This is a collection of some of the original documents as it relates to the coverage of Robert Lopez and his termination that appears to be for sharing his testimony in an essay under a pseudonym. My hope that in reading this, you will be informed of the situation because the longer stuff like this goes on, the harder it is to find the origin point from where it started. So be informed. This is a developing story so it will be updated according to new information. Stories like this prove why Evangelical Dark Web and sites like it are the real Baptist Press.
Initial Story: Southwestern fires professor for preaching Gospel, talking about sex abuse and sexuality
By Capstone Report on 12/3/2019
Baptist seminary fires conservative Latino over belief Jesus changes sinners.
Professor told not to discuss sex abuse or homosexuality. SWBTS told Lopez the ERLC was unhappy with his teachings.
The statement continues: According to Lopez, his supervisors cited opposition to him from the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and the Southwestern administration. In September, Lopez was told not to continue to discuss homosexuality or sex abuse in any capacity while employed at the Seminary. “I stated that the demands from the Seminary violated my conscience and would force me to disobey God. I was told that if that was the case, I had to resign. I refused to resign.” Lopez was then laid off.
[Editor’s Note: At this point we already knew that Robert Lopez was one of the casualties under Adam Greenway. This story gave a different reason.]
Published Essay that Lopez was fired over: To Affirm LGBT Ideology Is to Support Abuse
By Robert Lopez under pseudonym “Alex Aradanas” published by American Thinker on 9/13/2019
The years leading up to this moment in 1989 had been rocky. Growing up without a father figure, I had developed effeminate mannerisms and homosexual curiosities. Girls rejected and even mocked me, so I had been tempted since childhood to follow in my mother’s footsteps and go into the gay lifestyle.
But I hated the physical part of the gay lifestyle. I had first engaged in homosexuality five years earlier, at the age of thirteen. Two teenage boys, both older than me, had gotten me drunk and did things they had apparently learned from older gay men.
I felt pain and revulsion during intimacy with other males. The two teenagers had convinced me that I had wanted it and they did what they did only because they knew I was gay. Like so many people who are isolated and abused by predators, I succumbed to their manipulations and internalized their falsehoods until I believed them.
With heterosexual masculinity seemingly out of the question, I believed that I had to be gay if I was to have any realistic social standing. What girl would want to be with me? Yet I could not be like the Catholic priests I knew, because I felt strong sexual urges. The contradiction confused me: the other boys had to get me drunk and hold me down.
I Didn’t Have to Die on This Hill, But I Did
By Robert Lopez on 11/16/2016 at American Greatness
[Editor’s Note: Lopez describes in detail the changes being made at SWBTS]
A new president took office—Adam Greenway—and fired 26 professors in 24 hours, sending a clear signal to all of us that we were eminently replaceable. Greenway told us this was due to budget cuts, then turned around and hired at least six new professors (all white) from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, the place he had just left. My memos warning about the problems with the watered-down curriculum did not go over well.
By September 19, I was asked to resign by the provost. In early November, the spring 2020 schedule was published, indicating that I had no classes at all. Just like that, I went from tenure in California to joblessness in Texas. And now I can say, sincerely, that liberals and conservatives are both the enemies of great literature. I have been promoted to the rank of high misanthrope (pace Molière).
SWBTS responds to allegations: Statement on Southwestern Seminary’s Commitment to Biblical Sexuality
Written by Randy Stinson 12/4/2019
It is our standard practice not to publicly discuss personnel matters. Yesterday, however, Dr. Robert Lopez, a faculty member in Scarborough College, made public allegations about Southwestern Seminary that require a public, unambiguous response.
Recently, it became necessary for the seminary to notify Dr. Lopez that his position is being eliminated due to changing program needs in our college. In response, Dr. Lopez has engaged the services of a public relations firm, which has distributed a press release that makes defamatory claims about Southwestern Seminary that are categorically false.
Let me be absolutely clear: no faculty member, including Dr. Lopez, has been told, or would be told, they cannot discuss homosexuality. Southwestern Seminary is a confessional institution, which joyfully affirms the Baptist Faith and Message (2000), including each and every assertion about biblical sexuality. As such, the administration faithfully requires all faculty members to teach in accordance with and not contrary to these truth claims. Our faculty – including our president – regularly teach on God’s design for the family and marriage and the biblical sexual ethic, which homosexuality is in rebellion against. Our faculty also teach that all sinners can be changed by the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Indeed, any contrary teaching at the seminary would not be tolerated. As Southern Baptists should expect of their seminaries, we are committed to a biblical view of marriage and sexual ethics. Any claim that Southwestern Seminary has wavered on these longstanding commitments is either misinformed or intentionally deceptive.
Further, Dr. Lopez’s claims about what I have personally said about these matters are demonstrably false. I have given my entire academic and ministry career of more than two decades to addressing these matters from a biblical worldview. In light of the growing cultural confusion on sexuality and growing pressure to force Christians to conform to prevailing opinions, my resolve on these matters is stronger today than ever.The biblical sexual ethic is God’s plan for human flourishing and the Gospel of Jesus Christ is God’s plan for redeeming all sinners. On these matters, I and Southwestern Seminary refuse to compromise.
