On July 7 my article “Losing Faith in Religious Higher Education: What happens when a seminary professor joins the religiously ‘unaffiliated’?” came out in the Chronicle of Higher Education. This was my “coming out” piece as a secular humanist and it discussed the ramifications of that decision for my position as a seminary professor.

While I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, I did wonder about the amount of hate mail I might get. Fortunately, the responses from both sides of that conversation (evangelical and humanist) were predominantly positive.

It seems that everyone had something to take away from it, as the post was shared widely on Twitter and Facebook by individuals and groups like The Richard Dawkins Foundation. I received a lot of personal messages from readers, some who shared similar stories. Reader response being what it is, I couldn’t control how everyone understood my point, but in the grand scheme of things….so far, so good. A survey of blog responses have turned up the following below.

The Friendly Atheist: “When a Seminary Professor Loses His Faith, What Should He Do?“

Over at Friendly Atheist, Hemant Mehta notes the details of the story and raises the question of what should could be done in my situation: “Should he fake it and keep the job, or be honest about his doubts and try finding another faculty position at a secular university?”

Debunking Christianity: “Dr. Brandon Withrow Abandons His Faith and His Faculty Position“

John Loftus offers some analysis and notes my small list of factors that went into my choice to leave Christianity, which in the article were “biblical, social, personal, and scientific issues.” He explores some of those points writing that “It’s the Bible, properly understood, which can and should cause people of faith to abandon their faith.”

At one point he wonders why I left philosophy out of the list of factors, which is a valid question to ask. Philosophy did play a big role in my intellectual journey (particularly on issues of personal identity and the soul), as it was a central part of my courses and publishing. The reason for its omission is more mundane; it was a writing choice. I didn’t want to make that sentence too cumbersome.

Crux Sola: “Losing Faith While Teaching in a Faith-Based Institution“

“…his article brings up a question that I’ve been discussing with colleagues a lot in recent years: Why does this type of thing seem to happen with regularity among evangelical scholars? What is it about the culture of evangelicalism, especially American evangelicalism, that causes or at the very least, regularly allows for such de-conversions and radical re-envisionings of the Scriptures and the life of faith?…”

Exploring Our Matrix: “I Still/No Longer Believe“

James McGrath (a friend of mine) points to the rigidity of conservative Christianity and its expectations of conformity as creating a hypocrisy that is “toxic to faith.” Teaching at Butler University, he says, saved his faith.

Demands to conform to a strict set of doctrines can sour one to theology and religion in general. I wrote a little about that arising from my experience at Westminster at The Huffington Post last year (“How Westminster Theological Seminary Came to Define Fundamentalism for Me“). I would add that (for my story) it was not so much the reaction of a jaded Christian as it was what that fundamentalist world taught me about the nature of human beings and our overwhelming desire to hold on to something regardless of its probability (as I see it). I did become a liberal Christian and I did consider other faiths, but ultimately, what I learned about human beings (universally) led me into a different direction entirely.

I plan to write about this aspect of my story more in the future, but I would add that fundamentalism was a prompter for re-thinking a fuller worldview.

Unsystematic Theology: “Some Thoughts on “Retrenchment” in Christian Higher Education“

“…the most strategic theological and ministerial training institutions for the future of Christianity will not be those that are most driven by retrenchment, but those which are most inspired by the creativity of change and that are most interested in pursuing truth wherever it leads. These will be the schools that provide the most conducive environment for the development of mature faith in their students–and that are most equipped to lead churches in asking and answering our toughest questions…”

There may be more posts I missed, so if you know of one, feel free to share it in the comments section.