In the
fall of 2012 I began my senior year at Northwest Nazarene University with a
question I could not get over. That question was: If God is good and can do
anything because…well…God, then why the cross? Why did God choose to die a
bloody horrible death? If God could choose to reconcile humans in any way why
choose death? It made God seem mean, wrathful, and blood thirsty.
I grew
up in the Nazarene church and I had been taught many “traditional” theology’s
without even knowing it. I enrolled in NNU’s ministry program in 2008, I
thought I had my own faith and theological views then. But it was not until
professors began to ask us students questions and make us thin, and study that
I began to realize that not everything I was taught theologically growing up is
what I truly believed. I began to notice that I started to differ from my
parents, and others within my denomination and I thought I must be close to a heretic
because I did not know many Christians personally who swayed the same way
theologically as I was beginning to.
I knew
then (and still do) what the Church of the Nazarene believes on many different
theological topics. Everything can be basically boiled down to this statement: “we
agree on all things necessary for salvation, on the non-essentials we do not
have to agree.” This means there is plenty of room to move about in the
Nazarene world without being a heretic, which was good news for me.
While I
had amazing professors and mentors, whom I now consider my friends, I still
felt a little on the outside theologically at times because I did not
necessarily agree with them on everything. During my sophomore year in one of
my classes we had two professors come in and “debate” on whether or not God
knows the future. This was the most interesting class I had had up until that
point. One of the professors who was debating was Dr. Tom Oord. He was on the
side that stated that God does not know the future. His position made sense to
me and it helped answer some other questions I had at that time.
Flash
forward to fall of 2012, as I stated above. I remember having a few
conversations with Dr. Oord on this very topic alongside one of my other
professors. It was also during this time that I got to take my first class with
Dr. Oord and a whole new way of thinking was opened up to me. Dr. Oord looks at
God in a way similar to myself. I began to grow intellectually and spiritually
in a way I had never before grown.
All
through my life, and especially college years, I had heard the loud cries from
fundamentalists. I heard them belittle
and speak ignorantly about my University and its professors, before then I
simply heard them call others heretics and had a narrow view of God and
scripture. Through the years these are the people who have shouted the loudest.
I have stayed silent (mostly) and reminded myself and others that the majority
of those speaking out are speaking out of ignorance.
Recently
my University dismissed Dr. Tom Oord from his position in the Theology
department. The reasons for which have come into question by myself and
multiple others, including current NNU faculty. The most amazing display of
Christ-like love has come from those who support Dr. Oord, and from Dr. Oord himself.
The desire from alumni, current students, staff, and faculty for NNU to be one
of the best places to learn and grow has shown bright. NNU has been amazing at
teaching its students to question and think for themselves. NNU has been
amazing ay making students take on their faith as their own, to know what they
believe and why, and it is amazing at growing their students intellectually and
spiritually. Dr. Tom Oord and other diverse faculty and staff are the reason
why NNU has done such an amazing job. It breaks my heart to hear about and see
fellow believers celebrate the dismissal of Dr. Oord because of what he has
done not only for me but for hundreds of students. Christians should strive to
be intelligent intellectuals. We should ask hard questions and seek the
answers. It is in our asking and seeking that we grow. It breaks my heart that
there are people who claim to love God, yet belittle and rebuke questioning,
learning, and growing intellectually and looking at different possibilities.
There are many who claim to believe in a big God, yet put God in a box and
state that there is only one way to think about God. NNU, and specifically Dr.
Tom Oord, has taught me that it is not only okay to ask questions, but that it
is good and they have taught me how to think of God on a much larger scale than
I ever had before.
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