Calvin Letter
I am grateful for a chance to address the selective, distorted and unfair portrayals of Calvin College in a recent issue of WORLD Magazine.
Although WORLD did acknowledge Calvin's superb academic reputation (calling Calvin "arguably the flagship of Christian liberal arts education" in this country) it also accused us of drifting away from Scripture on such issues as origins, feminist theology and homosexuality.
This is simply not true. Calvin, since its founding in 1876, has been committed to integrating faith and scholarship - equipping its students, and its graduates, to engage and transform the world for Jesus Christ. Our commitment today is no less Christian than it was when Calvin began 127 years ago, despite what WORLD might think after a brief time on campus and a few selective interviews.
But don't just take our word for it. Consider that Calvin has been cited by the Templeton Foundation in its honor roll of character-building colleges each year that guide has been published. Or consider the opinion of this country's leading conservative publication, the National Review. Last fall Naomi Schaefer, a reporter writing a book on top-notch religious colleges, spent three days on Calvin's campus. In a January 2003 issue of National Review she wrote positively about "Calvin's philosophy that students at Christian colleges should be exposed to 'the best' that secular culture has to offer" and commended Calvin for helping students subject all things to critical examination through the lens of their faith.
That approach to higher education was either missed or ignored by WORLD, which seems to believe that real Christian higher education means hiding students from the world for four years. That's not our approach at Calvin. We stand by our principles, and one of these is full and free discussion, from a Reformed Christian perspective, of the vital issues of the day. We don't punish students for "wrong attitudes," and we are willing to live with the dissonance of their trying on some views we don't endorse. That's what higher education is all about, and we are confident of the guidance we offer and of God's grace working in their lives.
WORLD implies that we should hide from the world and its critical issues, and make sure that no speaker, performer or book with views contrary to our Christian commitments ever sets foot on campus. That's not real education, at least not from a Reformed Christian perspective.
It's also important to remember that we have 4,300 students at Calvin. The profile of Calvin in WORLD picked two students for extended quotes, presenting these two students as the voice of the student body. But there was not one dissenting student voice quoted in the article! The impression one might gather is that these issues are all that anybody at the school is talking about (not true) and that there are no students or faculty who have mainline conservative views on these issues (also not true).
Despite what WORLD's story might lead people to believe, homosexuality is not a preoccupation on Calvin's campus. We are working as a college to follow the call of our denomination's Synod (the Christian Reformed Church's highest ruling body) which in 1999 said the entire denomination is "called as a Church to repent for our failures" in this area. "Ribbon Week" is one way of reaching out with love and compassion to Calvin students who are gay, following the lead of Synod, which in 1973 already said that the homosexual may not on the sole ground of his or her sexual disorder be denied community acceptance, and, if a Christian, should be whole heartedly embraced by the church as a person for whom Christ died. In addition, Synod said, homosexualism - as explicit homosexual practice - must be condemned as incompatible with obedience to the will of God as revealed in Holy Scripture, a position which Calvin and its leadership affirm. But the church must exercise the same patient understanding of and compassion for the homosexual in their sins as for all other sinners. We affirm this as well and commend Synod and the CRC for their wisdom on this issue, wisdom which is helping us as we direct our efforts in this area.
Unfortunately WORLD's article did not give readers a context for Calvin's efforts. It did not fully explain either the CRC's position or Calvin's attempts to be true to our denomination's mandates. It took the quotes of two students, ignored others interviewed and painted a picture of polarity and antagonism that is completely incompatible with what a true Christian response to such an issue should be.
Our hope at Calvin would be that WORLD readers who would honestly like to explore more fully what Calvin is all about do so, either through a visit to our website or by visiting our campus. We recognize that our Reformed approach is not for everybody. But we hope that even those who disagree with it can recognize why and how we do what we do. I hope that this response will give you some context for who we are and help you more fully to understand Calvin.
Sincerely,
Gaylen Byker