I’m trying to make an honest assessment about what Jenkins has done either for academics or christendom, but i’m finding it hard to see what warrants him getting an honorary doctorate from HU other than the fact that he’s well known for having written Christian fiction. This doesn’t seem to be reason for giving someone an honorary doctorate. I’m not against honoring someone without a ton of education as long as this person is doing or has done something good for the Church or society. Instead, most would say that his writing and theology have done more to divide the church than help it and certainly not helped society

You can find his bio here at his website: http://www.jerryjenkins.com/bio.html

NY Times Book Review:
http://rickroll.it/ba48f5

Perhaps overlooking the Left Behind books would make this decision a little easier to stomach. But unfortunately, I don’t believe anyone would know who Jerry Jenkins was without these books. These are the first things mentioned about him in the press release, when people think Jerry Jenkins, they think Left Behind and will thus associate HU with him. This will also associate a certain form of fundamentalism with HU, a fundamentalism that I don’t believe the students, faculty, or staff would want associated with the school.

So why are we honoring this man? I believe the question is still open and i don’t see the good in inviting him and honoring him as we are.

Another of my reasons for opposing Jenkins as a speaker has to do with the nature of his writing. First of all, if we quit kidding ourselves, the only thing Jenkins is well known for is the Left Behind series. Dowden has asked us to “look beyond” the fundamentalist Left Behind book series, but it’s the very first thing they touch on in the press releases. I’m almost sure that no one in the commencement audience would be able to place the title of another of Jenkins’ works, and invariably the university will become lumped together with the extreme fundamentalism inherent in Jenkins’ most prolific works.

Another reason I am opposed to Jenkins has to do with recent issues regarding academic freedom. Huntington didn’t hesitate to dismiss John Sanders, whose theology didn’t match up with the theology of the United Bretheren denomination, but they will readily extend an invitation to Jenkins to come here when he, according to Dowden, does not have a theology that agrees with the United Bretheren denomination, either. If this does not speak of inconsistency, I don’t know what does.