As I See It
Fred G. Zaspel

After three months the BTS board has finally given official response to our Public Request. Their response, of course, is a non-response. We asked for clarification on such important matters as sola scriptura, inerrancy, sola fide, the exclusive necessity of faith in Christ, and so on. They have declined to reveal their position on these matters, and try as I may to find a happier explanation, it seems impossible to escape the conclusion that they have something to hide.

These questions that we raised in the Public Request did not rise from nowhere. They all stem from published works of BTS faculty and from personal conversations (my own and that of others) with Dunbar, Franke, and Mangum. There are good reasons to doubt that the school is any longer orthodox, and their refusal to provide clarification only serves to confirm the suspicion.

My conversations with BTS faculty have always been cordial, even if frank. And earlier this year I told Franke and Dunbar that while I cannot know their heart, the fact remains that if they had announced at the front door the theological agenda they now pursue, they would not have been allowed in. They admitted that was the case. This kind of thing has caused many alumni to charge them with hijacking the school surreptitiously. I have not quite gone that far myself, but I understand the charge and will admit to having some sympathy with it. But now their refusal to clarify for us what the faculty believe and teach on such fundamental issues as the ones we have raised only heightens the suspicion of deceit. It seems they have something to hide. Why else would they not want to clarify themselves on such issues? It leaves the appearance that they realize that they cannot afford to let the Evangelical world know who they really are.

The few responses I have received from the BTS board follow generally two lines. The first is a blank, completely unsupported insistence that "the school is still orthodox." If that is so, then we can only wonder why they will not clarify themselves on such important issues. The second is a boasting of the school's strategic attempt to reach this generation and society with the gospel. I will be the first to say that this is a commendable goal. And I have found Dunbar's "missional" emails to be not only well done but largely helpful. But what this second line of talk masks is the simultaneous theological shifts that have gone on at BTS. The one does not justify the other. It will do no good to reach this generation with a truncated gospel. And it is this that concerns us, and it is on this score they will not provide clarification.

I do not at all believe that all of the BTS faculty have embraced the errors that concern us. But still, I do believe the school is a lost cause. They are very decided in their new direction, and there is no body to which they can be held accountable. They will not respond to the inquiries of the alumni, and the new board is supportive of them. Too many of us were silent for too long, and now it is too late. Thankfully, God is sovereign over all, and he is judge. In the end we are not responsible for BTS but for our own lives and ministries. May God give us grace to be faithful.

Fred G. Zaspel

Analyses of BTS Faculty Published Positions

Return to Main Page

BTS Alumni endorsing this Request

Official BTS Response

To read the efforts of other concerned BTS alumni,
visit www.postbiblical.info