My reaction to the disturbing interview of Dr. Moreno-Riaño, President of Cornerstone University

I'm the author of the Pastoral Letter to the Cornerstone University Board of Trustees.  I'll put that right up front.  I've learned a lot about the leadership of Dr. Moreno-Riaño, and it saddens and disturbs me greatly.  That being said, this interview that he gave paints him as the victim, as someone unjustly opposed because he is doing God's will.  It also portrays the God-honoring men and women who opposed him, most of whom were fired or driven out, as "dross" that needed to be "refined" from the University.  This is both inaccurate (untrue) and highly dangerous.  It is unacceptable.  

In this video I react to the statements of Cornerstone's President, I do so based on both biblical truths about leadership and character, and based upon the testimony of those who have been hurt by the administration.

The Cornerstone University I graduated from is no more, my daughter won't be going there.

 

I'll admit, that's a bold title for this post, especially with my daughter only entering the fourth grade this fall, but it is true just the same.  I graduated from Cornerstone University in 1998 (and again in 2001) with majors in Religion and Social Studies, and minors in English, Philosophy, and Greek.  By far the greatest asset of that education were the men and women who taught my classes, professors like Mayers, Smith, Brew, Cole, Fabisch, and Webster, to name a few.  If you attended Cornerstone in the 1980's or 1990's you'd know those names, they were giants in their fields, people of deep knowledge and wisdom and abundant Christian character, I was honored to be their student.

Whomever this generation's version of these fine men and women had been up until recently, they're not there anymore.  In the fall of 2024, there won't be a single full-time humanities professor at Cornerstone University, not one.  Adjuncts, it seems, a much much cheaper option, will teach the few classes that are still required of undergrads, but majoring in the humanities, in any of them, is not going to happen.

At this point, news coverage of the purges of long-term employees is sparce, and the spin from the administration about "market oriented changes" doesn't tell much of the story.  The best article I've been able to find is this: Cornerstone University fires tenured professors and terminates all humanities and arts programs - by John Fea at Currentpub.com, June 16th, 2024 it paints a horrific picture.

From the article: Last Spring, ten Cornerstone faculty, including Matt Bonzo, either left Cornerstone or were forced out by the administration. This is the same administration, led by president Gerson Moreno-Riaño, that received a 42-6 vote of no confidence by the faculty in October 2021.

Last week, Cornerstone made more cuts. The humanities and music programs were eliminated. Seven tenured faculty were fired, including Michael Stevens. As I write, there are no full time faculty in history, literature, writing, languages, philosophy, or theology. If its website is any indication, Cornerstone actually still believes it is a “liberal arts college.”

Current students in the former Humanities Department, received an email this summer with the following:

A small number of majors will be merged into larger market-aligned programs for future students.

A small number of majors will be discontinued for new students even as we offer teach-outs to all current students.

A recent press release from the Board of Trustees highlighted its emphasis on "high demand programs" while offering this crumb:

Cornerstone will also offer new online programs in data analytics, counseling for ministry and Biblical studies.

The full-time professors that I spent hour after hour with during me years of study prepared me to be a pastor by teaching me, not what to think, but how to think.  They rightly didn't care if my thinking was liberal or conservative, only that it was Biblical {meaning derived from honoring and studying God's Word, built upon that foundation}.  Cheaper adjuncts and online classes will not produce the same education, it just won't.  I don't doubt the dedication of the men and women working in those less than ideal conditions, but they are indeed swimming against the stream.  Being an adjunct may work for some of them, but it will be far from ideal for most, especially the students.

I understand the financial pressures that Christian Higher Education institutions are under, but this is not the answer.  Eliminating the Humanities is not the answer, relying upon adjuncts is not the answer.  As someone who taught for ten years without benefits, I can assure you that denying your employees health insurance and other benefits to save money is NOT a pattern of Christian stewardship that we should applaud.

In addition to this bad news, today I learned that in the fall of 2023 Cornerstone University invited the ardent conspiracy theorist and "Christian" Nationalist Eric Metaxas to headline a "wisdom conversation," a mark of a serious lack of wisdom by the administration in making that choice.  In recent years Metaxas has said and done many things which have been not only un-Christian, but anti-Christian.  Had I been in MI at the time, I would not have attended his talk to hear from a "#1 New York Times best selling author," I would have been standing at the edge of campus holding a sign calling upon the administration to repent from the folly of embracing Metaxas' Culture War-fueled abandonment of democracy.  I am ashamed that my alma mater celebrated Eric Metaxas. 

SOLD-OUT WISDOM CONVERSATIONS COMMUNITY EVENT PRESENTED BY CORNERSTONE UNIVERSITY SPURS AUDIENCE TOWARD BOLDNESS IN CHRIST NEWS OCT. 10, 2023

My post about Metaxas from 12/20: The downward spiral of Bonhoeffer biographer Eric Metaxas

This has been a rough day, I knew that things were bad at Cornerstone, that the trend line wasn't good, but I had no idea that the University I graduated from had fallen this far.  My prayers will be for the professors, staff, and students who remain, and for the slim hope that the spirit that inspired the Grand Rapids School of Bible and Music isn't as dead as it seems.

