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Christianity Today, November, 2007 |

Dispensational Dustup

Student dismissed from leadership for 'potentially divisive' beliefs.

Sarah Pulliam | posted 10/10/2007 09:00AM

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Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minnesota, removed a senior as student ministries director because of theological views that some at the college called "hyper-dispensational."

"The matters of concern raised were viewed as being potentially divisive and not accurately representing the theological interpretation of Northwestern College," said an August e-mail announcing Josh Strelecki's removal.

Strelecki holds to three controversial beliefs: that the book of James was written for Israel and not for the church; that the church started with Paul and not at Pentecost; and that Israel was saved by faith and works, not by faith alone.

Dean Paulson, Northwestern's director of campus ministries, told CT that Strelecki's views contradict the college's doctrine of faith on the authority of Scripture. Founded by fundamentalist Baptist William Bell Riley, Northwestern upholds a broadly evangelical doctrinal statement, which professors, but not students, are required to sign.

Darrell Bock, a CT editor at large and research professor of New Testament studies at Dallas Theological Seminary, said Strelecki's views depart from those of most dispensationalists.

Still, Strelecki questions whether his theology warranted dismissal from leadership. He was elected by a majority of the student body last spring. Now the student senate is forming a proposal to screen candidates for student ministries director.

"I think there will be discussion about how close to doctrinal positions of the college students need to be," Paulson said.

Related Elsewhere:

Previous articles on dispensational theology include:

The Problem with Evangelical Theologies | Ben Witherington III thinks there is something fundamentally weak about each branch of the movement.

Southwestern's Predicament | Can the biggest Protestant seminary in the world be both Southern Baptist and broadly evangelical? (May 21, 2002)

The Chosen People Puzzle | When it comes to relating to the Jewish people, should we dialogue, cooperate, or evangelize? (March 5, 2001)

What Hal Lindsey Taught Me About the Second Coming | At UCLA, amid war protests and police helicopters, teachings on an imminent end made a lot of sense. (October 25, 1999)

How Evangelicals Became Israel's Best Friend | In the last 50 years, Israel has needed all the friends it can get, and evangelicals have been loyal and productive supporters. (October 5, 1998)

Charting Dispensationalism | I am a dispensationalist. And that means I've got a bad reputation with many evangelicals. (September 12, 1994)

Dispensationalisms of the Third Kind | Reviews of books on the development of dispensationalist theology. (September 12, 1994)

For more news about education and theology, read our bi-weekly columns Evangelical Minds and Theology in the News.

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November 2007, Vol. 51, No. 11

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Vanessa

Posted: October 11, 2007 3:19 AM

New American Standard Bible (©1995) James 1:1 James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, *To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad*: Greetings. Why would anyone NOT think James was written specifically to Israel (and not the Church), when that's exactly what the Word of God says? James was written before the Church ever existed, and no mention was made of Gentiles. The Church never had 12 tribes, let alone 12 dispersed tribes like *Israel* did. "From James, TO the tribes" - seems pretty straightforward to me.

Doug	Posted: October 10, 2007 12:36 PM


I find the whole dispensational thing a crashing bore--yawn; however, I strongly advocate for any Christian group to screen potential leaders for problematic beliefs. One has only to look at the Episcopal Church (perhaps I should say EpiscoBaal Church) to see the results of a failure in this area. Strong churches have strong beliefs...top down.

Colby

Posted: October 11, 2007 11:39 AM

The school is not saying that Strelecki is not a Christian or a bad person. They are saying that his theology does not match the school's theology, and therefore it's not appropriate for him to be in leadership. That is a perfectly defensible position, especially if someone is using their privileged position of leadership to teach something contrary to the stated doctrine of the particular institution. We attended a hyper-dispensational church for a time, disagreed with the very same issues mentioned in this article, but still were able to teach - as long we we didn't teach that the church's position was patently wrong. The leadership was fully aware of our theological differences. The topic of dispensationalism is boring if it's left in the classroom, but the theology does affect praxis and determines which passages are applicable to Christians in the 21st Century. THAT'S significant - not theological bickering, but "What part of God's Word applies directly to me?". Big stakes.