# Greg Bahnsen's "dismissal" from RTS



## sastark (Apr 22, 2009)

The Wikipedia article on Bahnsen says "Greg Bahnsen's vocal advocacy of Christian Reconstructionism and theonomy was highly controversial during his lifetime, and a public disputation pertaining to theonomy led to his dismissal from the Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi."

Can anyone give me more information about his "dismissal"? The history behind it?

A few points for clarification:

I'm NOT asking for slander of Bahnsen (I respect the man).
I'm NOT asking for slander of RTS (I think it's a good institution).
I AM asking for more information about why Bahnsen was dismissed. Was it because of his views on theonomy, as Wikipedia states? Are there any official RTS documents related to this? Or, did Bahnsen ever write about this event?

Also, I searched and could not find any previous threads about this specific topic, but I could have missed something, so if I'm rehashing an old topic, please let me know.


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## ChristianTrader (Apr 22, 2009)

I think one thing to note, is that I believe that Dr. Bahnsen was not "dismissed" but instead his contract was not renewed.

CT


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## sastark (Apr 22, 2009)

ChristianTrader said:


> I think one thing to note, is that I believe that Dr. Bahnsen was not "dismissed" but instead his contract was not renewed.
> 
> CT



I was (and continue to be) suspicious of the word "dismissal". A loaded word, for sure.


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## timmopussycat (Apr 22, 2009)

sastark said:


> ChristianTrader said:
> 
> 
> > I think one thing to note, is that I believe that Dr. Bahnsen was not "dismissed" but instead his contract was not renewed.
> ...



The words "contract was not renewed" are precisely how Dr. DeWitt (Bahsnen's dept. chair at the time) has described the matter to me. As far as I know no public statement of why this happened has ever been made by RTS.


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## Romans922 (Apr 22, 2009)

This ('Contract not renewed') has happened to other professors, one during my time there, as well.


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## Seb (Apr 22, 2009)

Sounds like someone needs to edit the Wikipedia article and bring it back in line with what actually happened. The way it's currently worded seems so scandalous.


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## timmopussycat (Apr 22, 2009)

Seb said:


> Sounds like someone needs to edit the Wikipedia article and bring it back in line with what actually happened. The way it's currently worded seems so scandalous.



That entry (at least as of today) is actually fairly low key and perhaps even accurate. Certainly David Bahnsen's bio of his father seems to imply the same thing (Bahnsen, D. The Life of Dr. Greg L. Bahnsen, in The Standard Bearer, p. 16).


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## fredtgreco (Apr 22, 2009)

ChristianTrader said:


> I think one thing to note, is that I believe that Dr. Bahnsen was not "dismissed" but instead his contract was not renewed.
> 
> CT



There is no tenure at RTS. Every prof is on a one year contract.

It should also be stated that it is not a common event to not be renewed.


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