In 1988, they shocked everyone by changing an 80 year-old ban on dancing, booze, tobacco, and gambling–known as the big four. One trustee at the time sought to justify the compromise by saying, “But if Biola is known for a set of rules, then we have certainly missed our mission.” However, if they digress from their long held standards and identity, they have missed their mission.

Seeking justification for the change, a student said, “We felt that the rules weren’t biblical and saw that the university was tying the rules to student spirituality.” Well, the rules can be justified biblically and yes I would say that one who did not booze, gamble, dance, and use tobacco would seem to be “spiritual” assuming he or she also attended a Bible oriented church, tithed, and served Christ.

A friend of mine, Biola alumnus Dr. R. L. Hymers Jr., and pastor of the Baptist Tabernacle in Los Angeles was critical and made headlines when he said. “Let it be known far and wide that Biola University has now embraced the end-time paganism of American society.” He was right in 1988 and I am right today. He had been critical of a rock concert held on campus with the phrase in a promotional flyer stating, “Stay mild or get wild–the choice is yours!”

But Biola has come a long, long way since then. All downhill. School officials, wanting to be cool and accepted, abandoned some long-held principles. They refused to follow the Apostle Paul’s command in II Thes. 2:15, “Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.”

In March of 2016, Biola hosted a conference “Love No Matter What: Politics, Sex, Race and the Way of the Cross.” Themes were LGBT rights, racial issues, capital punishment, etc. The speaker was 29-year-old, black, single Christena Cleveland, associate professor at Duke University Divinity School. She pontificated on radical causes especially pushing Biola to accept Black Lives Matter and the “Palestinians.” Remember this conference was at a major Christian University.

She is a very important person because Christianity Today said so. The magazine named her “one of 33 millennials leading the next generation of Christian faith.” God help us.

Very critical of white Evangelical colleges, she suggested that at least “15 evangelical presidents need to get fired.” Barry Corey, the wimpy President of Biola should have closed her down or reprimanded her strongly for being so asinine but he sheepishly said that he hoped she “wasn’t talking about me.” When Corey told her that progress was being made, she brazenly said that it would be “kinda cool” if he were the first white Christian University president to get fired! What gall. She didn’t even know how to be a gracious guest and brazenly cut the legs from under the man who invited her and gave her a generous honorarium for her nonsensical, leftist tirades.

I perused her blog and noted many silly, unbiblical comments such as when she identified Mary the mother of Christ as “an unmarried pregnant woman of color.” She also claimed that racism was “a key chromosome in America’s DNA.” All the major race baiters would agree with her. In another blog, she wrote about “Trump, the White Man’s Last Gasp, and the Resurrection.” Trump’s election was a major national tragedy especially for all Blacks and minorities according to Christena.

She strongly recommends the writing of Thích Nhất Hạnh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk and peace activist and a prolific author now living in a French monastery. Yes, that’s right, a Christian recommending a Buddhist priest and his books.

Furthermore, Biola is now a showcase for reverse discrimination. That is astounding in a place where honesty, fairness, commitment, etc., are supposed to be supreme.

Dean of Students Daniel Paschall worked at Biola for 20 years and was told, “that every effort should be made to hire and promote only minority candidates such as African-Americans, Latinos and Asians–with even more preference given to females within those categories.” He was slotted to become a Vice President of Biola. President Corey told him several times that he had a “bright future” at Biola and only needed to complete his doctorate. He enrolled in a program at much cost of time and money but was fired anyway. Moreover, because of his quick and unexpected dismissal, he was refused a mortgage on his home.

During this time, many universities experienced black students taking over and demanding changes i.e., names of buildings changed; administrators fired; segregated black student union buildings; etc. President Corey saw the handwriting on the wall and read to the students one of his poems that reflected his conversion to leftism. He really wimped out as he expressed regret for “not wincing” at the death of Michael Brown, a black thug who robbed a store and attacked a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. Corey was also sorry for saying, “all lives matter.” His poem titled, “I Didn’t Always See” should have been “Watch me Grovel to Keep my Job.” But he went further when he boasted about inviting “my brother” Cornell West to speak at the school.

Cornell West is a radical black professor now at Harvard Divinity School, recently at leftist Union Theological Seminary. Wikipedia says of him: “Styling himself as a radical democrat socialist West draws intellectual contributions from multiple traditions, including Christianity, the black church, Marxism, neopragmatism, and transcendentalism.”

The thrice married West introduced Obama to a crowd of a thousand people on November 29, 2007 at the Apollo Theater in Harlem as “my brother, my companion, and my comrade” but turned on him after he was elected and didn’t do enough for Blacks calling him “spineless,” “milquetoast,” and “the black mascot of Wall Street oligarchs.” He refused to support Obama for reelection and supported Bernie Sanders instead. In fact, he wanted to “slap him [Obama] on the side of his head.” Well, I didn’t suggest that West could not be right once in a while.

