It is now known that four faculty members have been axed. A fifth who was outspoken on the issues has been terminated at the end of the contract period. Supposedly he was terminated because of budgetary and programming issues but those who know him and the situation believe this was a hatchet job relating to truth and certainty.

The adminsitration claims that “nothing has changed.” But if the orthodox faculty who express concern are fired and those toying with postmodernism and the emergent church are happily tolerated (or even encouraged) the theological center of gravity at this once fine instituion is clearly moving significantlly to the left.

Many faculty members are updating their resumes. As one said regarding orthodoxy, “no one is safe around here now.”

It will be interesting to watch what happens to the formerly tenured faculty members who were terminated. Several law suites are evidently in the works. Apparently the term “tenure” has little meaning and “collegiality” is now the buzzword by which all faculty are to be judged. You obviously cannot be “collegial” if you are concerned about the necessity of truth and certainty in Biblical theology!

Hope you have a good time at Central. We’ll have to see if something important develops…

“BTW- congratulations on your marriage!”
Thank you! We’re doing pretty well and keeping busy… hope you are too!

Understood. I do think there is likely more going on here than just a campus rental, though- though the issue might be bigger than just Beckwith speaking at Cedarville. I do find it interesting that the other college campus host, for example, is Bryan College, which is where Cedarville President Bill Brown served prior to coming to Ohio, and that Brown is well-established as an expert on worldview issues, which is the emphasis of the Summit event.

Unfortunately, I am up at Central and don’t have the time to do more extensive follow-up to confirm the connection. I tend to trust the source that informed me about the story originally. However, in light of you and your wife’s info, I will amend my headline in the meantime.

BTW- congratulations on your marriage!

I think Meg’s point, that the Summit lecture series is somewhat independent of the universities where it is hosted, ought bear some more consideration.

Beckwith lists his July 19 Summit appearance at Bryan College immediately below his Cedarville engagement. His link points directly to the Bryan College website http://www.bryan.edu/summit/

The Bryan college page then points to summit.org (the site Meg mentioned), which belongs to Summit Ministries, “an educational Christian ministry whose very existence is a response to our current post-Christian culture.” http://www.summit.org/

On their FAQ page, Summit asserts that it is unaffiliated with a denomination:
“Is Summit Ministries associated with a particular denomination?
“Summit Ministries is not associated with any particular denomination; the Summit staff is somewhat diverse in regards to our denominational backgrounds.”
http://www.summit.org/about/gen_faq/#40

Although the Ohio Summit event is located at Cedarville, I think it is a little bit of an overstatement to call it a “Cedarville Summer Camp.” Thanks for the scoop, but it may just be a red herring.

The Cedarville site is down, but the link on Beckwith’s site points to a URL on the Cedarville site itself:

http://www.cedarville.edu/departments/er/academiccamps/summitcamp/