Date: Fri, 12 Feb 1999 12:48:11 -0500
From: Darrell Todd Maurina <Darrell128@aol.com>
Organization: Christian Renewal/United Reformed News Service
Subject: NR 99018A: Reformed Professors Join Nationally-Circulated
Declaration Against Clinton
NR #1999-018A: Reformed Professors Join Nationally-Circulated
Declaration Against Clinton's Use of Religion in Impeachment Controversy
President Clinton expects to be acquitted of perjury and
obstruction of justice charges when the United States Senate votes
today, and his public declaration of repentance from sexual misconduct
involving former White House intern Monica Lewinsky has already received
the support of his family's pastor, Rev. Philip Wogamon of Foundry
United Methodist Church in Washington. Clinton's public repentance drew
a very different reaction from a group of seminary and college
professors and other religious scholars, including Christian Reformed,
United Reformed, and conservative Presbyterian professors, who signed a
formal declaration objecting to Clinton's "manipulation of religion and
the debasing of moral language." Clinton's use of religious language
also prompted the Grand Rapids-based Eerdmans Publishing Company to
issue a book of essays on the "political use and abuse of religion," and
provide much of the support staff to publicize the declaration. "From a
Reformed point of view, we believe there are biblical standards for
political life," said Dordt College president Dr. Carl Zylstra. "Not
only do I as a citizen have an interest in biblical standards for civil
life, but also as a clergyman I am concerned. This document points out
that this, in a more direct way than any other event in my lifetime, has
probably threatened foundational assumptions of both biblical
understandings of moral forgiveness and biblical understandings of the
state."
NR #1999-018A: For Immediate Release:
Reformed Professors Join Nationally-Circulated Declaration Against
Clinton's Use of Religion in Impeachment Controversy
* Four Christian Reformed, One United Reformed, Six Conservative
Presbyterian Professors, Eerdmans Publishing Company President "protest
the manipulation of religion and the debasing of moral language in the
discussion about presidential responsibility."
by Darrell Todd Maurina, Press Officer
United Reformed News Service
(February 12, 1999) URNS - President Clinton expects to be acquitted of
perjury and obstruction of justice charges when the United States Senate
votes today, and his public declaration of repentance from sexual
misconduct involving former White House intern Monica Lewinsky has
already received the support of his family's pastor, Rev. Philip Wogamon
of Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington.
Clinton's public repentance drew a very different reaction from
a group of seminary and college professors and other religious scholars,
including Christian Reformed, United Reformed, and conservative
Presbyterian professors, who signed a formal declaration objecting to
Clinton's "manipulation of religion and the debasing of moral language."
Clinton's use of religious language also prompted the Grand Rapids-based
Eerdmans Publishing Company to issue a book of essays on the "political
use and abuse of religion," and provide much of the support staff to
publicize the declaration.
Since it was first issued last November, the declaration has
attracted the signatures of almost two hundred religious scholars and
led to major profiles in the national media, including recent stories on
ABC Nightline, FOX News, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal,
the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Times, the Detroit News, and the
Chicago Tribune.
"There was a case in Chicago just recently where a person was
about to be executed and his cause was taken up by a number of law
students who had reason to believe the person was being railroaded, got
to the bottom of the case, and discovered that people testifying in the
case had lied under oath," said Bill Eerdmans, president of Eerdmans
Publishing Company. "That's another example of the consequences of
perjury. The matter of the President engaging in that practice has
filtered down."
Many of the signatories of the statement, formally known as the
"Declaration Concerning Religion, Ethics, and the Clinton Presidency,"
are members of mainline denominations teaching at prominent mainline
seminaries or socially liberal members of evangelical churches, and most
are not associated with evangelical political activism. However, the
signatories include a significant Reformed constituency, including the
president of the Christian Reformed-related Dordt College, three
Christian Reformed professors at the CRC-owned Calvin College and Calvin
Theological Seminary, a United Reformed professor teaching at
Mid-America Reformed Seminary, and a half-dozen conservative
Presbyterian professors at Reformed Theological Seminary and Westminster
Theological Seminary
The declaration takes a clear stand against Clinton's use of the
September 11 Presidential Prayer Breakfast to announce his repentance,
as well as Clinton's announcement of counseling sessions with well-known
ministers. "We fear the religious community is in danger of being called
upon to provide authentication for a politically motivated and
incomplete repentance that seeks to avert serious consequences for
wrongful acts," declared the signatories. "While we affirm that pastoral
counseling sessions are an appropriate, confidential arena to address
these issues, we fear that announcing such meetings to convince the
public of the President's sincerity compromises the integrity of
religion."
"We believe that serious misunderstandings of repentance and
forgiveness are being exploited for political advantage," stated the
declaration. "The resulting moral confusion is a threat to the integrity
of American religion and to the foundations of a civil society."
