I’m sure by now many of you have heard of the situation that occured in the chapel service at Southwestern Seminary today. In short the preacher, Rev. W. Dwight McKissic, who is a local pastor in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and also a recently appointed trustee of SWBTS claimed, from the pulpit, that he began speaking in tongues while a student at SWBTS and that there is no biblical support to require that others not speak in tongues. He went on to clarify in such a way so as to leave no one unaware that he was opposing the recent policy changes by the IMB Board of Trustees. You can read more about the events by reading Art Rogers ( found here and here) or Wade Burleson (found here).

Dr. Paige Patterson, president of SWBTS, has issued a statement stating that they choose not to release this message via their website. While I was first upset about that decision, after reading their statement I decided that they had every right to limit that accesibility. I still believe that their statement, standing in isolation, is a wonderful example of their rights and responsibilities as an institution. However, this statement does not stand in isolation. The refusal to release information that is critical of another SBC institution is certainly ok for them to do, however, due to the fact that the same ones making this claim of “responsibility” towards sister institutions, i.e. Dr. Patterson, have previously circulated documents that describe in detail their criticisms of the same sister institution, than this document becomes one of pharisaical hypocrisy.

I hope that I am not being overly harsh, and I have no doubt that many of you will remind me if I am, but it seems to me that this is a double standard philosophy. Am I wrong?