This letter was written by Joshua Eldridge, an undergraduate Biblical Studies student at Louisiana College, and originally appeared on his blog,  Beckon and Muse. He emailed this letter to Dr. David Hankins and has yet to receive a reply. This was reposted here with permission.

Dr. Hankins,

To begin, my name is Joshua Eldridge. I am a senior at Louisiana College in year five, majoring in Biblical Studies. I planned on attending for another year while my wife is finishing up her Bachelors of Nursing. My guess is, you are very busy, so I will try hard not to bore you with a wordy email flowing from a broken heart.

I contact you because I am told that you, my brother in Christ, carry a weightier voice than I with our campus president, Dr. Aguillard. Being at my wits end and my heart’s last tear, I am at a road to ask you to please add your voice to my cohorts in our effort to help Dr. Aguillard sense the beating rhythm our hearts have for our dear professors. It is at this point that I must assume that you are already aware of his recent announcement to let our beloved professors go to find a means to support their families elsewhere.  This brings me to this letter. I am writing you, Dr. Hankins, that you may hear my broken heart, which in many ways emblematises the many broken hearts of my cohorts. As a result, I plead after you seeing my sincerity, that you would consider adding your weightier voice to ours as we plead with our president to let these men stay.

I would never expect you to remember who I am, a sinner among thousands of saints with whom you have interacted. I recently pastored a church in Dupont, La whose Director of Missions is Alan Knuckles. It was he who introduced me to you at the past SBC conference in New Orleans, where you and I had shaken hands.

It is because of Mr. Knuckles’ virtuous opinion of you that I have reason to remotely try contacting you with such a request. He told me that you love Jesus and you have a heart for missions. I would consider it a thing to be feared if we would support a man with the slightest difference in motives who filled the role of Executive Director for our LBC.

With you possessing a pure heart, filled with the Spirit of God, and an overflowing affection to see Christ Jesus magnified at Louisiana College—with this being a given, I would like to offer you a few other reasons to consider as to why pleading with Dr. Aguillard is a holy and righteous thing to be done.

(I) First, the rumble among the students as of right now is that if the contracts of these men are not renewed, many of these students will not return. So many of us are so tormented by what we feel is an unholy injustice to these men—our beloved brothers—and their families, that we would rather graduate from an out-of-state college to finish our degrees. Even if that means it would require an extra year or two. To explain why this is so, it helps to relate the devotion of these students to that of a seminary professor who is now retired. My Hebrew professor told me that when he was getting his doctorate, there was a flood of seminary students who had transferred from another seminary because they had to be with this one professor under whom my Hebrew professor was studying at the time. His previous employing seminary had pushed him away over hermeneutical differences. And although they had succeeded by pushing him away, they ultimately lost the whole department. Why? Because the devotion to that department was to that professor! My professor tells me now, “I have never seen a student-professor loyalty like I have seen between them.” Dr. Hankins, I fear that is what will become of the Christian Studies division, and Caskey Divinity School. But, is this not the schism we in the SBC have fought so hard against as we rallied together in New Orleans?

(II) Secondly, if these professors go, and so follow the students, this will leave a monumental hole in the Christian Studies department during the midst of our SACS review. With regards to the glaring light of SACS, the final decision as to where our accreditation stands will be made in December 2013. To have our Christian Studies department mangled and students to leave, how would this look when SACS returns to finalize assessment at the end of the year? The end of the year would be the first semester where these beloved professors and their faithful students would be absent. This would leave hardly enough time for the college to recover.

(III) Thirdly, these are our disciple-makers, not just our professors. To shed some light on just how great these professors are and how dear they are to our hearts, please consider my wife and I’s resulting development.

