Filmmaker discouraged, but not disdainful over university’s dismissal
LANGLEY, BC—The Christian filmmaker behind the acclaimed documentary Hellbound? says he is discouraged and disheartened after the course he was scheduled to teach at Trinity Western University (TWU) was cancelled by the school's administration due to his views on hell.
TWU's statement of faith includes an article stating that the fate of those who choose not to follow Christ is "condemnation and eternal conscious punishment." Miller does not believe that this is the case regarding hell. With the understanding that he would still be allowed to teach the course, Miller wrote and submitted a clarifying statement regarding his views, which he says he framed as "a form of hopeful Universalism."
Ultimately, university administration decided Miller's clarifying statement was an outright contradiction of the article in question. On August 27, they cancelled the class, which was scheduled to begin September 7.
The filmmaker says he disagrees with the university's conclusions regarding his views regarding the eternal consequences of those who choose not to follow Christ.
"I don't think [my views] necessarily contradicted their statement of faith," Miller says, adding that his views are within Christian orthodoxy and he does not take "an un-Christian position" on the matter.
"They chose to go with a narrow interpretation which didn't include me."
David Squires, dean of TWU's School of the Arts, Media and Culture, spoke with Miller about teaching the course toward the beginning of 2013. He says he feels badly for the way the process ended up for the filmmaker.
Squires was aware that Miller's views deviated from TWU's, and initially thought that if Miller submitted a clarifying statement, he would still be allowed to teach. In August, when Miller was given a contract and statement of faith to sign, that turned out not to be the case.
"I had thought there was a little more room for interpretation than there actually is, so I'm very sorry in the sense that Kevin is a great filmmaker, he [has] a lot to offer, he's a fine Christian man, and I was really hoping he'd have a chance to work with our students," Squires says.
In a blog he writes for Patheos.com, Miller used the incident to start a discussion about faith statements. He says he has always had difficulty with them. While it's human to try and articulate what one believes, Miller questions what role such statements should play in the formation of Christian communities.
"Rather than statements of faith, what we really should be organizing Christian communities around are ways of relating to each other so that if you're going to be part of this community, you're committed to loving God with all your heart and soul and mind, and loving your neighbour as yourself," Miller says. "Love is the distinguishing mark of the Christian, not a particular interpretation of the Bible."
He adds that he has no hard feelings toward the university and wants to put the incident behind him. His biggest disappointment is that he is not able to teach a class he was looking forward to teaching.
"I don't have an ax to grind," he says. "This, for me, has been a really good learning experience, and I think it's been a good learning experience for the administration [at TWU] as well."
TWU interim president Bob Kuhn believes that it has been.
"I have great respect for Kevin and his views, and you learn every time you speak with someone who has a different opinion [from your own]," Kuhn says.
Squires adds that the university realizes now Miller should have been issued a contract when he was first offered the position at the beginning of 2013, and not a few weeks before the class was scheduled to start.
"We've changed our process in terms of the issuing of contracts," Squires says, adding that Miller was compensated for the time he had put in over the summer to prepare for the course. "We need to have that sort of stuff settled a lot earlier."
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