“But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the
trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person
from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require
at the watchman’s hand.” [Ezekiel 33:6]
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this
world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” [Ephesians 6:12]
Presbyterians Week Headlines
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[Editor’s Note: Pittsburgh
Theological Seminary (PTS) Associate
Professor of New Testament Robert A.J. Gagnon PhD is no longer teaching at PTS.
The seminary released the following announcement concerning Dr. Gagnon’s
departure:
"Dr. Rob Gagnon will be leaving Pittsburgh
Theological Seminary effective August 21, 2017. Dr. Gagnon has been a part of
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary since 1994, serving since 2002 as Associate
Professor of New Testament. The administration at Pittsburgh Theological
Seminary and Dr. Robert Gagnon have mutually agreed to end their relationship.
We appreciate the contributions Professor Gagnon has made to our students and
the community during his time here and we wish him the best in his future
endeavors."
Dr. Gagnon is an outspoken
proponent of the biblical perspective on marriage and sexuality, and has
published many books and articles on the subject (http://robgagnon.net/).]
Dr. Gagnon published the
following Facebook article on 25 August 2017:
Here
is the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
announcement of my departure from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.
Outspoken
critic of same-sex practices leaves Pittsburgh Theological Seminary - http://www.post-gazette.com/local/region/2017/08/24/pittsburgh-theological-seminary-robert-gagnon-same-sex-marriage-protestant-presbyterian-church-usa/stories/201708240187
(PPG
is a politically leftwing paper and fully supportive of the LGBT agenda, though
the article offers some balance given that bias.) It is not surprising,
perhaps, that the first person cited for a reaction would be Janet Edwards, a
self-professed "bisexual minister" (so several web posts by her) who
has been virulent in her opposition to me for well over a decade. She supports
what Jesus and the writers of Scripture would have regarded as the enslavement
of persons with same-sex attractions and gender-identity confusion to the
sinful impulses of their flesh (see Paul's "handing over" remark in
Romans 1:24; compare 6:19). Expecting her to give me a fair and decent
appraisal is somewhat like expecting a Gnostic to give a fair and decent
appraisal of an orthodox Christian.
Since
her slander is public, it is necessary for me to note publicly certain facts.
She conducted one or more same-sex marriage ceremonies (or equivalent) before
it was permissible in the PCUSA to
do so and was tried in the Pittsburgh Presbytery once for said action, though
something akin to a jury nullification took place (it was ruled that she could
not have "married" said persons because same-sex "marriage"
was not recognized at the time as marriage in the PCUSA!). It was a mistake on
my part many years ago to ever allow this "LGBTQ" zealot to audit a
course with me, even an introductory Greek class (so much for trying to be
conciliatory), since she was committed to misrepresenting me.
In
an introductory Greek class I rarely, if ever, speak about the issue of
homosexuality; evaluations for these classes through the years will bear me out.
But in Edwards' thinking any mention of the issue from a biblical-orthodox
perspective would be a heinous (and thus in her mind
"often"-occurring) offense. So obsessed was Edwards that, after the
class was over, she arranged a meeting with me, in which she was verbally
abusive, then followed up with verbally abusive letters to me. Even former
student Dwain Lee, now in a same-sex marriage, acknowledges in the Post-Gazette
article my appropriate conduct in the classroom.
Edwards
states, "“It was simply not healthy to interact with him and take a course
with him.” Let it be known that I am (and have always been) committed in the
classroom to making all students safe from any personal disrespect and free at
all times to express their own views. I always underscore, repeatedly when
discussing "controversial" issues (such as presenting the biblical
evidence for the historic-orthodox Christian position on, say, substitutionary
atonement or the male-female foundational prerequisite for sexual ethics), that
students would never be graded down for disagreeing with me. (When I was a
Masters student at Harvard Divinity School in the 1980s I occasionally
encountered an instructor who belittled my views or graded me down for said
views. I would never repeat that injustice to any student who disagreed with
me.)
As
a general practice, I request only that students (whether orthodox or not)
ought to base their claims about what Jesus or any writer of Scripture
allegedly believed (or did not believe) on arguments documented from Scripture
assessed in its historical and literary context. Hypothetically speaking, it is
not enough to assert solely on the grounds of one's own ideological preferences
that "Paul did not believe that Christ died to make amends for human sin"
or "Jesus did not believe in a male-female requirement for marriage."
One has to make a case. Otherwise one's position is entirely circular: Jesus or
Paul can't have believed such and such because this belief is offensive to me.
This
is standard procedure for good pedagogical instruction, necessary in order to
develop critical thinking in students. Again, taking up the hypothetical
examples cited above, I do not believe the safety of a student in the classroom
is involved when a Christian professor makes a strong case, after weighing the
pro- and con-arguments, that the early church regarded belief in Christ's
amends-making death ("Christ died for our sins") as essential to the
self-definition of Christians. This is, after all, an empirically verifiable historical
position.
Again,
hypothetically: Nor can a student rightly complain of being made to feel unsafe
if the professor makes a strong case that, historically speaking, Jesus, the
apostolic witness to Jesus, and the Old Testament witness foreshadowing him
rejected every and any form of same-sex intercourse as abhorrent, comparable in
depth of severity to an adult having consensual intercourse with a parent. This
too is an empirically verifiable historical position.
Nor
does a Christian professor's expression of agreement with such an overwhelming
biblical witness, consistent with historic affirmations of the church about
essential matters of the faith, create an unsafe learning environment in a
seminary classroom. Liberal professors in seminary classrooms throughout the
country regularly tell "conservative" students, for example, that
substitutionary atonement is not supported in Scripture and/or theologically
indefensible; or that Jesus and the writers of Scripture did not condemn
"committed" same-sex relations (even that it is hateful to disapprove
of such relationships). This has been happening for decades without any issue
being raised about making "conservatives" feel unsafe.
I
make these comments without any reference to the viewpoints held or practices
engaged in by the administration, faculty, and staff at Pittsburgh Theological
Seminary. I reflect merely on my own personal views and practices as regards
the question of safety in the classroom.
Incidentally,
pertaining to Edwards' claim, I taught six courses this past year at Pittsburgh Theological
Seminary. Every single student evaluation was positive.
+ Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, 616 North
Highland Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15206, 412-362-5610,
Fax: 412-363-3260
+ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 34 Boulevard of
the Allies, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222, 412-263-1100
+ Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 100 Witherspoon
Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 888-728-7228, Fax: 502-569-8005
