[Vision2020] Lesson (Gier's New West Article)

[nickgier at adelphia.net]

Greetings:

As anyone can see from the column appended below, it is exactly the same article on NSA's phony ranking that was published on New West.  I've also appended my first response to Crabtee, which somehow did not get posted.

This is my second response to Crabtree. Given that it was posted here on August 7, there is no excuse for you or Courtney to be confused about its attribution.

Furthermore, where is Crabtree's evidence that Courtney "withdrew his criticism"?  These are Crabtree's words, which I translated accurately as a concession.  But there is no record of Courtney withdrawing or conceding. The only time I remember Courtney conceding anything is when he withdrew from the Vision because he admitted that he could not control his temper.

Finally, I repeat the challenge of one of the commentators on my New West article.  Why doesn't Courtney dispute my charges against NSA?  Is it because they happen to be true?

Nick Gier

Greetings: 
 
A correction for Crabtree.  My name was always on the article in question (NSA's 
phony ranking), so there was no excuse for Courtney to level any charge at all. 
 
Furthermore, Courtney has not conceded anything, because that is not permitted 
in Wilson's "top male" theology.  Only sissy liberals concede or try to be 
intellectually honest. 
 
Crabtree, did you read actually the thread at New West or did you just wing this 
one?  It looks to me as if you did the latter. 
 
Nick Gier 

NEW ST. ANDREWS COLLEGE: AMONG THE TOP 40 BIBLE COLLEGES 
Radio Commentary for KRFP's "Morning Mix," August 8, 2006 
Posted on Vision2020 on August 7
 
Moscow's New St. Andrews College (NSA) was recently listed among the top 50 
conservative Christian schools by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. This 
institute is supported by the conservative "National Review" and the right wing 
Heritage Foundation, and its evaluation of schools is based on faculty and 
student self reports. 
 
NSA President Roy Atwood is now ranking his school with three other colleges on 
this list:  Hope College, Calvin College, and Aquinas College.  I submit that 
there is no comparison between these schools and his. 
 
Hope, Calvin, and Aquinas are accredited by the 1,303-member North Central 
Association of Colleges and Schools, which requires all permanent faculty have 
PhDs, while NSA is accredited by the 41- member Transnational Association for 
Christian Colleges and Schools, which allows their colleges to get by with only 
one third PhDs and the rest MAs. 
 
I have met faculty from Hope, Calvin, and Aquinas at scholarly conferences and I 
have heard their excellent professional papers.  Since 2003 I've extended 
personal invitations to NSA faculty to attend our annual regional theological 
meeting, but Atwood has declined saying they have "better things to do." 
 
Calvin College boasts that it is the first evangelical school to have an Asian 
Studies program.  Hope College has three professors who specialize in Asian 
philosophy and religion.  Don't hold your breath for news that NSA will offer 
any courses on non-Christian thought. 
 
Aquinas College even has a feminist philosopher on its faculty, but NSA founder 
and senior fellow Douglas Wilson believes that only propertied males should have 
the vote. 
 
A sign of a good college is whether or not other institutions would hire its 
faculty.  After teaching 30 years at Calvin College, Nicholas Wolterstorff was 
hired away by Yale Divinity School.  
 
Here are some items where Hope, Calvin, and Aquinas fortunately do not compare: 
 
•	Two of NSA’s senior fellows, presumably equivalent to full professors, do not 
have PhDs. Generally, a PhD is required at the lowest rank of assistant 
professor. 
 
•	Wilson's brother, son, and son-in-law are on the NSA faculty. 
 
•	NSA has demonstrated disrespect for its big academic neighbor—requesting, for 
example, that two UI history professors be disciplined for criticizing Wilson's 
views on slavery 
 
•	Most of NSA faculty’s published books are from Canon Press, Wilson’s own 
creation. 
 
•	In 1998 Wilson wrote an article entitled “Why Evangelical Colleges Are Not.” 
The hostility displayed against reputable evangelical colleges in this article 
not only shows blatant disrespect for these fine schools, but it manifests 
shameful disregard for the entire academic enterprise.  	 
 
NSA's true peers are not Hope, Calvin, and Aquinas; rather, they are Word of 
Life Bible Institute, Shasta Bible Institute, the infamous Institute for 
Creation Research, Messenger College, and Jerry Falwell's Liberty University.