A white lady who has bought into the whole silly, unchristian racist issue Deborah Taylor is provost and senior vice president twitted about “police abuse of black men” and “Why it’s so hard for whites to understand Ferguson.” Another one: “Is everyone a little bit racist?” She boasted about taking part in a Black Lives Matter vigil under the university’s bell tower.

Deborah obviously drank a gallon of the Kool-Aid.

The VP for student development spot that Daniel Paschall was wired up for went to a black man who was shocked at his appointment! In fact, he thought he was going to be fired when he was called into the President’s office. He had not worked a day and no knowledge in the field for which he was hired in place of Paschall. Nor had he applied for the job, nor were any of the hiring protocols followed.

But he qualified because he was black.

Daniel Paschall sued. I hope he owns Biola in a few months and makes himself president.

Boys’ book Muslim Invasion: The Fuse is Burning! was published by Barbwire Books; to get your copy, click here. An eBook edition is also available.

Cedarville University is in trouble, but then, we have known that for years. The school had an auspicious beginning in 1953 with the General Association of Regular Baptists (GARB), a group that has stood for biblical truth and ecclesiastical separation from its inception. However, in 2006, the GARB severed association with the university because of the school’s flirting with the inclusive Southern Baptist Convention.

The school has confused many with its interdenominational drift and permitting professors to attend non-Baptist churches even though they signed a Baptist doctrinal statement. Informed people have known for a long time that the University had broken from its Baptist moorings and was drifting rather swiftly with the tide toward mainstream evangelicalism.

There were concerns also about some theological problems at the college. One criticism of Cedarville is their insistence on “certainty” of Bible doctrine instead of the mere assurance of their beliefs. Some of the loosey-goosey faculty declares certainty of doctrine to be arrogance while the true Baptists considered the loosey-goosey crowd as heretics. I stand with the true Baptists.

As of October, 2012 the school lost its president and a vice president resigned after the school was accused of “moving toward a more robust and moderate evangelicalism.” Ten or more professors have felt the call elsewhere since 2007! Two professors were fired in 2007 allegedly because they were too conservative and their firing took place about four months after they signed up to teach another year! They were also challenging some of the more liberal professors during their classes. Additional liberal professors were hired only adding gasoline to the fire. One protest group charges, “The university is moving back toward conservative fundamentalism.” Gasp! It seems that the university is going in opposite directions at the same time!

The charge of moving back to its Fundamentalist roots would be news to those who read the school newspaper arguing that “there was nothing wrong with homosexuality,” and suggesting that “abortion wasn’t a black and white issue.” Also the invitation of a “Christian social activist” who has ties to the Emergent Church to speak on campus added more confusion. Inviting religious gadfly, Jim Wallis to speak didn’t add to the school’s Fundamentalist bona fides. And it didn’t help when they booked the Michael Moore documentary to be aired on campus in 2009. Then the president threw more gasoline on the fire when he put out his Recommended Book List with Emergent Church leader Brian McLaren, New Age guru James Redfield, and Philip Yancey on the list! No, not indications of moving toward fundamentalism!

It is charged by some that the school’s trustees are trying to move the Fundamentalist Baptist institution back toward its roots instead of rushing into the Emerging Church Movement. However, Cedarville “isn’t moving anywhere,” said board chairman Lorne Scharnburg, emphasizing that the Ohio school is an independent Baptist university. “We’re staying where we’ve always been,” declared Scharnburg. Not exactly true since Cedarville has been sipping the New Evangelical Kool-Aid for over a decade.

The two fired professors were given contracts and then fired after a three-day visit of a North Central Accreditation team. Can’t have a dust-up with the snoops on campus. The American Association of University Professors, a nearly100-year old national faculty advocacy group with 45,000 members, got involved and is investigating the firing of one of the professors. Cedarville has declined to cooperate with them. In my opinion, the AAUP never should have been involved; however, there is that always present desire for acceptability–hence, accreditation and affiliation.

No Christian can be pleased with trouble in Christian institutions and no one can defend lying, mistreatment, intrigue, suing other Christians, heresy, etc. Cedarville is one of many examples of some of the problems when a Christian institution (at any level) goes to a secular group for approval, licensure, commissioning, accreditation, etc. God has warned us about joining up with the world. Furthermore, can two walk together unless they are agreed? No secular organization can understand spiritual and doctrinal decisions and should therefore have no authority over churches and Christian schools.

Christian schools do not need the organizational stamp of approval from secular or governmental organizations. It is the kiss of death.