Evangelical Figure Resigns Over Doctrinal Teachings

Norman Geisler, a well-known conservative evangelical scholar, has resigned from the ministry of the Evangelical Free Church of America to protest the way the 95,000-member denomination handled questions about the doctrinal orthodoxy of a professor at its divinity school.

For more than a decade, Geisler has challenged the teachings of Murray J. Harris, professor of New Testament and theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Ill.

Geisler is professor of systematic theology at Dallas Theological Seminary and was professor of the philosophy of religion at Trinity from 1966 to 1979, during which time he began questioning Harris’ teaching. Both seminaries are strong proponents of an inerrant (error-free) Bible.

But Geisler asserted that Harris had denied the inerrancy of the Bible by claiming that the Apostle Paul had “changed his mind” about the physical nature of Jesus’ resurrected body. The Dallas Seminary professor also charged that Harris had refused to affirm “the physical Resurrection of Christ.”

Satisfactory Beliefs

Thomas A. McDill, president of the Evangelical Free Church of America, and Kenneth Meyer, president of Trinity, told the denomination’s June 20-24 national convention at Biola University in La Mirada, Calif., that “following an investigation by the tenure committee and lengthy personal discussions with Harris, they are fully satisfied that his beliefs are in accord with the EFCA statement of faith, which states that Jesus died, was bodily raised from the dead and ascended into heaven.”

Following the report from McDill and Meyer, delegates to the church conference affirmed that Harris’ teaching is “orthodox and in conformity” with the denomination’s doctrines. The delegates also voted “to close the matter, with no further action necessary,” according to a news release issued by the denomination’s headquarters in Minneapolis.

But Geisler charged that the matter was mishandled and resigned his ministerial credentials in the denomination, which he has held since 1978. In a lengthy letter to clergy dated July 5, he charged that denominational leaders had thwarted his attempts to press the matter by “refusing to release copies of crucial information,” making “personal threats” and “engaging in verbal abuse” against himself and other dissenters and “telling those who disagreed with them to leave the Evangelical Free Church of America.”

The Dallas Seminary professor denied that his complaints were based on a personality conflict with Harris. But Geisler declared that “brotherly charity should not be used as an excuse to neglect doctrinal purity.”

Harris is not a member of the Evangelical Free Church of America and was not present at the national convention. He referred questions about the matter to McDill, who told Religious News Service that Geisler “must have a personal agenda here that goes far beyond theological questions.”

McDill said the reference to Harris’ having claimed that the Apostle Paul changed his mind about Jesus’ resurrected body dates back to something Harris had written in the early 1970s. “Apparently there was a question at that point,” McDill said, but he added that Harris has declared that “if he made that statement he was wrong, and that it’s not his position today.”

In a recent letter cited by denomination officials, Harris wrote:

“I am happy to reaffirm that I believe that our Lord rose from the dead in the actual, physical body he possessed before his death but that as a result of his Resurrection there was an alteration and enhancement of the properties of that physical body so that he now possesses what Paul calls a ‘spiritual body’ (1 Corinthians 15:44-49) or a ‘glorious body’ (Philippians 3:21). Before the Resurrection, the body of Jesus was mortal (Mark 15:37; Colossians 1:22); through the Resurrection, the body of Jesus became immortal (Romans 6:9; Hebrews 7:16; Revelation 1:18).”

Pair of Letters

McDill said Geisler had written two letters to EFCA clergy before the California convention “implying that there was some sort of conspiracy of silence going on.” After the convention’s vote to affirm the Trinity professor’s orthodoxy, McDill said, Geisler distributed “a very inflammatory” pamphlet titled “Trinity Prof Denies Physical Resurrection.”

According to the church president, “No matter what you do, you can never satisfy Norm Geisler.” He said he didn’t know what may be behind Geisler’s attitude, but he said, “Some say that it goes back to an incident in the early ‘70s when Murray backed Norm into a theological corner.”

Harris was originally on the Trinity faculty from 1970 to 1975, when he left to teach in England. He returned to Trinity in 1982 and was granted tenure last year. His writings include “Raised Immortal,” a 1983 volume defending the biblical doctrine of the Resurrection.

Geisler’s books include “Philosophy of Religion” (1974) and “Christian Apologetics” (1976). In December, 1981, he testified in Little Rock at the trial of Arkansas’ creation science law, which was subsequently struck down by a federal judge, and said he believed in unidentified flying objects as a “satanic manifestation.”

Last April 20, Geisler engaged in a public debate on the nature of God with liberal theologian John Cobb at the School of Theology at Claremont.