Two students have complained to the dean of the Faculty of Theology, University of Copenhagen, that during the New Testament exegesis class they have to hear their lecturer speak out against female priests. This is a matter of gender discrimination and must be addressed as such by the faculty. Of course, discrimination has no place in a university or anywhere else in society.
But that is not the question here.
Here the question is whether the biblical view that may underlie the lecturer’s statement belongs at the university.
In the debate article in the University newspaper, which the two female complainants have written, they say that he has openly declared his conservative position. A number of writers in both the Universitetsavisen and Kristeligt Dagblad have taught the students that these are professional differences of opinion which must be resolved in an academic discussion. However, the commentators overlook that not all perspectives are legitimate at a university.
The starting point for critical biblical scholarship is the confrontation with the Bible’s special status. In a scientific context, the Bible can and should be treated like any other text. All questions are open to understanding, which is decidedly historical, and nothing is given in advance.
Some conservative Christian groups have not been able to accept this and have therefore established private educational institutions, for example the Danish Bible Institute, whose core values are: “Trust in the Bible. Joy of the Gospel. Love for people” (from the website of the Danish Bible Institute). This is also the vision for their work: They want to “educate and form Bible-believing theologians”.
Both institutionally and academically, however, this approach is completely outside the university framework in Denmark. It is, after all, founded in a personal Christian faith, whereas research and teaching at the university must be completely free of religious ties.
If the stated opposition to female priests is based on “confidence in the Bible” in the Bible-faithful version that thrives at the Danish Bible Institute, the lecturer’s view of the Bible does not belong at the university either. A religious starting point is not one position among others possible within scientific biblical research, because it does not recognize the critical and historical approach to the Bible, which is the basis of all biblical scholarship. It should be made crystal clear, both for the sake of the students and for the sake of the university.
Troels Engberg-Pedersen is professor emeritus, and Jesper Tang Nielsen is dr.theol. and priest for the Copenhagen and Vartov Electoral Congregations.
Source: www.kristeligt-dagblad.dk