The declaration also challenges "the widespread assumption that
forgiveness relieves a person of further responsibility and serious
consequences," warning that "when the President continues to deny any
liability for the sins he has confessed, this suggests that the public
display of repentance was intended to avoid political disfavor."
The signatories warn that toleration of Clinton's behavior could
lead to severe consequences. "We are aware that certain moral qualities
are central to the survival of our political system, among which are
truthfulness, integrity, respect for the law, respect for the dignity of
others, adherence to the constitutional process, and a willingness to
avoid the abuse of power," stated the declaration. "We reject the
premise that violations of these ethical standards should be excused so
long as a leader remains loyal to a particular political agenda and the
nation is blessed by a strong economy."
As professors and church leaders, the signatories also expressed
their concern about the impact of the impeachment crisis on their
children and students. "Some of them feel betrayed by a President in
whom they set their hopes while others are troubled by his misuse of
others, by which many in the administration, the political system, and
the media were implicated in patterns of deceit and abuse," according to
the declaration. "But we maintain that in general there is a reasonable
threshold of behavior beneath which our public leaders should not fall,
because the moral character of a people is more important than the
tenure of a particular politician or the protection of a particular
political agenda. Political and religious history indicate that
violations and misunderstandings of such moral issues may have grave
consequences. The widespread desire to 'get this behind us' does not
take seriously enough the nature of transgressions and their social
effects."
The signatories noted that some had called for presidential
resignation or impeachment whereas others had not, but warned that the
underlying issue of political misuse of religious language was more
important than the outcome of the specific votes on impeaching or
convicting President Clinton. "While partisan conflicts have usually
dominated past debates over public morality, we now confront a much
deeper crisis, whether the moral basis of the constitutional system
itself will be lost," the signatories affirmed. "In the present
impeachment discussions, we call for national courage in deliberation
that avoids ideological division and engages the process as a
constitutional and ethical imperative. We ask Congress to discharge its
current duty in a manner mindful of its solemn constitutional and
political responsibilities. Only in this way can the process serve the
good of the nation as a whole and avoid further sensationalism."
According to the president of Eerdmans Publishing Company, the
"Declaration Concerning Religion, Ethics, and the Clinton Presidency"
originated in a conversation between Eerdmans staffer Reinder Van Til
and Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary professor Dr. Robert
Jewett, as well as Dr. Klyne Snodgrass of North Park Theological
Seminary, and University of Chicago professors Dr. Don Browning and Jean
Bethke Elshtain.
"Among those four framers of the declaration, the sense was a
very negative view would be taken of Clinton's explanations of his
difficulties," said Eerdmans. "It sort of boiled down to the phrase
which they floated, questioning whether or not he was using and abusing
religion for the purpose of skating free of any real punishment or
political disaster that he would court."
Eerdmans said he personally leaned toward supporting removing
Clinton from office, but noted that wasn't the position of all the
signatories or of his company. "As far as the company is concerned, it's
a book that enters into a serious debate, a serious crisis in the
country," said Eerdmans. "I think it's a responsible engagement in the
crisis. We've got an awful lot of interest in this subject, and it's one
we felt we needed to responsibly address."
Calvin College English professor Dr. Edward Ericson noted the
theological and doctrinal breadth of the list of signatories. "It comes
primarily from people at mainline seminaries," said Ericson. "It's
particularly gratifying to me that the signatories cannot be
pigeonholed, they range all across the political spectrum, this is not a
group of political conservatives speaking out against Clinton."
"This one really has its genesis in people, many of whom are
themselves two times Clinton voters, and felt betrayed in moral terms,"
continued Ericson. "Maybe they still think that Clinton has been
politically a good president, but his moral betrayal was too much for
them to let pass without notice."
"I read it a few times and decided that although I'm not very
much of a joiner and don't usually belong to cliques or groups, this
spoke to a major issue on the national scene," said Ericson. "I view my
role as a Christian participant in the cultural conversation as speaking
not so much within my denominational circles but from a Christian point
of view to the world."
The Dordt College president concurred. "One of the things that
surely strikes me as incredibly interesting in this is the range of
people who have signed this," said Dr. Carl Zylstra. "There are names
together on this list I never thought I would see together on any list.
Also the matching of institutions is just incredible. This is a
deep-rooted issue that needs to be addressed regardless of the current
swirl in Washington."
Dr. Nelson Kloosterman, professor of ethics and New Testament at
Mid-America Reformed Seminary in suburban Chicago, said he appreciated
the opportunity to hear one of the declaration's drafters, political
ethicist Dr. Jean Bethke Elshtain of the University of Chicago, debate
Clinton's pastor in Chicago, and signed the declaration shortly
afterward. While he wouldn't agree with the theology of the University
of Chicago, Kloosterman said he was glad to be able to sign the
declaration because of its contents.
