this? He is quoted as saying: “The issue here is whether free debate is going to be allowed at the college.” It’s simply a matter of “academic freedom,” believe it or not. Nothing to get too excited about. He refers in this connection to the controversy surrounding Seminary Prof. John Stek (who also called into question the historicity of Adam and Eve), and his remarks about that (Stek was told he couldn’t teach a certain class, but he wasn’t going to teach it anyway; he was told to remain true to the faith, “whatever that means”; the issue is still there.) indicate that for him (Kromminga) it was “a tempest in a teapot.”
In the same issue, retired missionary pastor Harry Boer says that the year 1922 (when Old Testament Prof. Janssen was dismissed from the Calvin Seminary faculty) was the “watershed determining the limits of freedom in CRC academia.” Boer clearly sides with Profs. Menninga, Van Till and Young, and encourages them to keep publishing their views;, and not to be afraid of their conservative critics.
So once again: academic freedom. That’s all there’s to it. No question about creedal commitment. Nothing about the solemn vows they once made. Nothing about what our creeds say about our first parents Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. That’s all tossed to the side; it’s time we allow free discussion on these things.
The sad fact is that the type of leadership described above has contributed significantly to the deterioration of the CRC. A president of Calvin Seminary for more than 25 years who considers such major issues as nothing more than a matter of ” free debate” is bound to have a detrimental effect upon the church.
It’s high time that we demand integrity on the part of our leaders. Prof. Marten Woudstra used to tell us seminary students that he gladly submitted himself in his teach in g to the guidelines set forth i n the creeds and spelled out in the Form of Subscription. For him it was not restrictive at all. He did not feel that his academic freedom was inhibited in the least. After all, freedom and responsibility always go together.