The downward spiral of Bonhoeffer biographer Eric Metaxas

At a recent rally, noted author Eric Metaxas, whose book on Bonhoeffer was a tremendous commercial success (Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy), but which has subsequently been challenged by historians and Bonhoeffer's descendants as an inaccurate portrayal, called Americans who are unwilling to shed blood over the election a parallel to the Germans who stood by while Hitler took power {thus equating, at least on some level, Biden/Harris with Hitler's regime}.  "Everybody who is not hopped up about this … you are the Germans that looked the other way when Hitler was preparing to do what he was preparing to do. Unfortunately, I don’t see how you can see it any other way."  If you're not on board with Metaxas about the election, you're no better than a Nazi enabler!  To top it off, Metaxas sees NO other way to evaluate the current state of America.

I knew nothing about Metaxas when I read the Bonhoeffer book {like many books, I found it at the bookstore, thought it looked interesting, and bought it}, and knew little else about him until recently when he has become extremely political, militantly so.  {To the point of advocating killing in the name of 'fixing' the election: “We need to fight to the death, to the last drop of blood, because it’s worth it.”}

Eric Metaxas' American Apocalypse - by Rod Dreher at the American Conservative {Shared as a source for the Metaxas' quotes/video, not an endorsement.  I don't think Dreher's idea of cultural withdrawal (as the polar opposite of militant partisanship) is the path forward either; here's my response to his book: Fight or Flight? Self-Segregation is the death of the Church's Gospel mission  Dreher himself is, with some irony, far more political than I am willing to be.}

Here are Metaxas' own words from an interview when his book on Bonhoeffer was released: "Bonhoeffer was not a liberal or a conservative, but a Christian. He was zealous for God’s perspective on things, and God’s perspective is inevitably wider than the standard parochial political points of view. It sometimes forces us toward a liberal view and sometimes toward a conservative view." {On Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Six Questions for Eric Metaxas Adjust Share By Scott Horton on December 23, 2010, Harpers Magazine}

However the road led to this point where Metaxas' is on the precipice of violence for political ends, it is sad/troubling/frightening to see Metaxas ignore what he seemed to have known about Bonhoeffer, that being a Christian comes first before one's own political views, and especially the truth that God's view is wider than our incessant partisan squabbles.

This sentiment is extremely dangerous: “So who cares what I can prove in the courts? This is right. This happened, and I am going to do anything I can to uncover this horror, this evil.”  Partisanship does not require Truth, or even truth.  Not an acceptable Christian viewpoint {Christian Worldview self-destruction: A culture without Facts is a culture without Truth}

Eric Metaxas interviewed by Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA {The interview where the quotes in Dreher's essay originate; Kirk likewise elevates partisan politics above Christianity and invokes God's name/will to further his politics}

Partisan Political Christianity is one of the Church's greatest stains, its most horrendous evils were committed under that guise (think 4th Crusade, Inquisition, 30 Years War, etc.}, but it is also 100% illegitimate, an abomination that bears no true allegiance to the Cross of Jesus Christ.  Jesus' kingdom was not of this world, and neither is ours.

That a significant portion of the Church in America is trending in this dangerous direction, hard, is clear, that it will lead to disaster and self-destruction is both history's lesson and the Bible's warning.  What Metaxas (and Kirk) are calling for, whatever portion of the Church follows, will be fighting against God, not for him.

Exodus 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before me."

Exodus 20:7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

Exodus 20:13 “You shall not murder.

John 4:24 "God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

The Dangerous Idolatry of Christian Trumpism We can pray peace will prevail, but we’d be fools to presume it will - by David French {David French points out the danger of Metaxas' words, and broadens it out to other calls for violence/war like the Texas GOP's call for secession.  Like Dreher, French is more overtly political in his commentary than I choose to be, but the warning of the danger of the path chosen by many American Christians is accurate.} 

Some Christians express concerns over ‘bizarre’ pro-Trump Jericho March Some Christians express concerns over ‘bizarre’ pro-Trump Jericho March By Jackson Elliott, Christian Post {Another related article, this one quotes Metaxas as introducing 9/11 conspiracy theorist Alex Jones as his 'good friend'.  If that isn't evidence that Metaxas has gone far too far down this rabbit hole, I'm not sure what else you need.}

Eric Metaxas, Christian radio host, tells Trump, ‘Jesus is with us in this fight’ - Religion News Service {A further example of blasphemy/taking the name of the Lord in vain, by declaring that Jesus is on 'our side' in an election...The article contains a link to a story from the summer when Metaxas punched a protestor riding by on a bike in the face (Metaxas was not detained or charged for the assault, even though the protestor was detained then released).}