Generations Radio highlighted a Christian college in Iowa for some of the teachings promoted by its Dean of Chapel earlier this week.
Dordt University, located in Sioux Center, was the topic of discussion for host Kevin Swanson.
“A number of times, Christian colleges have capitulated again and again and again,” Swanson said. “It’s one of the most shameful things I think in the history of Christianity, that we’re seeing Christian capitulate to some of the most abominable sins and to the persecution of Christians to boot.”
Dordt, Swanson said, put the kibosh on a professor who tried to promote a Creation seminar at the University. The professor was forced to apologize for promoting his Creation seminar.
Swanson provided some background on Dordt.
“Dordt College is a Christian Reformed college with reformed roots, in fact, roots all the way back to the Dutch Reformed movement of the 1500s and 1600s in which the sovereignty of God was affirmed in salvation at the city of Dort in which a council was held some 400 years ago,” he said. “So that’s the roots of Dordt College.
“A college that was formed solidly on a biblical perspective relating to the sovereignty of God and the fear of God. But friends, their pastor of chapel, Aaron Baart, is now evidently promoting homosexuality. He did a series of studies on sexuality at the chapel just this last fall/winter and basically with a revoiced perspective advocating homosexual identity, homosexual desire, homosexual orientation. In his teachings, he has taught that Christian could hold to any one of six positions including the position that many sexual variants are valid, SSA is a created variant as normal as heterosexuality and we could celebrate one’s sexuality as part of just and consensual relationships, not necessarily monogamous or lifelong. Also, he has taught that Christians should not break fellowship over issues like homosexuality and that homosexuals are ‘born that way.’ And that people should think that ‘we’ as Christians are so ridiculously soft on sin it’s not even funny. These are some of the initial teachings that came from the Dean of Chapel, Aaron Baart. He has recently said that Christians should be marching at the front of gay pride parades, because that sounds like what Jesus would do.”
Swanson’s co-host simply said, “Oh my.”
Swanson then played a portion of Baart’s presentation from a few years ago.
“Doesn’t sound much like Jesus at all,” a co-host said. “This is a college that was founded in Sioux Center, Iowa, 1953, initially named Midwest Junior Christian College to train Christian school teachers. Then when it became a four-year college, they changed their name to Dordt College as you indicated taking the inspiration from the Synod of Dort in the Netherlands 1618-1619, which emphasized the sovereignty of God through His electing grace, what striking contrast to the clearly unbiblical position that Jesus would have us march int he front of a homosexual pride parade. What a striking contrast to the mission statement and the founder’s vision of Dordt College.”
The mission statement was read on the program.
“As an institution of higher education committed to the reformed Christian perspective, Dordt equips students, alumni and the broader community to work effectively worked Christ-centered renewal in all aspects of contemporary life.”
The founder’s vision, “an education that is Christian not merely in the sense that devotional exercises are ap[pended to the ordinary work of the college but in the larger and deeper sense that all of the classwork, all of the students intellectual emotional and imaginative activities should be permeated with the spirit and teaching of Christianity.”
“I don’t get there here, Adam,” Swanson said. “I don’t get the spirit of Christianity as Christians are supporting pride or some other form of sexual perversion. Man, this is not what Jesus did.”
Swanson called it a “powerless gospel.” A gospel, he said, that does not provide new identities in Christ.
“This powerless gospel that does not allow for homosexuals and liars and others to gain a new identity in Jesus is to be utterly rejected by Christians,” he said. “And sadly, our leading reformed Christian universities are advocating teachings like this. And, I’m ashamed of this.”
The co-host jumped back in.
“I’ll tell you something, it’s bad enough that Aaron Baart is even employed at this supposedly reformed Christian private college in Sioux Center, Iowa, but the fact that he’s the Dean of Chapel, supposedly leading the next generation in terms of their spiritual, Christ-focused development, is especially problematic,” the co-host said.
Swanson finished by saying the following:
“Friends, I think what we have is a vacuous empty nothing-burger faith and it doesn’t do a whole to of good to send your kids to a ‘Christian university’ that’s compromised to the very core. That’s for sure.”
Swanson pointed to James 4:6 as he provided his closing thoughts on Dordt:
The full segment will be available here once it is processed.
