Wheaton, Rome, and J.P. Hochschild

Wheaton College made the front page of this Saturday's Wall Street Journal Weekend Edition. The story, which is well worth at least a skim, concerns Dr. Joshua Hochschild, a former Wheaton professor who was given a terminal contract after converting to Roman Catholicism.

Hochschild converted during my junior year and was the favorite professor of many philosophy major friends of mine. He was, I believe, an excellent professor and a trusted advisor to many. Everything I heard about him from friends leads me to have the utmost respect for him as a person and a scholar.

But I think that Wheaton College did the right thing.

A college can't turn it's back on 150 years of history just because they want to retain one professor. The decision to open faculty positions to Roman Catholics (or those from other Christian traditions) rests with the Board of Trustees and the Wheaton Community as a whole. A change like this should not be made lightly but with prayer and godly wisdom.

So I agree with Dr. Litfin on this one. I have been concerned about the way the administration makes decisions about Wheaton faculty (three in particular come to mind), but this is not one of them.

Read this post for more(including links that show how some other Wheaton professors view this topic).

(photo credit - Wheaton College - www.wheaton.edu)