1. First, for my wife, as a child she shared a home with a drunk relative who remains to cause great deal of pain to the family. I am sure that you can imagine how difficult it would be for her to forgive that person simply out of love. What ultimately did it for her? It was Dr. Jason Hiles’ lecture. The weeks Dr. Hiles lectured on the nature of Christ’s atoning sacrifice in our Faith and Values class, he taught us that true forgiveness was bearing all of the weight and pain of the wrong done to you without a morsel of a desire to seek revenge. Ultimately, the essence of such forgiveness found warrant in the way Christ forgave us. With his tender-hearted and sobering instruction, Dr. Hiles had moved my wife to close a decade of emotional torment by forgiving that person as Christ forgave you and me. To this day, her family members remain astounded at the kindness she has continued to show him. And when they ask “why?” Her answer is because that is the nature of how Christ forgave me.
2. While I was a student of Dr. Hiles, I was during that time vehemently opposing Calvinistic endeavors as the Freshmen and Sophmores were all abuzz about it in 2008 when we joined LC. I could not articulate for you what a Calvinist might believe; I just knew that my pastor and youth pastor had opposed it, and therefore I should as well. Dr. Hiles wore his soteriological positions so reservedly that I actually approached him in a conversation once as though he opposed Calvinism with me.  For five minutes, he patiently and lovingly listened to me enumerate what I felt like was “evidence” against Calvinism. He had every right to tell me I was wrong just based on the sheer logical fallacies inherent in my arguments. But, he did not oppose me that day based on either logic or his now alleged soteriological bias. Rather, he did the logical thing. He challenged me as any good professor should. He challenged me via the Socratic method. He asked me a question that I had never considered that I should go home with to wrestle. In all honesty, I thought Dr. Hiles was opposing me because I saw that my logic was faulty. I still could not tell from that point that he might have affirmed a doctrine against which I was waging war. In fact, it was not until years later that I found out where he stood; and it was only because I needed to be rebuked and corrected for arrogantly assuming the wrong understanding of his held theology. In all, my point is that in no way has Dr. Hiles ever pushed his theological positions on me.
3. The last testimony I want to share of my disciple-makers is of Dr. McFadden. Two noteworthy things. (i) He is like Dr. Hiles in the sense that he has never pushed Calvinism on us in anyway. In fact, I will testify the memory, which would be verifiable by all of my classmates, of one occasion where we were struggling with a particular text in Greek. It was not the syntax however that we had struggled with; it was the theology that the Greek text was implying. A student brought up the difficulty one day because it seemed to be implying Calvinistic doctrine. The very first thing that Dr. McFadden said was “Before I go any further in answering his question, I must make sure that everyone here is okay with discussing Calvinism. Will anyone be offended?” One student spoke up that day. He said, “Not at all. I’m not a Calvinist, but it’s not like I ever feel threatened.” The way Dr. McFadden handled things that day was so weighty, it played a formidable role in me and how I now interact with this sensitive topic. (ii) The second way that Dr. McFadden played a formidable role in my life was how he took me under his wing in his office. I was born and raised in New Orleans. Jesus took everything away from us through Katrina while my father was serving a year in Iraq. And it was during that time that I found salvation. Unfortunately, two years later, even as a Biblical Studies major, I still had some of that crass New Orleans arrogance remaining in the wetness behind my ears. As I mourned on Dr. McFadden’s shoulder over how I struggled to foster friendships, he offered to help me work through my personality difficulties. In all, he was gently working towards helping me see that I had some pride issues that needed to be eviscerated. As a result of this slow and necessary discipleship, he has exhorted me towards loving all men in humility. This of course, played a pivotal role as I learned to love the people I shepherded in Dupont, La.

In retrospect, I can tell you that if it was not for the way Dr. Hiles and Dr. McFadden treated us in class, we would not have students like myself who are fighting for unity over theological differences. And if any students are calling for a division over them, it is not because of these professors. It is because they are poor students.

Dr. Hankins, as a fellow brother in Christ who labors to live by “to live is Christ, and to die is gain”, I pray that you hear this from me. Paul so often referred to those he discipled as his children. That was so real for him, that you can see the bittersweet emotions that ran through his veins when he was away from them. He would declare how God was his witness that he would long to be with his disciples again. After discipling a church myself, the small and faithful sheep have affected me so much that I think of them everyday. I grieve to be with them as though I were grieving for my toddler. As a man of ministry, I know you have experienced this leader-disciple bond. It is with that in mind that I say this: if Dr. Aguillard takes these men away from us students, he is taking away our Fathers in the Faith.

These are my reasons why, Dr. Hankins, that I plead with you to influence Dr. Aguillard with your weightier voice than mine. Please, take to him the broken hearts of these students and plead that they may not be orphaned from their Fathers in the Faith.

An unworthy disciple,

—J. A. Eldridge

This post was written by Josh Breland and orignally appeared on his blog, the Daily Bleat.

I am not at liberty to say much right now, but I will share what I can. I was informed yesterday that my site, The Daily Bleat, Drew Wales’ site, SBC Heritage, andLCStudents.org are now blocked on campus internet. Students are no longer able to access these sites via the campus network.

