For further explanation of the ARP position on the Christian liberal arts that is supposed to be normative at Erskine, cf. the ARP Philosophy of Christian Higher Education. Also worth reading is our re-posting of former Erskine Professor of Philosophy Dr. John Wingard’s 2007 convocation address on the Christian liberal arts.

For some clarifications of issues that have been the focus of much recent discussion online, cf. the following series on the Christian liberal arts, SAFE, and the petition by William Hunter, Class of 2008: Part I (Integration of faith and learning, with a test case in science), Part II (Facing the challenges of the world), Part III (the Christian liberal arts and evangelism), and Part IV (What about Christian unity and Matthew 18?). Brandon Oberle, Class of 2012, addresses several misconceptions about SAFE in an article here. Finally, Ashley Waldmeyer, Class of 2009, clarifies her comments on Admissions and her rejection of a closed admissions policy here.

For some outside perspectives, a good place to begin is Joel Belz’s article in World magazine entitled “Looking for a miracle” (see our note on this article here). A website presenting perspectives on Erskine that are (in many cases) in opposition to those presented on this website may be found here; with the contributors to that website and with others who disagree with us, we love Erskine, although (as William Hunter points out) “many of us disagree on what it should look like.” Many of the concerns raised by those who disagree with the petition and with some of the positions presented by the SAFE contributors are dealt with in our FAQ pages as well as in the articles by William Hunter and Brandon Oberle.

Finally, for blog coverage of Synod, cf. ARP pastor Tim Phillips’ coverage of Synod in the following posts: ARP Synod as Reported by the Christian Observer, ARP in National Spotlight, Synod Update, Part I, Synod Update, Part II, and Synod Update, Part III. ARP pastor Brian Howard presents a slightly different perspective than Rev. Phillips in his posts here (although Rev. Howard did vote for the commission in the end). Lastly, for blog coverage of the petition and SAFE before Synod, see former PCA moderator J. Ligon Duncan’s blog post here.

-The Editors

While many Erskine alumni, students, and ARP pastors found the website helpful in providing some substantive reasons for the broad concerns expressed by the petition, since the Synod responded to the concerns expressed by the petition letter in going forward we think it is appropriate for most of the specific concerns about Erskine to be communicated to the commission. As former PCA Moderator J. Ligon Duncan noted, our publishing the website and publicizing the petition was in the context of appealing to “the appropriate ecclesiastical authority to act.” (Westminster Theological Seminary West Professor Dr. R. Scott Clark linked to Rev. Dr. Duncan’s post here.) Since that authority has taken action, we consider the ultimate purpose of this website to have been accomplished.

However, since Synod many questions and rumors have arisen concerning the content, goals, and purpose of this website and of the petition effort. Given the public nature of this endeavor, we thought it would be helpful to provide resources that may bring some clarification to those who are interested. For the sake of ease in navigation, the links to these updates may be found here.

*As noted in one of the FAQs, the World article contains one factual inaccuracy: the petition letter was signed by 144 students and alumni, and not 144 current students.

-The Editors