The President, Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees, and Faculty/Staff Council of the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary are greatly disturbed by the false claims published by The Presbyterian Layman Online regarding classroom teaching by Dr. Mark Achtemeier, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology, and by the false claim that members of the seminary faculty spoke with The Layman.
The President, Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees, and Faculty/Staff Council unanimously affirm their full confidence in the integrity of Dr. Achtemeier as a presbyter and Doctor of the Church. We join with Dr. Achtemeier in calling for a retraction of the article and a formal printed apology from the editors of The Layman.
O. Benjamin Sparks explores the implications of this situation:
We are pleased to publish this statement by the University of Dubuque Seminary, but regret that such a statement is necessary. And so with sadness does the Outlook enter the debate about Dr. Mark Achtemeier and what he said (or did not say) in an ethics class at Dubuque. This matter appeared in The (Presbyterian) Layman Online (www.layman.org) on February 7, 2005.
It is distressing that students, whether coming forward voluntarily or recruited, should report what is being taught in the classroom (without a professor’s knowledge) to potential adversaries. Bottom line: Christian discipleship requires a Christian student to go first to the professor (see Matt. 18) and point out his or her ‘error.’ That assumes the student to be capable of following an argument or discussion to make such a judgment, unless an audio recorder is used.
This practice is discouraging because of what it says about the life of the church. Are we willing to tolerate a climate created to strike fear into the hearts of teachers and pastors? It reminds me of what happened at Columbia Theological Seminary in the 1950s when students took notes on Dr. John Leith and reported them to a fundamentalist group called Concerned Presbyterians who were trying to catch him in heresy. Leith was as orthodox as Achtemeier, and it rolled off his back. But it was unpleasant, dangerous to the church’s teaching ministry, and an impediment to preaching the gospel. Attempts to strike fear and intimidate are always impediments to the gospel.
Mark Achtemeier is to be commended for his measured response. He is a person of utmost integrity, a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ, and a credit to the church.