I was also informed that I, and Drew Wales, are officially under investigation by the administration of Louisiana College for possible violations of the student handbook, specifically “making disparaging comments” about Louisiana College and/or college faculty/administration.

That is all I can say right now but I ask for your prayers for the Louisiana College administration, Dr. Joe Aguillard, Drew Wales, and myself. I do not know exactly what will happen in the coming days but will update you when I am able. Thank you for your prayers and support during these difficult times at Louisiana College.

This post will examine the last paragraph of that article and serve as an appeal to the Board of Trustees to weigh the evidence and consider a reinstatement of the professors who received nonrenewal letters earlier this semester.

The Baptist Message article concludes with a quote from Dr. Aguillard. He says:

Finally, due to the number of students who have very recently expressed to me a ‘very oppressive discomfort’ that they have felt with regard to the advocating of Calvinistic tenets with which they [these students] do not agree, I realized that we had a problem.

Charges of this nature are easy to sort. Near the end of each semester at Louisiana College, students are asked to review the professors. The professor designates a student to administer the review and he leaves the room. The questionnaire is short and asks questions such as, “Did this professor teach in accordance with the BFM 2000” or “How could this professor best improve this course?” There is even a comment block for the student to write out any concerns or explanations to answers given. The forms are placed in a sealed envelope and walked across campus by a student. The academic affairs office then types out the answers and delivers them to the professor so there is no risk of a student being identified by handwriting. The survey is designed to remove any chance of identification of the student and to facilitate honest answers without fear of retribution for negative responses.

These are serious charges. I would encourage the Board of Trustees to request these reviews of the men released by Dr. Aguillard. If Calvinism is causing “very oppressive discomfort” then surely there will be a long line of complaints in these reviews given every semester. I have earned 24 credit hours under the teaching of Drs. Hiles, Lister, and McFadden and I know first hand how these classes are taught. The board of trustees will have no issues discrediting these charges after reviewing the evidence in these student reviews.

Lastly, I would like to caution the board to review the evidence carefully. Dr. Aguillard states that “very recently” there has been an expression of an “oppressive discomfort.” I would urge the board to weigh the evidence with a critical mind and call into question any “spike” in complaints. These professors have a proven track record of excellent reviews from their students and this should bear the greatest weight. After 6 to 10 semesters of stellar reviews this sudden charge of oppression seems questionable. May critical thinking, sound logic, and integrity prevail.

LCStudents.org is a recently launched site designed to give the student body of Louisiana College a voice. All students and parents of students of Louisiana College are encouraged to carefully consider the reasons listed on the site and signing their name to it via the contact form.

The issues raised on the website are serious and affect all areas of study at Louisiana College. The recent events at LC are not problems particular to the Christian Studies students, but to all students and parents paying tuition. All information submitted will remain confidential and only be presented to the board of trustees.

The contact information requested is only for verification purposes only. The administrators of the site want to prevent anyone who wishes to remain off the list from being inadvertently signed to the document so contact information will be necessary to provide that safeguard.

Again, any personal information will not be revealed, only the names of the signatories; the list will be placed directly into the hands of the board of trustees and not viewed by any professors or members of administration or faculty of Louisiana College.

The Town Talk released an article on Friday, February 8, 2013 which reminded central Louisiana residents that accreditation is a serious issue at Louisiana College (LC). There are three causes for alarm in the article.

First, in December LC will have spent the maximum allowable time on warning. The Town Talk writes:

Louisiana College will meet at a major crossroads in December when it completes its second year on warning — the maximum time an institution can be on that status — from its accrediting organization.

The Town Talk reminds its readers that this meeting in the fall semester will be one much different from the previous two meetings between LC and SACS. It will be the moment of truth and there is much cause for concern about the outcome of the meeting.

The second cause for cause for alarm is the potential outcomes of a failure to comply with SACS requests to maintain accreditation. The Town Talk lists possible outcomes as following:

•  Reaffirm accreditation and remove LC from warning.

• Deny accreditation and place the institution on probation.

• Deny accreditation and remove LC from membership with the Commission on Colleges for failure to comply.

While the first possible outcome does provide hope for LC, one should be hesitant to put too much hope in this as a likely possibility based on President Joe Aguillard’s statement. His response to a question for comment to the reporter for the Town Talk is the third cause for alarm in the article.

