The Midwest evangelical denomination declined to study its position on evolution and human origins because professors at its affiliated colleges are supposedly already producing rigorous scholarship on those issues. But in fact, the CRC allows them to be harassed, muzzled, and fired when conservatives don’t like their discoveries.

The evangelical Christian Reformed Church (CRC), an evangelical denomination centered mostly in the Midwest U.S. and Canada, voted last week not to set up a committee to examine the denomination’s theological positions involving the origins of the world and of human sin. The CRC’s 2014 Synod decided that there was no need for a six-year study of the complex issues surrounding the relationship between modern science and Christian theological beliefs because its affiliated scholars-especially at its flagship institution, Calvin College-were already conducting rigorous scholarship on the issue.

‘The ongoing work of [CRC-affiliated colleges] doesn’t warrant us putting resources and money into [the study committee] for six years,” said Chris De Vos, the reporter for the synod’s advisory committee.

The trouble is, while CRC scholars have indeed been a significant force in advancing the evangelical understanding of science, their work has also been the target of reactionary attacks so intense some of them eventually left the […]