What Would W. A. Criswell Say? (And in what tongue?)

Orginally published on Wednesday, February 01, 2006 at 6:41 AM
by Todd Rhoades

From the Dallas News:

Criswell College, the conservative Baptist Bible college near downtown Dallas, has chosen not to renew the contract of its dean of students, in part because he supports the charismatic practice of speaking in tongues.

The decision comes as the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board is embroiled in controversy over whether foreign missionaries should be required to repudiate speaking in tongues.

Scott Camp's contract as Criswell dean ends today. Both he and Criswell President Jerry Johnson described the parting as amicable, but both acknowledged that doctrinal differences played a role.

"He was a great friend, and is a great friend," Dr. Johnson said. The two men were Criswell classmates in the 1980s and were in each other's weddings.

Mr. Camp was hired a year ago on a six-month contract, which was renewed once. Dr. Johnson said Mr. Camp made a strong contribution to the school, recruiting students and boosting chapel attendance.

But Mr. Camp also is pastor of a new, rapidly growing Southern Baptist congregation in Arlington, Fellowship of Joy Church. He said he understood that he would have to focus on his college job if he wanted to be dean for the long term.

"A decision needed to be made, and the president and I had been in dialogue about my willingness to leave the church," he said.

But doctrinal differences also shaped the decision not to further renew Mr. Camp's contract.

One involved Mr. Camp's professed sympathy for speaking in tongues, a charismatic practice in which believers, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, call out in a language others can't understand.

"Southern Baptists churches are not charismatic churches," Dr. Johnson said. He added that while Criswell enrolls students from charismatic backgrounds, faculty and top staff are expected to toe the line on Baptist beliefs.

Of late, the International Mission Board has moved to oust a member, Wade Burleson, who has publicly questioned the board's insistence that missionaries not use "a private prayer language" – a form of speaking in tongues.

Dr. Johnson said he hadn't discussed Mr. Camp's contract with Southern Baptist Convention leaders, but he added that it's important for Criswell, because it sends students into the mission field, not to contradict the mission board's position on speaking in tongues.

Mr. Camp also has enlisted Carl Raschke, author of The Next Reformation, as "theologian in residence" at Fellowship of Joy. Dr. Raschke, who holds a doctorate in religious studies from Harvard and teaches at the University of Denver, visits the church monthly to preach and work with youth groups. He has written critically about biblical inerrancy, the notion embraced by Southern Baptists that every word in the Bible is divinely inspired and factually accurate.

Criswell College, with just over 400 students, is a mission of First Baptist Dallas. It's named for the late W.A. Criswell, legendary pastor of the church and a leading proponent of biblical inerrancy.

But Dr. Raschke has called the idea of inerrancy "pseudoscientific" and a "weak" view of Scripture.

Dr. Johnson said Dr. Raschke's close affiliation with Fellowship of Joy was another reason why Mr. Camp's contract was not renewed.

"Inerrancy is a big issue for this college and always has been," Dr. Johnson said.

Dr. Raschke said he came to Criswell in November to meet with faculty and speak to students to clarify his position on the Bible, which he said had been misrepresented. He said students seemed to understand, but not top administrators.

"I'm arguing for a stronger view of Scripture, not a weaker view," he said. "I'm certainly not a liberal, and I'm certainly not a relativist. But they don't bother to read what I'm saying."

Barry Hankins, a history professor at Baylor University who has written extensively about conservatives' gaining control of the Southern Baptist Convention in the 1980s, said that biblical inerrancy is a bedrock position for that wing of the denomination and that the "personal experience of speaking in tongues" makes many conservatives uncomfortable.

He said the Criswell episode reinforces that conservatives have begun to quarrel.

"With almost every revolution," he said, "it's easy to hold the movement together while you're still fighting. Once you've won, the fault lines begin to appear."

It is not the first time that a doctrinal dispute has resulted in a high-profile departure from Criswell College.

In 1996, the school's president, the Rev. Richard R. Melick Jr., stepped down after disagreeing with Dr. Criswell on a point of theology involving details about the Second Coming.

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