Wheaton College placed a political science professor on administrative leave after she claimed Muslims and Christians worshipped the same God.
“In response to significant questions regarding the theological implications of statements that Associate Professor of Political Science Dr. Larycia Hawkins has made about the relationship of Christianity to Islam, Wheaton College has placed her on administrative leave, pending the full review to which she is entitled as a tenured faculty member,” reads the statement from the college.
Hawkins first made headlines earlier this week when she asked for her social media followers to join her in “Advent worship” by wearing a hijab to stand in solidarity with Muslim brothers and sisters.
Hawkins responded to her critics through Facebook, posting a link titled “Do Christians and Muslims Worship the Same God?”
“Since I recently embarked on #embodiedsolidarity with women who wear the hijab (#wish), I’ve received pushback almost exclusively from other Christians,” Hawkins begins. “The pushback has primarily centered on the claim that Christians and Muslims worship the same God. In the spirit of the unity of what Christians term the body of Christ, I would like to respond—but will not reply to comments on an internecine dispute that arose rather recently in the history of the church.
“… Whether or not you find this position, one held for centuries by countless Christians (church fathers, saints, and regular Christian folk like me), to be valid, I trust that we can peacefully disagree on theological points and affirm others like the Triune God (albeit there are differences here as well—Athanasian Creed, anyone?), the virgin birth (or Immaculate Conception depending on your persuasion), and the Resurrection. Let there be unity in our diversity of views about all of the above,” Hawkins continued.
Wheaton, however, maintains faculty must represent the college’s Statement of Faith when engaging in public issues.
Evangelist Franklin Graham sounded off on the issue on social media, as well.
“Can you believe this Wheaton College professor who says she’s going to wear a hijab for the holidays this year to show solidarity with Islam? Shame on her! She said that Muslims and Christians worship the same God. Well she is absolutely wrong—she obviously doesn’t know her Bible and she doesn’t know Islam,” Graham writes. “The God of the Bible, has a Son named Jesus Christ. The god of Islam doesn’t have a son, and even the thought of that would be sacrilegious to Muslims. The God of the Bible sent His Son to earth to die in our place and save us from our sins. The god of Islam requires you to die for him to be sure that you’re going to heaven. That’s a huge difference—and there are many more examples! I’m thankful the school is dealing with this and has put this professor on administrative leave. Wheaton College is one of the premier evangelical universities in this country—and on top of that, my father Billy Graham and my mother graduated from Wheaton in 1943.”
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