“I feel wounded.” This statement was made by a member of the administration at Calvin Seminary in a speech given several weeks ago. I have been reflecting upon the statement. What has caused the speaker’s wound? It was the decision adopted by Classis Pella at its September 1981 session and reported in THE BANNER dated November 16,1981. The Stated Clerk of Classis Pella reports that the Classis decided to request “the Board of Trustees of Calvin College and Seminary to instruct each of the Calvin Seminary faculty to answer for us the following questions: Do you believe Adam and Eve were created by God and are our first parents? Do you believe that man’s corrupt nature comes from the fall and disobedience of Adam and Eve? What do you believe is taught by Paul in Romans 5 concerning: ‘In Adam’, ‘In Christ’, “the historicity of Adam’ and ‘original sin’?”
Why would Classis Pella make such a request? Is it because Calvin Seminary has not been meeting the “rural needs” and therefore suspicion has arisen? The appearance of suspicion and the asking of questions, however, is not restricted to Classis Pella. The newsletter published by a committee of Classis Minnesota South after each session of classis reports that Classis Minnesota South approved the overture of one of its churches “to secure information from the Calvin Board of Trustees with respect to the Seminary Faculty’s endorsement of Mr. Clayton Libolt for candidacy.” The report in the newsletter goes on to say, “Mr. Libolt holds a highly questionable position in regard to the historical character of Genesis 2 and 3. Since the faculty endorsed him, do they accept such an interpretive approach to Genesis as valid for Reformed pastors?”
On my desk is a copy of the overture adopted by Classis Grand Rapids South at its recent meeting. The overture requests Synod “to appoint a competent and objective committee of Ministers and Elders, authorized to ascertain for the church the loyalty of every Seminary Faculty member to the Scriptures as interpreted by the three Forms of Unity, and to the Form of Subscription each has signed, and to report to the Church through Synod, its findings.”
Is there reason for the questions raised by Classis Pella? Are there grounds for the concerns expressed by other classes and consistories and many members of the Christian Reformed Church? I believe so. One needs only to recall the report of the Calvin Board of Trustees found in the Acts of Synod 1981, page 147, where we are given the conclusions of the committee appointed by the Board of Trustees in May 1980, to study the views of Professor John Stek concerning the nature of the biblical narrative in Genesis 1–11. We read, “The committee concluded that Professor Stek’s present theory brings him into conflict with the church’s standing confessional view of significant elements in these Genesis narratives.” Should anyone be surprised that the church is asking questions since we have never been informed that the “conflict” has been resolved.
The church is well aware that at the June 1981 meeting of Synod a young man recommended by the Calvin Seminary faculty was denied candidacy. It was reported in the August 1981 issue of THE OUTLOOK “that the problem regarding Mr. Libolt’s candidacy had to do with his view of the opening chapters of Genesis, and particularly, with his conception of the factuality of Adam and Eve, the serpent and the fall.” The reporter in the same issue goes on to indicate the support given on the floor of Synod to Mr. Libolt by two Calvin Seminary professors. Is there reason then to feel “wounded” when the church in its ecclesiastical assemblies raises questions and asks for answers?
Many members of the church have learned recently about a survey taken among Calvin Seminary students. The questions asked in the “Insta–Poll” were as follows: “1. On a scale from 1–5 how important do you consider questions relating to the historicity of Adam and Eve to be? 2. Do you believe that Adam and Eve were real persons (as you and I are real persons)? 3. Are you satisfied with the opinions of the Seminary professors (in so far as you are aware of those opinions) on the historicity of the events recorded in Genesis 1–11?” What were the results of the survey? The church is left to wonder because we read in THE KERUX, the paper edited by the Calvin Seminary student body which includes the “lnsta-Poll,” that the Senate (the student governing body) requested the editor not to print the results of the poll “to avoid possible misinterpretation of the data.” Is it a surprise that suspicions are awakened?
What is to be done? Classis Pella has raised some honest questions. Classis Grand Rapids South out of a legitimate concern for the church and her seminary is asking for the appointment of a committee to ascertain the loyalty of every seminary faculty member to the Scriptures as interpreted by the three forms of unity. When I suggested to the seminary faculty member to whose address I referred earlier that I thought the questions of Classis Pella should be answered, he expressed surprise and said that I would have a hard time proving that from the Church Order.
But what about the welfare of the church? What about the welfare of Calvin Seminary? There is alarm! There is suspicion! Classis Grand Rapids South in its overture says, “It is natural for many who take these matters seriously to suspect that what is publicly known can be but symptomatic of attitudes held toward the Scriptures, the Creeds, the Form of Subscription, and the decisions of Synod by various members of the Seminary faculty and conveyed to students deliberately or otherwise.” It is not enough to be told the number of book reviews, devotional meditations and scholarly articles written by members of the Calvin Seminary faculty during the past ten years. This will not satisfy the church. This will not still the suspicions held by many within the church concerning their seminary. The church is waiting for honest answers to honest questions such as those being asked by Classis Pella. The church must have such answers. The question now is, WILL THE CHURCH RECEIVE SUCH ANSWERS?
Arthur Besteman is pastor of the North Street Christian Reformed Church at Zeeland. Michigan. and Secretary of the Reformed Fellowship.