What Wheaton College Wants to Do About That Hijab-Wearing Professor

Would anyone expect a Muslim school to retain an Allah-professing teacher who also publicly stated that Jesus Christ was no mere prophet, but the Son of God, the divine second person of the Trinity, who became a man and gave His life for those He came to save?

Of course not.

Last month, Wheaton College, a Christian institution, suspended Dr. Larycia Hawkins, an associate professor, for proclaiming that Muslims and Christians worship the same God. Her beliefs fall outside the tenets of the faith (and Wheaton’s statement of faith), and Wheaton is well within its right to dismiss her.

That’s exactly what school officials have recommended. From the Christian Post:

Wheaton reviewed Hawkins’ Facebook post and her follow-up post days later that reaffirmed her “same-god” belief and asked her to submit a reconciliatory theological statement, which she did.

The two sides met in late December to see if a reconciliation agreement could be reached but Hawkins reportedly turned down a proposal that would have striped her of her tenure for at least two years. The school then announced that the two sides had reached an impasse.

On Tuesday, Wheaton announced in a statement shared with The Christian Post that Provost Stanton Jones delivered a recommendation to initiate Hawkins’ termination-for-cause proceedings to President Philip Ryken. The statement asserts that the recommendation “is not a termination; rather, it begins Wheaton College’s established process for employment actions pertaining to tenured faculty members.”

Words have meaning, and sound doctrine matters. Christians are exhorted to contend for the faith, to share the Gospel, and to serve as witnesses to God’s glory. Christ said we’re to love Him with all our heart, soul, and mind. Loving Him means obeying His commands, growing in faith, and continuing to learn the nature of the God we worship. Christ said there is no other way to salvation but through Him — not through a mere prophet or some vague notion of a god. By grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

Sound doctrine leads us to the truth.

As Christians face growing persecution and eroding religious freedom, Christian institutions must teach sound doctrine. They require Bible-believing educators to carry out their mission, not a watered-down, politically-correct, inclusive gospel that does not save.