When called for comment by the newspaper, Dr. Aguillard had the opportunity to outline the progress the college made in the recent months since SACS left in December, but instead made a very troubling comment.  The Town Talk recounts his answer:

LC President Joe Aguillard declined to comment for this story, saying there was nothing new since SACS made its announcement in December.

Louisiana Baptists should begin to ask hard questions of Dr. Aguillard. SACS was on campus nearly two months ago and will be returning in ten months from now. All the while, the best update Dr. Aguillard could provide for central Louisiana readers of the Town Talk is simply, “nothing new.”

Unfortunately, there is probably more truth behind this statement that anyone cares to admit, given the recent events on campus. The administration has decided a war on Calvinism is a better course of action.   The President’s time has been filled with interviews, meetings, writing, and responding to the recent events at the college instead of focusing his full attention to the bigger issues looming. Louisiana Baptists would be better served by calling for cooperation on non essentials like Calvinism, and taking necessary steps to satisfy SACS and retain accreditation.

image credit: uisbc.org

includes things like regenerate church membership and baptism by immersion. If there is such a thing as a Southern Baptist distinctive it is our Cooperative Program (CP).

The Cooperative Program has definitely seen better days, but its days could be far, far worse. Dr. David Hankins, Executive Director of the Louisiana Baptist Convention, former Vice President of the CP, and co-author of One Sacred Effort: The Cooperative Program of Southern Baptists, has spent a good portion of his ministry safeguarding the CP and has the opportunity to do it once more. As stated before, the Southern Baptist Convention is watching to see what happens at Louisiana College and if unity and cooperation will prevail. If it fails, this disunity and lack of cooperation could spread in the SBC and put our beloved CP at risk.

The Cooperative Program was borne out of the 75 million campaign launched in 1919 under the leadership of the SBC president James Gambrell. In 1925 the CP was officially instituted and the convention raised $4.1 million to give to the new program for the purpose of driving missions.

Since 1925 the CP has grown, reaching an all time high in 2008 of $541 million given to the CP. In recent years giving has dropped and according to the most recent data available on sbhla.org, giving was $500 million in 2010.

Dr. Hankins, as a man who cares deeply about the CP, please act to promote cooperation and save L.C. Any form of division in the Louisiana Baptist Convention or Southern Baptist Convention could greatly affect the very program you have worked so hard to build and protect.

Louisiana Baptists are awaiting a call for cooperation from the top echelon of the Louisiana Baptist Convention.

There is hope in the midst of this turmoil, however. There is a leader across the river in the Louisiana Baptist building. The Executive Director of the Louisiana Baptist Convention, Dr. David Hankins, is for cooperation. He has served as Vice President of the Cooperative Program and Vice President for the Convention Policy of the Executive Committee.  He has served on the Executive Board of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Board of Directors for Dallas Baptist University.  Dr. Hankins also served on the Executive Committee of the SBC.

Dr. Hankins spoke at the L.C. graduation in December of 2012. Dr. Joe Aguillard lauded him as a Baptist legend living in our time. It is clear from his comments at the convocation, that Dr. Aguillard holds Dr. David Hankins in the highest esteem, which brings great joy to my heart. Perhaps he will use his influence to calm the storm on the campus of the only Baptist college in Louisiana.

Dr. Hankins co-authored a book with Dr. Chad Owen Brand entitled, One Sacred Effort: The Cooperative Program of Southern Baptists.  In One Sacred Effort an observation that brings great hope to this seemingly hopeless situation is made. It reads:

A common phrase in describing the role of doctrine in Baptist cooperation is, “Unity in essentials; diversity in nonessentials.” Many issues about which various Southern Baptists disagree heatedly (e.g., eschatology, alien baptism, Calvinism) have not become matters of fellowship and cooperation for the Southern Baptist Convention.¹

The chapter continues by quoting Jimmy Draper on the four essentials of Southern Baptist doctrine, which are the deity of Christ, the substitutionary atonement of Christ, the bodily resurrection of Christ, and belief in justification by faith. The message of the chapter is clear: Calvinism is not an essential issue, and therefore should not cause division in the SBC.

Will Dr. Hankins stand by the words recorded in his book? In times like these men like Dr. Hankins are needed to rise to the occasion and captain our ship through these troubled waters. As noted above, Dr. Aguillard has nothing but respect for Dr. Hankins.  His leadership in a time such as this is imperative; his level of influence should not be underestimated.

