![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/27\/2016\/01\/Larcyia-Hawkins_CAIR.jpg\")
<\/a>By Susan Campbell<\/strong><\/p>\n Score one for the letter of the law and immaturity of spirit.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, evangelical Wheaton College<\/a> announced it had started a procedure that could result in the firing of Dr. Larycia Hawkins<\/a>, who\u2019d announced on Facebook late last year that she would wear a hijab during Advent<\/a> to show solidarity with Muslims. She\u2019d also said that Muslims and Christians worship the same God.<\/p>\n In a statement<\/a> posted on the school\u2019s website, administrators said they\u2019d reached an \u201cimpasse\u201d in their review of Hawkins\u2019 faith and so would move forward to fire her.<\/p>\n Instead of applauding Dr. Hawkins\u2019 act of love in a time when hate crimes<\/a> are increasing against Muslim men and women, Wheaton placed Prof. Hawkins on paid administrative leave<\/a>. Administrators said that Hawkins\u2019 suggesting that Christians and Muslims worship the same God runs counter to the school\u2019s nearly 100-year old\u00a0Statement of Faith and Educational Purpose<\/a>.<\/p>\n In a December\u00a0statement<\/a>, the college said that while \u201cIslam and Christianity are both monotheistic, we believe there are fundamental differences between the two faiths, including what they teach about God\u2019s revelation to humanity, the nature of God, the path to salvation and the life of prayer.\u201d<\/p>\n For this, they\u2019ve started procedure \u2014 a \u201cNotice of Recommendation to Initiate Termination-for-Cause Proceedings regarding Dr. Hawkins\u201d \u2014 and very well may choose to lose an associate professor of political science who appears to be popular with students, and who is the first African American tenured faculty member on campus.<\/p>\n About that impasse: In December, Dr. Hawkins responded to a request from administrators to explain her theology, but when the college asked for clarification, she declined.<\/p>\n Can you blame her? This is the fourth time<\/a> the professor has been asked to reassure the college that her theology is in line with theirs. That\u2019s four times in her nine-year tenure there \u2013 once, according to published reports, after she wrote a paper on black liberation theology<\/a>, once when a Facebook photo showed her at a party in Chicago the same day Chicago Pride held their parade, and once after she suggested different language around sexuality in the college curriculum.<\/p>\n There is so much wrong with this, including the notion that a board can review and endorse another person\u2019s faith.<\/p>\n Wheaton will proceed with a hearing before nine faculty members, then make a recommendation to the college president and provost, who will then go to the Board of Trustees. Board members will make a final decision. Sadly, Wheaton College has never known what to make of the concept of \u201cPeople of the Book.\u201d In 2007, 138 Muslim scholars and clerics wrote a historic open letter<\/a> to Christian churches called \u201cA Common Word Between Us and You.\u201d The letter called for peace and understanding. Wheaton administrators signed the answering letter, which reaffirmed the importance of interfaith cooperation<\/a>.<\/p>\n But then Wheaton officials removed their names<\/a> from the letter after some of the country\u2019s more conservative Christians \u2013 among them the political behemoth Focus on the Family<\/a> \u2013 criticized their involvement.<\/p>\n Is that so surprising? Christendom \u2013 particularly my brand, evangelicalism \u2013 so often gets wrapped up in the letter of the law. We are hyper-sensitive to our lists of proper (and improper) behaviors, though our sacred text warns against that in II Cor. 3:6<\/a>. We can argue theology until Jesus comes back, but it\u2019s hard to miss the message of that verse to the church at Corinth<\/a>: \u201cFor the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.\u201d<\/p>\n The Corinthian church was young, and its members were struggling with an unfamiliar theology. Young faith wants guidance, and rules. Mature faith assumes responsibility and discernment. From the school\u2019s Statement of Faith, this is the inerrant word of God. One would think that such navel-gazing \u2013 Is Prof. Hawkins sufficiently faithful? \u2013 would be beside the point.<\/p>\n So many other challenges face Christians these days. And, if we are to serve (and there again, our sacred text is clear<\/a>), we cannot afford to be distracted by what amounts to so much dogma.<\/p>\n Sadly, such distractions are a departure from Wheaton\u2019s own roots, and not just its spiritual ones. The college was decidedly abolitionist<\/a> \u2013 and may have even served as a stop on the Underground Railroad<\/a> \u2014 when abolition was not a topic for polite company, including among evangelical churches whose members were content with quoting Biblical verses that appeared to endorse<\/a> the awful institution of slavery.<\/p>\n But Wheaton may be right about one thing: It just may be that the college doesn\u2019t not worship the same God as do the Muslims. Wheaton\u2019s God looks far, far too small. I\u2019m not sure Jesus would recognize that God.<\/p>\n Susan Campbell is distinguished lecturer at University of New Haven, and author of \u201cDating Jesus: Fundamentalism, Feminism, and the American Girl,\u201d and \u201cTempest Tossed: The Spirit of Isabella Beecher Hooker.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Susan Campbell Score one for the letter of the law and immaturity of spirit. On Tuesday, evangelical Wheaton College announced it had started a procedure that could result in the firing of Dr. Larycia Hawkins, who\u2019d announced on Facebook late last year that she would wear a hijab during Advent to show solidarity with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":590,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[591,1463,1445,279,26,732,1462,31,1444,1441],"class_list":["post-6606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary","tag-church","tag-dogma","tag-evangelical","tag-god","tag-islam","tag-jesus","tag-larycia-hawkins","tag-muhammad","tag-statement-of-faith","tag-wheaton-college"],"yoast_head":"\n