We are encouraged!
When the Please-Reconcile leadership team sent the Open Letter and Signatories to the Bob Jones University Board of Trustees and Administration on Saturday, November 22, we added a letter of thanks (pdf).
Friday, November 21, 2008
To: Dr. Stephen Jones and Bob Jones University Board of Trustees and Administration
The leadership of Please-Reconcile.org is encouraged to see Bob Jones University’s November 20 “Statement on Race.” In our “Open Letter” to the school, we stated that “should such a statement [of regret and apology] be made, we will support it completely and joyfully.” We support the University’s statement and believe that concerned friends of BJU will accept it.
Enclosed is a packet containing our Open Letter and accompanying signatures. We completed our printing of this packet on the same day the University’s November 20 “Statement on Race” was issued. After much prayerful deliberation, we have decided to proceed and send the Open Letter and accompanying signatures, in the hope that these documents will show why so many alumni have called for the University to issue a statement of regret and apology.
We believe that in undertaking this project, we did what we were trained to do at BJU: to lovingly confront wrong doctrine or practice wherever it exists and to remove every impediment to our Gospel witness in the world. We are thankful that Bob Jones University has responded to the concerns of its alumni and anticipate that the Board of Trustees will support Dr. Stephen Jones and the Administration in this statement. Moreover, it is our strong desire that the University will carry forward into the future the Bible-based principles articulated in its November 20 statement by continuing to eliminate man-made racial barriers to the Gospel.
Sincerely yours,
The Leadership Group at Please-Reconcile.org
Jonathan Henry ‘98
Beth Murschell ‘92
Tim Tsuei ‘89
Josh Tuttle ‘01
Rebecca Phillips ‘05
May God continued to be honored by the ongoing reconciliation among our brothers and sisters and friends and neighbors!
Evidentiary Articles Removed
On our Purpose page, we stated that in the event of a “statement of regret and reconciliation from Bob Jones University,” we would remove the evidentiary articles that were on this site. These articles were written to help alumni and former students to understand the background of this group’s request for a statement. We felt that people needed to understand that asking the current board and administration for an apology was not in response to a fictional or inconsequential situation.
The November 20 Statement on Race from Bob Jones University is this “statement of regret and reconciliation.” Therefore, we are removing the evidentiary article.
Soli Deo Gloria; To God be all the Glory
New Statement about Race at Bob Jones University
http://www.bju.edu/about/race.html
Statement about Race at Bob Jones University, released Nov 20, 2008
At Bob Jones University, Scripture is our final authority for faith and practice and it is our intent to have it govern all of our policies. It teaches that God created the human race as one race. History, reality and Scripture affirm that in that act of creation was the potential for great diversity, manifested today by the remarkable racial and cultural diversity of humanity. Scripture also teaches that this beautiful, God-caused and sustained diversity is divinely intended to incline mankind to seek the Lord and depend on Him for salvation from sin (Acts 17:24–28).
The true unity of humanity is found only through faith in Christ alone for salvation from sin—in contrast to the superficial unity found in humanistic philosophies or political points of view. For those made new in Christ, all sinful social, cultural and racial barriers are erased (Colossians 3:11), allowing the beauty of redeemed human unity in diversity to be demonstrated through the Church.
The Christian is set free by Christ’s redeeming grace to love God fully and to love his neighbor as himself, regardless of his neighbor’s race or culture. As believers, we demonstrate our love for others first by presenting Christ our Great Savior to every person, irrespective of race, culture, or national origin. This we do in obedience to Christ’s final command to proclaim the Gospel to all men (Matthew 28:19–20). As believers we are also committed to demonstrating the love of Christ daily in our relationships with others, disregarding the economic, cultural and racial divisions invented by sinful humanity (Luke 10:25–37; James 2:1–13).
Bob Jones University has existed since 1927 as a private Christian institution of higher learning for the purpose of helping young men and women cultivate a biblical worldview, represent Christ and His Gospel to others, and glorify God in every dimension of life.
BJU’s history has been chiefly characterized by striving to achieve those goals; but like any human institution, we have failures as well. For almost two centuries American Christianity, including BJU in its early stages, was characterized by the segregationist ethos of American culture. Consequently, for far too long, we allowed institutional policies regarding race to be shaped more directly by that ethos than by the principles and precepts of the Scriptures. We conformed to the culture rather than provide a clear Christian counterpoint to it.