Louisiana College is “the only college operated by Louisiana Baptists,” and the LBC contributed $3,224,517 to L.C.² Louisiana Baptists have a vested interest in this institution; sitting idly on the sidelines is not an option. Cooperation is essential. Division over issues such as these put the crown jewel of the Southern Baptist Convention, the Cooperative Program, at risk. Dr. Hankins has served the SBC and LBC well for so many years. The Convention is watching. Dr. Hankins, please do not fail us now.

¹ Brand, Chad, and David E. Hankins. One Sacred Effort: The Cooperative Program of Southern Baptists. Nashville, Tenn: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2005. p. 180.

² LBC Convention Annual, 2011.

This post is a response written by a LA College Undergraduate Student which was posted on facebook. I have contacted Devin and he agreed that I could share it. In case you missed it, you can read all related posts here, here, here, and here.

I remember the first time I walked on the campus of Louisiana College. I was with my youth pastor who is an alumni to the college I was considering transferring. I always looked up to him. He raised me in my faith and opened up to the need for missions. Louisiana College was a stepping-stone to his joy for the gospel. His influence to follow his example by going to Louisiana College is a decision that I would still say was wise to this day.

The admissions counselor was a helpful and godly man who informed me about Louisiana College. He gave me a tour around the campus and I could not believe how loving and peaceful the atmosphere was in those days. He asked me what I wanted to major in and I told him Biblical Studies. He raved about the professors within the Christians Studies department, saying that they were godly men, who could read right out of the Greek and Hebrew bibles! I remember hearing that, a Christian of almost 3 years, thinking of how I revered them. How they have spent their lives equipping themselves to share what they know today. Of course, one could say such a gift is too academic or intellectual and there is no need to learn Greek and Hebrew paradigms or the deep doctrines of theology. However, after the long wait to transfer (a blessing God granted) and the toil of core classes, I finally entered the classrooms of the Christian Studies department. And you know what I found about the professors there?

I found that the testimony of what the admissions counselor told me was true and not a strategy to collect my money. I found that the professors that I revered through testimony shined true before my very eyes. They had no agenda. They also had no passion to indoctrinate a movement of religious dogmatism and divisiveness. In the classroom, we had life together. We opened the sacred scriptures and I worked through the text with godly men I admired. The admiration I had was not due to intellectualism that is easy to target against them. No, they served us with all their being to ensure that we lived the text out. I praised God when they would warn us collectively and even personally to stand in the faith. They held us accountable and they pushed us to avoid the negative symptoms of academia. I love them all because they did life with me and my fellow peers as if they were not paid to teach us. For that, I am proud to call my professors godly men who love the truth and would die for it.

In case for those who find my positive praises toward the Christian Studies department is simply smoke or propaganda, this comes down to one thing: honesty. Honestly, everyone who has taken classes with these professors knows that what I say is trustworthy. This comes down to two conclusions: Either the Christian Studies department is secretly conspiring together to present the department as immaculate or I am merely being trustworthy. That is the burning question for everyone. Who is being trustworthy? Who is being honest? Who can stand in confidence to hide their wickedness in secret, fearing that it would be exposed to men? Surely this should be trivial compared to God knowing every little detail of every single person who each must give an account for what they have done (Hebrews 4:13). Why would I lie about my testimony about these godly men? I have nothing to achieve except to look at the cross and know I must live out the gospel by being honest and loving people and unifying for the purpose to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth. The gospel is everything, yet I sadly feel this way of life is not shared mutually.

What I mean by this is because I learned as of today that Dr. Kevin McFadden and Dr. Ryan Lister will not have their contracts renewed for the following school term. This news makes my heart weep. But I want to share one important detail that shows where true integrity flows. Both of our beloved professors found out this morning about their non-renewals. I was in class waiting for Dr. Lister to teach but he was 10 minutes late. He came and apologized about his delay and taught as if nothing was different. Now knowing that he knew he would not continue teaching what he loves at Louisiana College, he never entered into a rant or discredited others. This shows where his true desires are. He believed that teaching the gospel to us is more important than raising an army within the Christian Studies department and this integrity is consistent with every professor I have sat under. I applaud him and love him for his faithfulness. I am also thankful for Dr. McFadden. I have been with him since the day he first taught at Louisiana College. He is the most humble and faithful man I have sat under. And know that this truth does not matter to other brothers and sisters in Christ and are willing to overlook their godliness for some deeper political agenda. I am grieved to know how Dr. Lister and Dr. McFadden’s possible departure will not only affect their positions, but family, friends, churches, ministries, even losing my daily walk in life with them so prematurely.

