Heretics and Politics: Theology, Power, and Perception in the Last Days of CBC

Abstract

Everything could have been different. The college could have grown, flourished, survived. Instead, a myriad of factors made it defunct. This is a story about power, perception, and the fall of an American educational institution. It is a tale about a failed attempt at reform within an insular religious community. It is an account of how an internecine struggle destroyed an institution. It is a narrative of institutional tragedy and individual triumph. It is a reflection on a theological controversy wherein truth claims were advanced against suspected heretics, and reformers believed they suffered injury and malice at the hands of their own brethren. This book constitutes an argument which situates theology at the core of conflict. It is an examination of the tense drama created by colliding models of educational philosophy. It is the elaboration of an unpopular history about men who strove with each other; men who would not yield. It is a chronicle about hard fought victories overshadowed by crushing defeats whereby those who won the small battles wound up losing the war. It is an analysis of the political uses of theology and a specific exploration of the madness of theology and its often regrettable outcomes which have frequently been manifested in the history of Christianity. The general theme is not new but this particular version has not previously been recorded.