Monday, April 12, 2010

Waltke Update

Justin Taylor has helpfully posted further information about Bruce Waltke's departure from RTS. It seems that the parting was amicable, though I do get the feeling that some pressure was placed on Waltke to this effect (hence Waltke's comment, "I find no fault with the RTS administration, in fact, I think they did the right thing"). Was the "right thing" asking him to renege his views, to explain them further, or to resign? It seems that Waltke is going to be picked up by Knox Theological Seminary which shows that one man's loss is another man's gain.
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8 comments:

Unknown said...
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3:39 AM
Unknown said...

Well irony on top of ironies - in this open-minded Reformed world only your satire and criticism is allowed?

Maybe you'd get a job at RTS?

3:48 AM
Unknown said...

Mike

Please accept my apologies - your blog post piqued me, but I was wrong to express my frustration as I did - I sincerely apologise and won't post again

Gavin

3:54 AM
Gary Ware said...

"I was asked to be interviewed about my resignation on ABC News with Diane Sawyer! Of course, I refused because I am certain it would have been spun to reflect negatively on RTS and the church."

Dr Waltke shows a great deal of wisdom about the use which will be made of any statements he makes.

4:41 AM
Justin said...

Mike,

Your feelings are incorrect. I am a student at RTS and was slated to serve as Prof. Waltke's TA in his class on Judges-Poets next year. Regardless of what one thinks of the RTS administration's decision to accept Prof. Waltke's resignation in the end, they were very reluctant to do so in the beginning and even rejected it at first. Thus, it is inappropriate to suggest that Prof. Waltke was somehow subtly forced out. Rather, Prof. Waltke offered his resignation out of his own self-sacrificial and exemplary desire to spare the seminary from becoming embroiled in potential controversy. He was acting on the basis of the proverb he coined to define the idea of righteousness in the book of Proverbs: "The righteous disadvantage themselves to advantage the community. The wicked disadvantage the community to advantage themselves." Obviously Prof. Waltke's good intentions have not been honored on the blogosphere thus far. But let's begin to honor those intentions now by ceasing to offer conspiracy theories and speculations which harm the community Prof. Waltke was trying to protect. Thanks.

Sincerly,
Justin Borger

1:20 PM
Jeremy said...

Waltke wouldn't have left if he didn't think he was going to be kicked out. Am I wrong on that or not? If not, that is the definition of being subtly forced out.

This might be a response to a different thread, but I don't know if I would consider Enns and Longman to have a high view of Scripture anymore. They have to be considered a notch below that. There is nothing necessarily wrong with that since they have critiqued the high view, but we have to get our definitions correct.

Peter Enns is correct - the 800 lb. gorilla in the room is evangelicalism's relationship with the OT. Carson's review "Inspiration and Incarnation" is a perfect example. He (rightly in my view) questions much of what Enns says, but he rarely offers his opinion on exactly what the OT is trying to convey in spots. The problem is that when someone such as Enns comes out with a way to understand the OT, he gets hammered. Someone needs to write a book that really gets into the nuts and bolts of this

11:24 PM
Michael F. Bird said...

Justin,
Thanks for your comment. It is good to have a first hand account of events. Prof. Waltke is obviously not bitter and his departure was on amicable terms. My perception is, and do correct me if I am wrong, that Prof. Waltke did not want to embroil RTS in controversy. But at the same time, I think RTS is eager to avoid controversy within its constituency and the departure of Waltke is regrettably fortuitious to that end. Let me ask two further questions: (1) Can someone tell me what Prof. Waltke meant by "I find no fault with the RTS administration, in fact, I think they did the right thing"? What is the "right thing" that they did? (2) Can we agree that it is a sad state when Prof. Waltke of all people has to resign from a post in which he excels in order to satisfy a group of Young Earth Creationists? Knox Seminary evidently accept the orthodoxy of Waltke's views, why cannot folks associated with RTS?

12:42 AM
Jeremy said...

I don't think he is just satisfying young earth creationists, but old earth creationists too.

7:10 AM

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