One Professor's Former Students Speak Out: A Defense of Tat-siong Benny Liew

Almost a decade ago, one of the very first classes I took in seminary at the Pacific School of Religion was the first part of my school’s required Biblical studies sequence, which was team-taught by two professors—an archaeologist and a Biblical scholar. Its purpose was to present not just the text, but the world behind the text—a wealth of historical and cultural information that any pastor or Bible interpreter would find valuable. And find it valuable I certainly have over my nearly nine years in parish ministry.

This week, I learned that one of the two professors who taught that class, Dr. Tat-siong Benny Liew, now the Class of 1956 Professor of New Testament Studies at College of the Holy Cross, has been targeted by a campaign demanding his dismissal for his years-old scholarship in which he provoked questions of how to read certain New Testament passages through particularly pro-LGBTQ lenses. This campaign includes a petition with thousands of signatures, articles by all the usual bad-faith far-right publications—Breitbart Townhall, Church Militant, etc.—and a letter from the Roman Catholic bishop of the diocese of Worcester, Rev. Robert J. McManus, who accused Professor Liew of “blasphemy” and “false and perverse” conclusions, saying that unless Professor Liew publicly disavows his work, that his teaching has no place at Holy Cross.

In response to the campaign to dismiss—or at least discipline—Professor Liew, Holy Cross president Rev. Philip L. Boroughs, S.J., has vouched for Professor Liew’s personal faith and character. Holy Cross itself said that while Professor Liew’s work was “intentionally provocative,” nobody has ever complained about what and how Professor Liew teaches in his classes. These are all important things to note in Professor Liew’s defense.

But beyond simply being entitled to the protections of academic freedom as a tenured professor in spite of his scholarship, Professor Liew’s work as an educator has, in fact, done great good. He has tangibly contributed to the wellbeing and spiritual and intellectual enrichment of his students over the years—and not just cisgender or heterosexual students, but LGBTQ students as well. And we want all of our voices be heard in support of Professor Liew.

To that end, this morning, a letter has been deposited with the United States Postal Service, addressed to Father Boroughs’ office at Holy Cross, which reads as follows. Nearly one hundred former PSR/GTU students have signed it in the past forty-eight hours. Any questions about the letter can be directed to me (Eric) through the Contact tab on this website.

Rev. Philip L. Boroughs, S.J.

President, College of the Holy Cross

Worcester, Massachusetts

April 3, 2018

Dear Father Boroughs:

We write to you today in support of one of your college’s professors, Tat-siong Benny Liew, as he faces a firestorm of criticism from quarters of your school and the Church over his inclusive interpretation of sacred Scripture.

We are former students and peers of Professor Liew’s from his previous post as Professor of New Testament at the Pacific School of Religion and the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. We benefited from his instruction in New Testament in classes which prepared us for ministry and academic work, and we believe that he deserves the full support of you and your office in the face of the calls to discipline or dismiss him.

Setting aside for a moment the academic freedom protections you have cited on Dr. Liew’s behalf, we believe this is an instance to not support an embattled professor despite their views, as your initial statement seemed to do, but to support a professor precisely because of their views. The historically unaffirming stance of the Church towards LGBTQ people has led to numerous painful and deleterious consequences, including putting LGBTQ youth at higher risks of bullying, homelessness, and suicide. The misuse of Scripture to deny LGBTQ people the right to marry their same-sex partners for decades is something that we believe has done substantial damage to the Church’s witness and to LGBTQ people. Instead of trying to heal this damage, Dr. Liew’s critics seem intent on doubling down on the ways in which the Church has inflicted pain upon LGBTQ people.

In the context of such harmful fruit from the Church, it is a blessing to have professors like Dr. Liew offering a hermeneutic which affirms ways for LGBTQ people of faith to approach the Bible, however provocatively he may have done so. His body of scholarship represents a way for the Church to move beyond the narrow views of LGBTQ people that have done so much harm. His work and teaching have left a positive impact on us as his former students—and peers signing in solidarity—and we believe that he should continue to have the uninterrupted opportunity to make similarly positive impacts on the lives of your students at Holy Cross.

As we are sure you are well aware, the Church will continue to face massive debates over the place of its LGBTQ children in the kingdom of God. We hope and pray that in the midst of these debates, you will put at least one of them to rest by publicly voicing your unconditional support for Professor Liew, not simply on the basis of academic freedom, but on the basis that his is a valuable voice to hear from in the public square of academic inquiry into the ancient texts we hold as sacred.

