Dr. Greg Hodges - Pastor and President

 

Dr. Greg Hodges is the pastor of a church in the area that I call home.  I don't believe I have ever met him - perhaps because we just don't run in the same circles - he is the pastor of a local Independent Baptist Church and I am an atheist (former Christian) - no, we don't run in the same circles.  I actually don't know that I have any contact with anyone who is personally acquainted with him, but I do know someone who has friends who have contact with him, and the impression that I get is that he is well liked by pretty much everyone who knows him.  So, I'm going to go out on a limb and just say that I suspect that I would like him if I were to ever meet him - and yet, I have a problem with him - well, not actually with him, but with the people who have appointed him to be the president of the local community college.  

Now why would I have a problem with that, you ask - well, it's very simple - Pastor Dr. Greg Hodges religious beliefs are in many ways incompatible with the classes taught at a secular educational institution.  His religious beliefs will conflict with some of the information that is taught in the college that he is now responsible for managing.  Your next question may be - well, how do you know what he believes if you have never met him, never talked to him?  Excellent question.  

I was, many years ago, a member of an "Independent - 1611 King James Only" Baptist church.  So, I know what those churches believe.  Pastor Hodges doesn't have much of an online presence, other than a few pictures and some sermon videos on his church Facebook page.  The church website does not have a "What We Believe" page, or a "Doctrine" page as many other Baptist churches have.  That would make it very easy to know what Pastor Hodges believes.  From my experience though, every "Independent Baptist Church" in the US believes pretty much what every other church of the same denomination believes.

This is from Pastor Hodges church website under his contact information: "We are an old-fashioned, Independent Baptist Church based solely on the 1611 King James Bible."  I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this attachment that some denominations (Baptist) have with the King James Bible (KJV), or as some call it - "King James Cult".  

I was baptized in just such a church.  Women were to wear dresses below the knee and the longer the hair the better.  Men were to have short hair, and the shorter the better.  And not only was the KJV the only bible anyone in the church read from, but if there was any literature or advertisements from church supply companies in the church mailbox, the men (church leadership) would, with magnifying glass in hand, examine up close the illustrations of bibles printed on the ads to make sure that even the illustrations were of the KJV bible.  Does that not sound like cultist behavior?

What else does Pastor Hodges believe?  I have taken the time to watch only a couple sermon videos so far, but I intend to watch more (if I can find any) and take notes and perhaps do a follow-up post addressing some of his statements.  So far, I am not the slightest bit surprised by his revealed beliefs in his sermons - they fit quite well with what I remember about Independent Baptist traditions and beliefs.

I went to one of his churches affiliate websites - Cornerstone Bible College and Seminary. I copied their belief statement.  I suspect that much, most, or all of this belief statement is exactly what Pastor Hodges believes as well.  I have edited / deleted for brevity:

Cornerstone Bible College - Beliefs

We believe that the Holy Bible . . . has truth without any admixture of error . . .

We believe that there is one . . . true God . . . 

We hold . . . [Satan] . . . to be man’s great tempter . . . the author of all false religions . . . to be finally defeated at the hand of God’s Son, and to the judgment of an eternal justice in hell, a place prepared for him and his angels.

We believe the Genesis account of creation, and that it is to be accepted literally, and not allegorically or figuratively; that man was created directly in God’s own image and after His own likeness; that man’s creation was not a matter of evolution or evolutionary changes of species, or development through interminable periods of time from lower to higher forms.

We believe that . . . all mankind are now sinners, not by constraint, but of choice; and therefore under just condemnation without defense or excuse.

We believe that Jesus Christ was begotten of the Holy Ghost in a miraculous manner; born of Mary, a virgin . . .

We believe that in order to be saved, sinners must be born again . . .

We believe in God’s electing grace; that the blessings of salvation are made free to all by the gospel; it is the immediate duty of all to accept them by a cordial, penitent and obedient faith; and nothing prevents the salvation of the greatest sinner on earth but their own inherent depravity and voluntary rejection of the gospel . . .

We believe there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked; that such only as through faith are justified . . .

There is no doubt in my mind that Dr. Greg Hodges agrees with everything in this belief statement.

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The community college he now presides over is a secular educational institution governed by a college board and some state agency, I suspect.  The college offers classes that teach information that Dr. Hodges would find objectionable - objectionable in what they teach as fact:

Biology - which includes facts on the evolution of microbial, plant, animal, and human life, contrary to what the college president believes.

World Religions - which doesn't claim one religion is true and all others are false, and therefore, the product of Satan, contrary to what the college president believes.

Geology - which will have information on the age of the Earth in direct conflict with what the college president believes.

