BCS and narrowing orthodoxy

Some reflections prompted by a twitter thread.  It is an email from a prospective student recounting his interview for seminary with Andy Naselli, where Naselli asked him a number of questions about hot button culture war topics (Critical Race Theory, Jesus and John Wayne, Complementarianism) because (according to Naselli) the church and school have decided the Elder Affirmation of Faith isn't enough and they want to filter out broad evangelicals.    

In our open letter, we say that I had a wonderful time at Bethlehem College and Seminary getting my MDiv.  I still believe that, but it's also tempered by confusion and sadness.  I was part of the class of 2013.  We were the first cohort to begin under the 4 year seminary program (others in the 2 year TBI track were grandfathered in).  In spite of the significant amount of flux that we experienced as the guinea pig cohort, it was still a very good experience for me (though I now see that others had a more negative experience even during the same years).  I learned a great deal about God, the Bible, and myself.  The counseling class has greatly strengthened my marriage. I developed a number of friendships that I still greatly appreciate to this day.  My cohort still keeps in touch with life updates.  Yet, as I look at things now in the light of what I'm learning about BCS in the years since, I feel a great deal of confusion at the direction the school has taken.  

I feel confusion because it feels like many of the very things that I appreciated about the experience seem now to be downplayed and criticized by BCS.  I loved the free exchange of ideas.  I appreciated that in some classes we read wider than the Reformed Baptist sphere and considered different perspectives and positions.  I appreciated how John Piper sought to honestly engage with others even in his disagreements.  I was challenged to consider seriously the values and benefits of other cultural perspectives and also my own culture's weaknesses.  I appreciate how even though I came in convinced of the infant baptist position, it was never a source of isolation or rebuke in any of my interactions with fellow classmates or professors.  I never felt measured based on how closely I defended the accepted orthodoxy, but rather based on my adherence to the Bible and the strength of my argument.  

We had worthwhile and thought-provoking discussions as people refined, adjusted, or focused on different aspects of their convictions.  Even when I disagreed strongly and repeatedly with the main text that we read for our capstone biblical theology class, Dr. DeRouchie welcomed the feedback, gave me time to present my own views to the class, and permitted the free exchange of ideas.  If anything, my main concern about my overall experience was that sometimes it felt like we read too much from the Bethlehem orbit and didn't read enough from other traditions.   Our classes were often focused on books from John Piper, Jonathan Edwards, Tom Schreiner, Jason Meyer, and the others from the Bethlehem-centered world, and sometimes I felt like that was too much.  Other classes seemed to strike a healthier balance, having authors from many different backgrounds/convictions.  I really appreciated those horizon-broadening experiences.  

It's really too bad to hear that it seems like BCS is moving away from broad-minded evangelicalism that can interact comfortably with people with different backgrounds and convictions while still holding winsomely to its own beliefs.  From what I've heard and read in the last few months, it sounds that a culture of welcoming people of different convictions and beliefs to learn with and from one another within the context of the Elder Affirmation of Faith is being replaced with wanting a more homogenous student body.  It's certainly BCS's prerogative to do that, but that's too bad.  The church and seminary are worse off for it.