Sincerely,

Rev. Rebecca Anderson

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘09

Rev. John Aney

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘15

Paul Arensmeyer
Starr King School for Ministry, M.Div. '12

Rev. Eric Atcheson

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘11

Rev. Hope Attenhofer

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘13

Rev. Gayle Basten

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘08

Rev. Ryan Dowell Baum

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘10

Rev. Rachel Bauman

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. '12

Marshall Bean-Smith
Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘09

Rev. Benjamin S. Bigney

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. '13

Rev. Susie Bjork

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. '07

Rev. Donene Blair

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. '07 

Rev. Laura Bogle

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘10

Rev. Daniel Borysewicz

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘13

Rev. Sheryl Butler

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘09

Rev. Mariah Callison

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘14

Rev. Andrea Cano

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘11

Wesley Capps

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘14

Elijah Carroll

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘16

Rev. Andrew Conley-Holcom

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. '14

Alan Cook

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘07

Rev. Florentino C. Cordova

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘13

Rev. Hannah Elyse Cornthwaite

Church Divinity School of the Pacific, M.Div. '14

Moira Darone

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘09

Rev. Greg Davis

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘12

Rev. Emma Donohew

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. '12

Megan Ruth Dowdell

Graduate Theological Union, M.A. ‘09

Rev. Darnell Fennell

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘14

Rev. Motoe Yamada Foor
Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. '04

Rev. James Ishmael Ford

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘91

Graduate Theological Union, M.A. ‘92

Rev. Michelle Freeman

Eden Theological Seminary, M.Div. ‘12

Pacific School of Religion student 2008-2009

Rev. Mike Friedrich

Pacific School of Religion, M.T.S. ‘13

Rev. Alexis Fuller-Wright

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘12

Rev. Gwynn Fuqua

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘14

Rev. Stephanie Gameros

Graduate Theological Union, M.A. ‘08

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘09

R. Warren Gill III

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘12

Grace Gilliam

Pacific School of Religion, M.T.S. ‘10

Rev. Sonny Graves

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘16

Rev. Andrew Greenhaw

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘14

Rev. Shannon Smith Greenhaw

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘13

Jason Guy

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘11

Rev. Christine Haider-Winnett

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘15

Rev. Jerry Handy

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘11

Rev. Michael Deborah Haven

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘14

Rev. Jakob Hero-Shaw

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ’11

Graduate Theological Union, M.A. ‘12

Rev. J.T. Hills
Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘13

Mary E. Hunt

Graduate Theological Union, Ph.D.

Rev. Lacey Hunter

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘15

Rev. Brian Hutchison

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘09

Jillian Hutton

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘14

Rev. Sonja Ingebritsen

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. '09

Rev. Meredith Jackson

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. '13

Rev. Linda Jaramillo

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘05

Rev. Lari Keeler

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘17

Rev. Abby King-Kaiser

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘09

Katherine Kunz

Graduate Theological Union, M.A. ‘06

Leslie Leasure

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘14

Rev. Maggie Leidheiser-Stoddard

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘07

Rev. Brenda Loreman

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘11

Rev. Jeanne Loveless

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘03

Rev. Chelsea Masterman

Pacific School of Religion, C.S.S. '11

Rev. Valerie McEntee

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘08

Eric McEuen

Pacific School of Religion student, 2012-2015

Rev. Emily Joye McGaughy
Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘08

Rev. James P. Merriam

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘15

Rev. Andrew Metcalfe

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div.

Rev. Jamie Michaels

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. '12

Rev. Leslie Moughty

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘13

Rev. Lydia Mulkey

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘15

Rev. Barbara Nixon

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘00

Graduate Theological Union, M.A. ‘00

Rev. Terry Yasuko Ogawa

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘13

Lori Ortiz

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘17

Rev. Matthew A. Pearson

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘12

Rev. Joan Pell

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘10

Cindy Pincus

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘15

Rev. Meighan Pritchard

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. '10

Rev. Bonnie Lang Rambob

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘15

Rev. Linda Reppond

Pacific School of Religion, D.Min. ‘15

Rev. Michele Robbins
Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘15

Rev. Beth Rogers

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘11

Patrick Ruth

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘16

Rev. Kelly Ryan

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘12

Ukryel Ryu

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘08

Graduate Theological Union, M.A. ‘09

Rev. Naomi Schulz

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘15

Rev. Andrew Schweibert

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. '07

Kathy Seibert

Pacific School of Religion, M.T.S. ‘08

Rev. Marianna Sempari

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘15

Rev. Chris Barillot Shade

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. '11

Amy Diane Shoemaker

Pacific School of Religion, M.T.S '08

Rev. Miak Siew

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘11

Rev. Christina Siva

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘12

Graduate Theological Union, M.A. ‘12

Rev. Barbara J. Smith

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. '89

Rev. Emily Snowden

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘14

Rev. Jeanette Solimine

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘00

Rev. Suzi Spangenberg

Starr King School for Ministry, M.A. '12, M.Div. '14

Rev. Randall Sparling

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. '16

Rev. Cordelia Strandskov

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘08

Rev. William Tanner

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘14

Rev. Melissa Tumaneng

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘13

Rev. Deborah R. Tyler

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘11

Rev. Melanie Weiner

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. '13

Rev. James Weller

Pacific School of Religion, M.T.S. ‘09

Heather Wells

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. '12

Rev. Patricia Carol Wood

Pacific School of Religion, M.Div. ‘10