In so doing, we failed to accurately represent the Lord and to fulfill the commandment to love others as ourselves. For these failures we are profoundly sorry. Though no known antagonism toward minorities or expressions of racism on a personal level have ever been tolerated on our campus, we allowed institutional policies to remain in place that were racially hurtful.
On national television in March 2000, Bob Jones III, who was the university’s president until 2005, stated that BJU was wrong in not admitting African-American students before 1971, which sadly was a common practice of both public and private universities in the years prior to that time. On the same program, he announced the lifting of the University’s policy against interracial dating.
Our sincere desire is to exhibit a truly Christlike spirit and biblical position in these areas. Today, Bob Jones University enrolls students from all 50 states and nearly 50 countries, representing various ethnicities and cultures. The University solicits financial support for two scholarship funds for minority applicants, and the administration is committed to maintaining on the campus the racial and cultural diversity and harmony characteristic of the true Church of Jesus Christ throughout the world.
Deadline approaching
We plan to send the letter to BJU on November 19th. If you have not signed yet, or if you have friends who have not signed, please consider signing and asking others to do the same. We appreciate and have been touched by the thoughts many of you have shared along with your signatures.
Thank you for praying that this effort will remove barriers to the gospel and bring some healing to those who have been hurt. We desire reconciliation.
Signers’ comments
We realize that those who sign this letter communicate in different ways and with different tones, intentions and attitudes. Allowing a comment to remain does not imply blanket endorsement of that comment by the blog owners. We appreciate the variety of opinions expressed, both publicly and privately. Our goal is the furtherance of the Gospel.
The “Biblical Principle” of the Separation of the Races
Bob Jones University has based its policies on principles, which in and of itself is a reasonable way to formulate policies. However, the principles governing the handling of race resulted in unfortunate policies. In rejecting calls to admit Blacks to the university, the correlation of principles and policies was well-defined: “The Board is responsible for administering the affairs of Bob Jones University, establishing its policies, and seeing that its operation is in line with Scriptural principles” (December 1970). Despite the commendable changes in policy since this early period, the doctrinal principle is alive and well if the University’s final communication on the issue is any indication (to be discussed below).
The term “principle” was not always the exclusive descriptor of the school’s race doctrines. At an earlier stage, a mix of terms was employed. For instance, “The will of God” was used to describe such convictions. The main reason why there was no concrete term for the doctrine is the supposed existence of proof-texts, especially Acts 17:26: “[God] hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on the face of the earth and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.” Since texts were used, no further classification was needed. Any talk of integrating the University, first by admitting Blacks and later by limiting free association between different races, was considered “contrary to the scriptures.” The court cases of the 1970’s and 1980’s necessitated a shift in terminology. The University had been forced to weigh the evidence supporting their position, and had apparently become less confident in the clarity of Acts 17:26. Thus, the “principle” was born from the fall of the proof-text.
The classification as a “principle” was established in a formal way in the 1980’s, and one can see that the term became progressively more important. Dr. Bob Jones III could no longer refer to a specific text, but supported the doctrine by referring to “principles” that ranged “from Genesis to Revelation” (“Jones stands up for his beliefs but he’ll stand up for yours, too,” in The Coloradoan, 10/23/1982). The “principles” were non-negotiable, and though rather difficult to defend, were still as sure as God’s Word.
Rationale for this page
Introduction: This page exists solely to defend efforts to request an statement of regret and reconciliation from the current administration and board. It is not an independent source of information to be used as a critical tool against Bob Jones University. The context of this page is to be found here.
Purpose: We have met those who do not believe Bob Jones University has an unreconciled black mark on its past, as well as those who are wholly ignorant of the situation. The purpose is to show people that asking the current board and administration for an apology is not in response to a fictional or inconsequential situation.
Scope: We will offer well-known facts, events, and statements, as well as commentary on their effect. In the effort to not smear our collective name, we will not be posting the worst information known. Rather, we will post only that which is evidential, revealing, and expedient. This is an effort to eventually improve our reputation and testimony, rather than to weaken it further. Furthermore, in the event of a constructive, satisfactory statement of regret and reconciliation from Bob Jones University, this URL will be disabled, the images removed from the internet, and the source documents put into deep storage.
Conclusion: We cannot convince anyone that these past positions were and are wrong, but we can at least make the evidence available. We hope that the administration takes advantage of this occasion to issue a statement of some sort. We offer our assistance in drafting the words of such a statement, as well as assistance in distributing the statement if and when it is released.