Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-03-16

schools, built and supported
by Baptist funds"
The Rev. Ray Garrett. pas
tor Of Second Baptist
Church, Hyattsville, Md,
pointed out: while there
should be academic freedom.
at the same time there Is
also the matter Of academic
responsibility. II a man is in
an atmosphere that he can
not agree to and Is not In
harmony with, 1t then seems
to me the reasonable thing
to remove himself without
creating a disturbance"
Another prominent pastor,
the Rev. Calvin Locates Of
Central Baptist Church, said:
I'VE cannot, nor would we,
prevent one of our profess
sors from having freedom Of
thought. but when he begins
to publish articles or books
that may not be In keeping
with his signed statement Of
faith upon taking his job,
then the seminary has q
right to dismiss him or to
ask his reconsideration Of
what he has published"
DR.. r. B. Culbreth, pastor
Of Metropolitan Baptist
Church. observed that some
teachers ARE interpreting
academic freedom with aca-
demic license. No one
questions Elliott's right to
write the book. The real is
sue is that he is paid by
contributions of the people
Of the Southern Baptist Con-
vention. The objection is that
he was an employee Of the
convention and wrote a book
that is in opposition to the
conventions traditional con-
sentative position"
Right to Act Defended
On the other hand, the
Rev. william Scurlock, pas
tor Of Takoma Park Baptist
Church, said: II believe he
had q right to write this
book within the framework
Of the Southern Baptist Con-
vention and even within the
framework Of theological ed
ucation in our seminaries.
The book Is an expression
from the literary-critical-
historical method Of Biblical
evaluation."
Mr.. Scurlock, q member Of
the board Of trustees Of Mid
western Seminary. added: II
personally disagree with his
interpretations Of some bibli-
cal passages but do not feel
that this should prejudice US
against his book or his abil-
ity to teach in our doctrinal
framework"
Rejection Of the argument
that q professor should re-
sign II he does not 60 along
with the philosophy Of an
institution was expressed by
the Rev. Lewis Morgan, pas
tor Of Petworth- Montgomery
Hills Baptist Church.
Some people regard aca-
demic freedom as q relative
thing" he explained. "You
can be free as long as you
think the way we do. Real
academic freedom raises the
threat to some groups who
feel they must transmit from
one generation to another q
certain set Of beliefs"
Views Of Trustees Stand
A similar position was
taken by ministers reacting
to the dismissal Of DR.. Ell
lott by the seminary's trus-
tees.
Mr.. Morgan pointed out:
Il am enough Of an admins
traitor to know that an out
slider never knows all the
angles. The sentiment Of the
board changed rather radi-
cally from the earliest
period. It changed when the
convention spoke as 1t did.
In the beginning the trus-
tees stood pretty strongly for
freedom OF expression yet as
servants Of the convention
they felt the necessity for
making some adjustment In
the direction Of the conven-
tons views.
This Is my effort TO ex-
plain what they did but 1t
does not change my feeling
that they made q tragic
mistake"
Mr.. Garrett also noted the
trustees had information not