"We need to remember the principle of co-belligerence; without
compromising any of one's principles or standpoints, we should cooperate
with others with whom we may disagree but cooperate in those things
where we can share in opposing the wrong or supporting the good," said
Kloosterman. "I would take this opportunity both to explain and defend
the principles of cobelligerence, similar to the alliance between
Reformed and Roman Catholics in the pro-life movement."
Kloosterman said his biggest concern with Clinton's religious
statements was his tendency toward civil religion.
"Civil religion in this case is not being used by conservatives
to champion Americanism, civil religion has now surprisingly become part
of the liberal mainstream," said Kloosterman. "I think Reformed
Christians should respond to it in terms of what Scriptural teaching
says in terms of atonement and forgiveness. We are so shocked that
someone like President Clinton uses them, we need to ask if we are on
the same page as him in the use of those words."
"These scholars have spotted something that is eerily
reminiscent of the growth of National Socialism in Germany prior to the
Second World War," continued Kloosterman. "Someone observed that if
popularity polls were the measure of what is right and wrong, Hitler
would be one of the most 'right' men in history because he was very
popular. I don't mean to equate Hitler with President Clinton, but to
note the role of popularity polls."
Kloosterman regretted the expected decision not to remove
Clinton and urged preachers to continue to emphasize biblical teaching
on repentance. "How Christians should respond believingly in the face of
the apparent success of a president who has betrayed the trust of his
office, that's a challenge that needs to be spoken to, and addressed
pastorally in terms of preaching," said Kloosterman. "My interest in
this declaration arose because of its attempt to help Christians
maintain integrity in this kind of situation. We need to rise above
politics; if all of life becomes politicized we will become very cynical
citizens."
Both Ericson and Zylstra agreed that the question of removing
Clinton from office isn't the main issue. "The president could well be
impeached, convicted, and removed from office, and the issues I am
interested in might not be addressed," said Zylstra.
"We need a recovery of the cost of grace, getting away from
cheap grace both for political life and personal life; we need to look
at the requirements for leadership in civil community under biblical
standards for the state," said Zylstra. "Obviously we don't expect our
presidents to meet the same standards we would expect for the president
of synod or for the pope, but God has built-in standards for civil life
that we neglect at our peril."
"From a Reformed point of view, we believe there are biblical
standards for political life," said Dordt College president Dr. Carl
Zylstra. "Not only do I as a citizen have an interest in biblical
standards for civil life, but also as a clergyman I am concerned. This
document points out that this, in a more direct way than any other event
in my lifetime, has probably threatened foundational assumptions of both
biblical understandings of moral forgiveness and biblical understandings
of the state."
Zylstra emphasized that he signed the document out of sense of
Christian and civic responsibility, not a desire for publicity. "I
certainly didn't get into this to gain publicity or because I wanted to
be a spokesperson, but because I did really think when I signed on,
there were less than a hundred people willing to stand up and say this,"
said Zylstra, who signed the declaration early in the process of
circulating it for signatures from the academic community. "I think what
I consider the very even-handed and sympathetic treatment that [ABC
Nightline anchor] Ted Koppel gave of this last week indicates that this
is a very needed discussion, and reflects the broad base of support that
this discussion has in the church community."
"This is not a soap opera we can say 'This disgusts me, make it
go away;" we need to take whatever time it takes through our civil
processes to deal with this," said Zylstra.
"My concern has very little to do with what happens to Clinton;
I care what this scandal does to the moral fabric of the culture," said
Ericson. "It's possible even now that there will be a reconsideration of
our inheritance from the 1960s, that we will start backing away from
some of the libertinism that saturates the culture, and that there would
be a good outcome in a general way."
"When you see the high percentage of people who seem supportive
of the president, the signs are not altogether encouraging," said
Ericson.
Cross-References to Related Articles:
#1998-088: Southern Baptist Seminary President Defends Call to
Discipline President Clinton
Contact List:
Bill Eerdmans, President, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
255 Jefferson SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49503
O: (616) 459-4591
Dr. Edward Ericson, Jr., Professor of English, Calvin College
3201 Burton St. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546
O: (616) 957-6100
Dr. Nelson Kloosterman, Professor, Mid-America Reformed Seminary
229 Seminary Dr., Dyer, IN 46311
O: (219) 864-2400 * H: (219) 322-9003 * FAX: (219) 864-2410
Dr. Carl Zylstra, President, Dordt College
498 - 4th Ave. NE, Sioux Center, IA 51250
O: (712) 722-6002 * H: (712) 722-1397 * E-mail:
czylstra@dordt.edu
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