Wheaton College has suspended their hijab-wearing professor, Dr. Larycia Hawkins. According to Christianity Today, the suspension is not due to her hijab or act of solidarity with Muslims, but comes as a result of her unorthodox comment asserting Christians and Muslims “worship the same God.”
In an official press statement released Tuesday, Wheaton College acknowledged they’ve received “significant questions regarding the theological implications of statements” made by Hawkins. The evangelical university confirmed Hawkins’ suspension is “pending the full review of which she is entitled as a tenured faculty member.”
The press statement continued:
Wheaton College faculty and staff make a commitment to accept and model our institution’s faith foundations with integrity, compassion and theological clarity. As they participate in various causes, it is essential that faculty and staff engage in and speak about public issues in ways that faithfully represent the College’s evangelical Statement of Faith.
Hawkins made her controversial comment last Thursday on her Facebook page. She explained she would wear a hijab during Advent to show solidarity with Muslims “because they, like me, a Christian, are people of the book. And as Pope Francis stated last week, we worship the same God.”
When commentators pushed back against the Wheaton professor’s outrageous statement on social media, she pointed them towards an unhelpful Huffington Post op-ed and responded, “To those who question the authenticity of my faith, I love you.”
You can read the original Juicy Ecumenism story here.
Comment by thushjz on December 16, 2015 at 11:31 am
1 Tim. 4:1
Comment by brookspj on December 17, 2015 at 11:32 am
I don’t understand why she was forced to go on leave. I’ve read Wheaton College’s Statement of Faith and if anything it’s neutral on this question of the relationship between Christianity and Islam. Furthermore no one in the administration has said clearly that they don’t believe Christians and Muslims worship the same God, and Dr. Hawkins is clearly not the only Christian who believes it. I think the school has overreacted to a clearly unsettled question. Wisdom suggests approaching matters of uncertainty with greater latitude. Unless the college can point to a place where she is clearly in violation of their official doctrines or governing principles she should be brought back at once with an apology.
Comment by Skipper on December 18, 2015 at 4:37 pm
Neither Christianity nor Islam consider God and Allah the same. I am thinking the Muslim founder told 600 Jews to worship Allah or die and Jews said “we only worship God,” – and were they not killed? So both sides thought God and Allah were very different.
I believe “People of the Book” is a Muslim reference to those who believe the Bible. That could mean Jews (Old Testament) or Christians, but not themselves.
Why pick the Christmas season to wear her non-Christian garb? It makes her seem unconcerned about celebrating Christ and this is a time to do just that. Merry Christmas!
Comment by Paul on January 11, 2016 at 5:24 pm
I don’t believe Christians and Muslims worship “the same God”; however, this is an issue of academic freedom. Yes, Wheaton is free to set its own standards as it is a private university. However, if it’s truly going to be setting these kinds of regulations on academic environments, then it loses all moral rights to call itself a college.