On April 30, 2010, the board of Knox Theological Seminary in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., voted unanimously to call Dr. Bruce Waltke Distinguished Professor of Old Testament.

As reported here, Dr. Waltke resigned from Reformed Theological Seminary on April 5, 2010 because of differences regarding the nature of the biblical account of creation.

Knox Seminary released a statement addressing the concerns raised by his resignation from Reformed Seminary.

The controversy sparked by Dr. Waltke’s address at a BioLogos conference, and the agitation it has provoked in the blogosphere, have created confusion and misunderstanding. Rumor and accusation have largely compromised the truth, and charge and countercharge have obfuscated an eminent theologian’s attempt to bring clarification. When he is allowed to speak for himself, Dr. Waltke clearly demonstrates that his personal views are consistent with confessional orthodoxy.

Dr. Waltke has personally affirmed his belief in the inspiration, authority, and the inerrancy of Holy Scripture, a belief incontestably supported by a lifetime of faithful teaching and well-known to a large community of reformed students immensely grateful for his ministry.

He has affirmed his conviction that God created the world in the beginning ex nihilo, that is, out of nothing.

He has stated his belief that the covenant God of Israel specially created Adam and Eve, historic humans, from whom the entire human family descended, and that there is thus no continuum between mankind and the animals.

Dr. Waltke has stated his belief that Adam and Eve personally sinned against God, which is the basis for our federal doctrine of original sin, and that the God of Israel offered our first parents the covenant of grace and the promise of a divine Redeemer, the Seed of the Woman, who in the fullness of time would come to redeem God’s elect and restore all things.

In our opinion, Dr. Waltke’s views are wholly compatible with our confessional standards, and incompatible with naturalistic and materialist theories of evolution. We believe that his lifetime of faithful service and his large body of recognized and reformed writings and teachings earn the respect due to a Christian man and notable scholar. He deserves the opportunity to be heard in his own voice, without the various opinions expressed in a debating society, like BioLogos, being imputed to him.

To that end it is a delight for us to report that the Knox Board, on Friday, April 30, 2010, voted unanimously to appoint Dr. Bruce Waltke to our faculty as Distinguished Professor of Old Testament.

We rejoice that Dr. Bruce Waltke, honored scholar, teacher, and servant of Christ will join the faculty of Knox as resident faculty each spring, commencing with 2011. He will teach Hebrew Poetry and the Psalms in this coming semester.

Read the whole statement here.

[Editor’s note: The original URLs (links) referenced in this article are no longer valid, so the links have been removed.]