I recently read a news article in Evangelicals Now about a unique new college being set up in Oxford with Christian aims and ethos. Unfortunately, the article left unsaid a lot of crucial things about the college. I had a closer look at the website and here are some things that should concern you before you think about investing in the college, applying for a role on faculty or seeking to attend as a student.
First, the college is inviting people to apply to study in September this year however, it still is vague about what it will be offering in terms of content because it is dependent upon who the faculty will be. It seems that at the moment, the only definite faculty are the principal and a visiting lecturer. The college are still currently attempting to recruit staff.
Secondly, whilst there are certain things that the college hopes to teach, the website also states that:
“Throughout the three years students will be required to attend the weekly Selden College Seminar. An informal group discussion led by faculty on books/topics, not required by the examined programme but deemed essential by the college for the student’s education. “[1]
Then it goes on to state that:
“Periodically throughout the school year there will be whole college academic gatherings where invited speakers will address the whole college on matters of import or academic interest. Students will be required to attend as directed by the Principal or Academic Dean. “[2]
Add in that whilst the promotional material talks about final exams, it fails to specific what qualification you are working towards. You have to dig further into the documentation to discover that they talk about a degree level certificate but that they are as yet unaccredited, hoping to do so when financially viable at an unspecified future date.
Additionally, under a section about overseas study options, the website talks about two- week trips to Israel and to Greece. To be clear, that’s not overseas study. It’s a vacation. [3]
Students are being asked to sign up to a course where they don’t know who will be teaching them, what they will be learning or what their final qualification will be. This doesn’t sound like the kind of venture that you want your 18 year old child to be heading off to, especially with fees charged at £12500 per year.[4]
On the other side of the coin, whilst expectations on and commitment from the college are low, the expectations on both students and faculty are high. Faculty are required to sign up to a number of doctrinal positions and the website insists that there must be tight theological unity despite the fact that this is not a theological training college.
“’It is an occupational requirement for all faculty, staff and board members to subscribe to the historic teachings and practices of the reformed Christian faith and the Statement of Beliefs as set out in the Schedules to the College’s Articles’. Students have their own Statement of Faith to sign as the college recognises that they will be coming from a variety of different church backgrounds and so the confessional unity of the student body will be broader than that of the college’s faculty, staff and board.”
Let’s just pause on that for a moment. Faculty and staff arr required to “subscribe to the historic teachings and practices of the reformed Christian faith…” but there is no indication as to how that is determined. Ona number of theological points and practices there is variation within the reformed tradition. The risk here is that legitimate disagreement and departure from reformed teaching will be confused presumably with key people within the college acting as arbiters on the matter. That looks like a recipe for disaster when it comes to employment law not least because this is a college offering a “liberal arts qualification” not a church nor even a seminary and therefore I cannot see how this requirement could be classified as a genuine occupational requirement.
Students are asked to sign a different statement of faith and to make commitments in terms of moral behaviour but also to notify the college if they find themselves in disagreement with its theological position. They are warned that if they do, then they will be expected to leave.
“The Statement of Faith outlines the broad doctrinal parameters within which the college community operates. If any student, at any time, comes to a position that differs substantively from these principles they are to inform the college, and if necessary, offer to withdraw from the college community as a point of integrity”[5]
I’m not convinced that this would be legally enforceable but it does beg a number of questions about what the intent and extent of the college is.
You see, the kind of tight agreement on doctrine and the expectations on conduct around sin are not the kind of thing you would expect a Higher Education institution to be offering. Rather, we might associate such expectations with a church.
So, who exactly is behind this venture is it just a bunch of well-meaning but disparate reformed evangelicals? Well have a look at the staff and faculty already identified and a common theme begins to emerge.
Three members of staff have connections to New St Andrews College, Moscow Idaho either having studied or taught there. The chair of the board pastors Emmanuel Church, North London. Emmanuel Church and New St Andrews have a crucial connection, Douglas Wilson and “Federal Vision”.
New St Andrews is a college linked to the church and community founded by Doug Wilson whist Emmanuel Church was planted by people again with significant connections to Douglas Wilson and Federal Vision.
Why does this matter? Well, it matters because Wilson has a particular theological stance and outlook which is highly controversial. Federal Vision is a label used to describe an approach, a form of neo-Presbyterianism which emphasises infant baptism not merely as a statement of hope but as including children of Christians within God’s covenant people, with faith. Alongside this, Wilson and other advocates hold to a particular form of post-millennialism that expects the development of Christian nations through Theonomism (the idea that the Old Testament Law should be the Law of the land). Wilson has been controversial on a number of other issues particularly around race, slavery, manhood and womanhood. You can find out a bit more about some of those controversies here and about Federal Vision here
It is important to recognise therefore that the college is coming with a particular theology which is something distinct from the broader historical reformed position and that this theology flows into a particularly philosophical and political outlook which might be best characterised as from the Libertarian Right. This is not simply about an attempt to encourage the role and place of Christian education in the UK. I would encourage Christian magazines and papers reporting on the new college to investigate further and give a fuller picture. I would also encourage young people and parents making decisions together about future higher education plans to check things carefully. Indeed, the wise thing would be to pursue education in existing, established institutions.
[4] Selden College Fees Policy 13.2.24 this is significantly higher than the current cap on UK degree fees of £9500, presumably this is made possible by the College’s private status.
Faithroots 
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