Here’s some irony. Wheaton College, an Evangelical Christian institution, fired Joshua Hochschild because he converted to Catholicism, thus putting him at odds with the school’s mission statement. (Hochshild got his Ph.D. from Notre Dame.) Meanwhile, Notre Dame has hired Dr. Mark Noll, an Evangelical Christian, as a history professor.
The Hochschild situation raised questions at the time whether this was a legitimate effort by a Christian academic institution trying to remain true to its roots or whether it was a simple case of anti-Catholic bias. I think that being true to oneself means more than denominational purity, but should involve the overall outlook of the person. Hochschild was teaching medieval philosophy. Noll teaches history. As long as they agree not to proselytize students actively, and yet remain committed to an orthodox Christianity, where’s the harm?
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