What Will Calvin University Do?

By: Chris Johnson

In 1563, a German prince named Frederick III commissioned the publication of a document summarizing the shared beliefs of the young Protestant movement which had separated itself from the Roman Catholic Church. This document, the Heidelberg Catechism, has been used as a standard of Christian orthodoxy by many different denominations and sects ever since. Composed of 129 questions and answers, as well as the scripture references the answers are based on, the catechism provides a basic summary of the historic, faithful understanding of God’s revealed Will in scripture.

Among the denominations organized, in part, around the Heidelberg Catechism is the Christian Reformed Church in America, which has its roots in the conservative Dutch Reformed Church and yet is the parent denomination of the increasingly infamously liberal Calvin University.

Last month, from June 11-16, the denomination held its annual national organizational meeting, called “Synod 22,” to discuss the direction of CRC churches, including what they would do with a controversial 2020 “Human Sexuality Report,” which lent strong support to a traditional, Biblical understanding of sexuality. The report recommended, for one thing, that Question 108 of the Heidelberg Catechism would be officially understood by the CRC to condemn homosexuality.

108. Q. What does the seventh commandment teach us?
109. That all unchastity is cursed by God. We must therefore detest it from the heart and live chaste and disciplined lives, both within and outside of holy marriage.

The Human Sexuality Report recommended that ‘unchastity’ in the answer above be understood explicitly by the CRC to include: “premarital sex, extra-marital sex, polyamory, pornography and homosexual sex.”

On June 16, after 2 days of debate, the Synod agreed by a vote of 123 to 53, to affirm the Human Sexuality Report as “a useful summary of biblical teaching regarding human sexuality” and recommend it to churches and to affirm the recommended interpretation of answer 108.

Of course, the representatives agreed on most of the sins listed, but the sticking point was on the condemnation of homosexuality. The CRC has officially not condemned homosexual temptations since 1974, but the response to individuals who act on those temptations has been left up to individual congregations. I imagine the Synod which voted not to condemn homosexual temptations wouldn’t be able to fathom that within 50 years their churches would be arguing to affirm homosexual practice. Those who’ve watched Calvin University know that they, for one, have done exactly that, sliding farther and farther away from any kind of orthodox Christian understanding of sexual morality.

We who’ve studied Calvin’s long stridden tracks on the muddy descent over the years were pleasantly surprised – more like shocked, actually, to see their parent denomination which has allowed this slide thus far, so solidly reject what the school has gone so far to affirm.

Within the past few years, Calvin has allowed the operations of “Sexuality and Gender Awareness” which is a LGBTQ+ student organization, hosted events promoting homosexual ideology, advertised transgender-friendly bathrooms, and elected and allowed a gay student-body president.

The school has employed activist professors and only ended their employment after one performed a wedding for a lesbian couple and another organized a drag show for people with Down Syndrome. Who knows how many similarly minded professors are teaching at Calvin, but just haven’t quite crossed that line, but a recent letter urging the university “to recognize that good people have differing viewpoints, and biblical interpretations related to sexuality should not be an employment issue at Calvin” was signed by over 140 staff and faculty.

According to the Calvin Chimes, their school paper, a denominational task force will be appointed to determine the implications for the university. One professor, the author of the bestselling “Jesus And John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted A Faith And Fractured A Nation,” Kristen Kobes Du Mez, says “Many people are polishing their CVs, starting to look at what else is out there and preparing themselves to leave.” CVs are sort of academic resumes.

In her words, before the Synod’s decision “School policies explicitly allowed professors room to criticize elements of CRC orthodoxy as long as they agreed to conduct their lives according to the church’s rules. And in a long-running internal CRC debate over how to temper biblical writings with contemporary values, Calvin faculty were frequently among those pushing hardest for more progressive views.”

It seems too much to hope that Calvin University could recalibrate its moral compass to the Biblical North Star, but as their name sake reminds us, “All events are governed by God’s secret plan.” Certainly this decision of the CRC is a step in that direction.

If you’re in the CRC, let your pastor know that you’re encouraged by the denomination’s decision. Denominational leadership will doubtless be on the receiving end of plenty of harsh criticism and the emotional manipulation that is the hallmark of homosexual activists. They need to know that their flocks support them!

Whether or not you’re in the denomination, we can pray for the leadership and for the members of the Calvin commission, and for Calvin staff – particularly as they prepare to welcome a new president – that they would have a renewed zeal to submit their consciences and their institution to the Word of God.

The LGBTQ conflict is raging elsewhere in the Reformed world right now. The well known Christian publishers, Eerdman’s, recently published a list of books to read for “Pride Month,” meanwhile the Reformed Church in America is undergoing a split, as conservative churches break from the radical arc of the old denomination.

All of this upheaval is tragic, but it is also, obviously, awakening Christians to the battles on our doorsteps. May God grant us the strength to fight it. As Joab encourages in 2 Samuel 10:12, “Be of good courage, and let us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God, and may the LORD do what seems good to him.”

This morning (6-30-2022), Al Mohler on The Briefing also shed light on this topic – “Two Reformed Denominations Make Important Moves to Defend Biblical Teaching on Homosexuality”.  Click here to listen.

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