It is interesting that Oxford University is in an uproar over the appointment of Dr. Turnbull to Wycliffe college, because he appointed a deputy who opposes women’s ordination. Anonymous allegations of homophobia are also being circulated and Turnbull is undergoing an investigation. It appears that accusations of misogyny and homophobia are readily received without proper concern for their origins. To oppose women’s ordination is one thing, to be a misogynist quite another.
All of this is an effort to retain liberal theological values, liberal values that are not liberal enough to accommodate more conservative perspectives on ordination. The Rev John Richardson points out: “Once the universities were bastions of Christianity, now they accept the ethos of a Christian education only grudgingly.” If various theological perspectives, including conservative ones, are not allowed to be presented just how liberal and academic is the theological education?
Read the article here.