Finally, although Dr. Lopez’s position is being eliminated due to changing program needs of our college, our decision was undergirded by his own actions, which included his failure to comply with basic administrative policies, his being the subject of regular complaints from students and faculty colleagues, and, in the end, his refusal even to attend meetings with his supervisors. While it is unfortunate when any institutional position must be eliminated, I am confident this decision is in the best interests of the students we are educating for Gospel ministry and this institution.
Original documents surfaces supporting Lopez: Bombshell: Southwestern Seminary’s Boldfaced Lies Exposed
By Henry Anderson Worldview Conversations/ Enemies Within The Church, published 12/6/2019
In interviews with Mr. Lopez, Enemies within the Church convinced him to share the records he had of his dealings with the Seminary and the events that led to his November 29 termination. He had records to show that the Seminary had not only treated him abhorrently, but that they were also lying about it. As the Southwestern provost’s false dismissal of Lopez’s claims escalated, he had no choice. The purpose of the present essay is to set the record straight and demonstrate that Randy Stinson’s statement against Lopez is defamatory. First let us examine the statement that Stinson claimed was false. Below is the statement Lopez released on December 3, 2019, with new footnotes to reference the sources he can cite to prove his version true.
Lopez’s side of the story: Conversations That Matter with Jon Harris
Evidence: SWBTS, Randy Stinson, lied about termination of Robert Lopez
By Ray Fava @ Evangelical Dark Web 12/8/2019
[Editor’s Note: This article summarizes the previous stories that contain primary evidence into what hopefully easier to follow.]
The evidence shows that the soured relationship between Robert Lopez and SWBTS had to do with his essay titled “To Affirm LGBT Ideology Is to Support Abuse” and was published under a pseudonym. The essay itself was extremely personal, a story we need to hear because to make his point that the lifestyle he was in was consistently abusive. It’s a core part of how he came to Christ.
The evidence shows that Dr. Lopez was pressured to remain silent on the issue of homosexuality and sex abuse since at least June of 2019. On September 11, 2019, Michael Wilkinson, Dean and Associate Professor of Theology at SWBTS, pressured Lopez to not speak out on issues without notifying the administration.
When Dr. Lopez notified but maintained that they could not stop him from sharing his testimony anyway, he published his essay under the guise of “Alex Aradanas” on September 13, 2019. On that same day, Michael Wilkinson raised the possibility of termination, should Lopez maintain his resolve.
On September 19, Randy Stinson addressed what in his statement would be the Lopez’s “failure to comply with basic administrative policies” by addressing how Lopez refused to let a college administrator, Colby Adams, grant approval of his essay prior to publish. Randy Stinson, according to the transcript pressures Robert Lopez to resign, challenging his integrity if he refuses. Robert Lopez refused to resign. When Lopez was absent in the spring 2020 semester, he knew the termination was coming.
Tapes, emails and now a witness against Southwestern
Reported by Capstone Report 12/9/2019
[Editor’s Note: In the meetings, Robert Lopez brought in pastors which SWBTS did not seem to appreciate according to the audio files.]
Dr. Stinson,
My name is Joe Goodson, and I am one of Dr. Bobby Lopez’s friends who accompanied him at the meeting in your office a few weeks ago. I have had a question since before that meeting that I would like to ask you. This is one question with a few layers, and it has stuck with me since the meeting. I would very much appreciate your answer, which will help me know the direction I need to take with this situation.
Since no support for Dr. Lopez was expressed during the meeting, only criticism of his handling of the situation, to what degree do you support him in his testimony and his stand? How much of your problem with him is because of the content of his message to the world: that homosexuality is not something one is born with and that a Christian is called to overcome this sin through the grace of God, as with any other sin? Is your problem with him due, in part at least, to the direction of some within the SBC to take a different stance on this issue? My conviction is that Dr. Lopez has a unique testimony that is extremely important for our generation to hear, and I deeply desire to know whether my alma mater’s current leadership shares this conviction. The things I have heard about your handling of this matter, and the things I heard and saw at that meeting, have left me questioning this.
I am aware that I do not know everything about the situation, and I do appreciate your letting us come into that meeting as outsiders. In fairness to you, I would like to hear your take on this part of the situation.
Thank you for your time and response in advance,
Joe Goodson
M.Div. ’02, SWBTS
SWBTS Strikes Back: Cuts off Lopez’s pay before Christmas
By Capstone Report on 12/11/2019
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary retaliates against Robert Lopez by ending pay about a month earlier than it originally planned.
Al Mohler defends SWBTS, 11th Commandment
By Ray Fava @ Evangelical Dark Web on 12/13/2019
I have full confidence in the biblical fidelity of @SWBTS and the commitment of its leadership to a robustly biblical vision of human sexuality and gender. Southern Baptists are well served by six seminaries committed to biblical fidelity.
This tweet is in support of the statement SWBTS released that was penned by Randy Stinsons. The evidence contradicts the statement made. Nonetheless, Al Mohler decided to sway the confidence of the laity back onto Adam Greenway’s side.
Texas Baptists cancel Lopez, keep Greenway on agenda
By Capstone Report
Lopez announced the conference speaking cancellation on Facebook.
“I just received a call from the Southern Baptist Convention of Texas. They have canceled my speaking engagement for the upcoming Empower Conference,” Lopez said.
Lopez said the Southern Baptists of Texas were kind enough to tell him he would still be paid the speaking honorarium.
That’s commendable.
What’s not commendable is that the conference website continues to list Greenway as a speaker.
Interested in learning more? Join the Evangelical Dark Web.