As a Biblical Studies major, this affects me and I deserve to know along with everyone else on why I am losing people who I have learned to live out the bible. Let’s be honest. Let’s be godly men and woman and throw all the cards on the table. Confessing now will bring more forgiveness and righteousness then hiding secrets that the wrath of God will judge on the last day. I for one do not wish to attack and this letter is not its motive. I am here to inform that there is something deeper going on at Louisiana College. I am here to ask that we be godly men and women, and do the right thing: to live and love in unity and not treat others as impersonal expendable. Be in prayer with me for the Christian Studies department  as well as Louisiana College and may God’s will be done and may faithful and godly men and women continue to lead in the midst of dark times at Louisiana College.

In 1962 the Southern Baptist Convention was in the midst of a struggle which Herschel Hobbs took head on in his President’s Address, “Crisis and Conquest.”  In this address he calls for unity in the convention and he first references Scripture as he quotes the apostle Paul:

The apostle Paul gives us the answer. “For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?” (1 Cor. 14:8). The present-day religious scene finds too many gospel trumpets giving forth an uncertain sound.

He adds later:

God has not left Himself without a witness. I would challenge Southern Baptists to be that witness. To do so we must blow with a certain sound the trumpet of the gospel of Christ.

Hobbs called for Southern Baptists to proclaim the gospel in uncertain times. It was in the midst of theological controversy that he called for greater unity around the gospel. These words have relevance today.

Last week, Dr. Joe Aguillard released a statement declaring his “Position on Calvinism.” In this statement, he too references 1 Cor. 14:8.  For Dr. Aguillard, however, this “certain sound” is not the gospel of Christ, but his position against Calvinism.  He writes:

This is the “certain sound” that continues to represent my position as President of Louisiana College regarding Calvinism.  My love for all Baptists including Calvinists, does not constitute our approval of its being advocated at Louisiana College.

At first glance, this statement seem general and inoffensive.  Understanding the context from which these statements flow is another story.

Approximately two weeks ago Dr. Jason Hiles, Associate Dean of the Caskey School of Divinity, was given a letter stating his contract expiring this summer will not be renewed. This letter gave no explanation for Dr. Aguillard’s decision.

Days later the “Position on Calvinism” quoted above appeared on the Louisiana College website.  Viewed independently, each event seems rather routine. Colleges shake up personnel rosters often and Southern Baptists are frequently discussing Calvinism.  When paired together these actions bear careful attention.

It would appear that Dr. Aguillard is wishing to drive the conversation along the lines of the Calvinism debate. He references it twice in the article, once in his recap of 2012 and then in the quotation above.

Herschel Hobbs in his address referenced earlier understands the importance of unity of Southern Baptists around the gospel. In the same address reference earlier he states:

What, then, is the cohesive force which holds Southern Baptists together
doctrinally? It is their time honored principle of unity in diversity.

Hobbs saw that for Southern Baptists to be effective, the need to remain united around the gospel was imperative.  Diversity was inevitable without a binding creed but Hobbs understood diversity as something to be championed as long as it was handled rightly. Hobbs says:

What, then, is the cohesive force which holds Southern Baptists together doctrinally? It is their time honored principle of unity in diversity. This does not mean doctrinal indifference nor a theological hodge-podge. It means that each Southern Baptist extends Christian Charity to those with whom he differs. It means that he recognizes the integrity of those with whom he honestly disagrees. By this principle Southern Baptists have been agreeable in their disagreements. They have resolved their differences in the greater unity of purpose as stated in their Constitution…

Southern Baptists have always seen a need to cooperate together for the sake of the Gospel. Southern Baptists have always found a way to overcome diversity and work together. Dr. Aguillard declaring that Calvinism is not welcome at Louisiana College after he hired a faculty consisting of 60% Calvinists really makes one ponder true motive.  Make no mistake, Dr. Aguillard’s lack of desire to work with “those whom he honestly disagrees” is very un-Southern Baptist.

Image Credit:  Hobbs- SBC.net; Aguillard- lacollege.edu