It looks like the theological degeneration of Wheaton College continues apace. On April 27, 2022, Wheaton College held a speaking event at which visiting scholar Professor Jayachitra Lalitha, associate professor of New Testament at Tamilnadu Theological Seminary in Madurai, South India and dean of the women’s studies department, discussed the arcane topic and subject of the book she is writing, “Mary Magdalene, the Ascetic Mystic: Gender Sexuality Conundrums.”
Here are two descriptions of Lalitha’s work provided by hosts of other events where she has spoken:
- “Rev. Dr. Lalitha Jayachitra [sic]presented on Gender & Sexuality to highlight the variety of genders that are scientifically proved and pointed out that as a church we have not even begun to grapple with this variety.”
- “On September 30th, 2020, CASA India organized a webinar on ‘Understanding Gender Diversity’. … Rev. Dr. Jayachitra Lalita [sic] shared an introduction to understanding gender diversity, identities, and non-binary genders. She explained there are 28 types of identity for gender, other than binary identity.”
In an INFEMIT podcast, Lalitha discusses “decolonized retelling of Biblical and historical narratives, postcolonial feminist perspectives, and intersectional theology.”
Perhaps Lalitha intellectually shredded decolonized retelling of biblical narratives, postcolonial feminist perspectives, and intersectional theology, but if she affirms the existence of 28 “gender identities,” I doubt she did.
The visiting scholar program that brought Lalitha to Wheaton is named after the theologically orthodox theologian and leader in the evangelical movement John Stott:
The John Stott Visiting International Scholar/Artist/Practitioner in Human Needs & Global Resources provides an opportunity for individuals directly involved in addressing the wide array of human needs to spend approximately 1-4 months during the academic year (August-May) at Wheaton College, for the purpose of interacting with the campus community in both formal and informal ways over the course of her or his stay. Departments are invited to nominate scholars, artists, and practitioners from any discipline.
I wonder what John Stott would say about Wheaton using his name for this.
Some Wheaton trustees or wealthy donors should find out who exactly nominated Lalitha to be a visiting scholar (then let me know). And parents who are considering spending big bucks to send their children to Wheaton may want to consider other options.
Listen to this article read by Laurie:
