Baptist College Chooses Freedom over Creationism

William Jewell College is considered a "bastion" of Baptist education in Missouri. Many students enter the ministry and prayers are a daily facet of life. The many visible signs of devout Christianity are not, however, quite enough for Missouri Baptist Convention which has traditionally provided around three percent of the college's funding. The MBC believes that the college is going in a direction that is too liberal and wanted to make some radical changes. So what did the college do?

The Sun-News reports:

The MBC wants to pick Jewell trustees, censor what students and faculty members say and do, and teach Genesis as fact. Either submit, MBC leaders warned, or lose convention funding. William Jewell College leaders last week confirmed they had rejected the Missouri Baptist Convention's attempt to dictate policy in such areas as governance, creationism and campus newspaper content. ... "This whole thing is about control and it's about how you define 'superior Christian education,'" [Jewell President David] Sallee said. "We're just not going to allow the convention ... to dictate what we do."

The MBC stated that freedom of press has no place on the campus of a Baptist college, but such a college does have to teach Genesis as if it were historical fact. Around 66 percent of all students are Jewel are not Baptist and the leadership of that college has shown a great deal of courage and independence.

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