History of World Civilizations - which will deal with civilizations that existed before, during, and after the biblical Genesis worldwide flood event (Noah and his ark) that Dr. Hodges, no doubt, believes actually happened - in other words, civilizations that were in existence before, during, and after the biblical worldwide flood and not the slightest bit affected by all that water - for instance - Egypt!

Philosophy and Ethics - which will likely not center on the biblical system of morality nor the biblical "Ten Commandments", contrary to what the college president believes.

Do I think Dr. Hodges should be fired - no.

Do I think he can't do the job well - no.

Do I suspect that it was a mistake to appoint him - a fundamentalist Baptist preacher - to the position of president of a secular community college - yes. 

 

If Dr. Hodges believes all the things that a "normal" pastor of a "normal" Independent Baptist church believes, then his beliefs are in conflict with what is being taught at the school he now oversees - why - because of, and based on, his particular brand of Christianity, he believes that the students of the college that he presides over are being taught incorrect information - and - if he had the power, he would change that information.  He believes that any and all - staff and student - who do not believe in his God are being lead astray by Satan and are doomed for an eternity in hell if they don't accept Jesus.  In his mind, and in the mind of the congregation at his church, this is simply, biblically, obvious.

Thought experiment: You are a member of a Baptist church, and the congregation has just voted to hire a Catholic to fill the empty pastor position . . . ?

Thought experiment:  You are a student at a Baptist college and the board of directors just hired an atheist to be president . . . ?

Obviously, neither of these scenarios would happen, and yet, a completely secular school of higher learning was perfectly content to hire a fundamentalist Baptist preacher to be its President.

In a nut-shell, here are some beliefs that Pastor Dr. Greg Hodges, as the pastor of an "old-fashioned, Independent Baptist Church based solely on the 1611 King James Bible" holds dear:

1 - God created all that we now observe, some 6,000 years ago.

2 - God created the first humans, the biblical Adam and Eve, 6,000 years ago and all humans today are descended from this single incestuous family.

3 - God eventually became so angry that he caused a worldwide flood that destroyed all life on the planet except the humans and animals that were in the ark, and all humans today are descended (again) from another incestuous family.

4 - Jesus was born of a virgin, was killed by the Romans, and was raised back to life after three days then eventually ascended to heaven where he is waiting to return to Earth in the not to distant future.

5 - All who are "saved" from their sins by accepting / believing / trusting in Jesus as their savior will eventually, in the not to distant future, be "raptured" - raised bodily to heaven and spend eternity with Jesus in heaven.

6 - All of those who do not believe what Pastor Dr. Greg Hodges believes will eventually be cast into hell by God to spend eternity in torment with Satan, the devil.

All of these beliefs come directly from (In Dr. Hodges view) the Christian bible.  

None of these beliefs are taught AS FACT at the community college.

Every Sunday, for the past ? years, Pastor Hodges stands before his congregation and reinforces these religious beliefs over and over and over again.  He did it last Sunday and he'll do it next Sunday.

Just keep this in mind that this is what Dr. Hodges believes - any student or faculty member at the community college, that does not hold the same beliefs that Dr. Hodges holds (with regard to who Jesus was / is), and never does come to believe as he does, some day SOON they will be cast into the fires of hell where they will spend eternity consciously suffering.  

This is what he believes. This is the kind of thing that he tells his church congregation on a regular basis.

Another observation - I can't really say for sure what this indicates, but looking at the pictures of his congregation on his churches website, I did not see a single person of color - not a single African American.  I may have just missed them in the photos, but I did look carefully.  This is something that has, for generations, plagued congregations all over the US - some intentionally, others not so intentionally.  I know when I was in church regularly some 30-40 years ago, from the mid west to the east to the south, whether Baptist, Wesleyan, or Presbyterian, as a white man, there were very few (if any) people of color in any of the churches that I attended.  So obviously, little has changed in Christianity since I was a Christian.  I have to wonder if Pastor Hodges has made any attempt to fix this glaringly obvious problem at his own church?  Dr. Hodges is the leader of a church that is segregated.

Another observation - Dr. Hodges has a particular preaching style / technique that I find a bit odd.  When he is building up to an important part in his sermon, he begins to. . . .well . . .  listen for yourself.  It's not hard to pick up on.  He is adding "uh" after every 4th, 6th, or 8th word.  This is not some long-ago obscure audio from early in his preaching carrier, this is May 23rd, 2021.  I have heard some few other ministers use this technique, so this is indeed something that Dr. Hodges was either taught in preacher boy school, or he is simply imitating the style of some other preacher(s) that he looks up to, I have no idea.  Either way, I find it an odd way of speaking, no matter how excited he may be.  The only people that I have ever heard speak this way are Christian preachers.  I suspect that he doesn't talk like this in class or in general conversation . . . or does he?

And a final thought - I just have to wonder if the people tasked with replacing the outgoing community college president just didn't consider the possible conflicts that could arise by placing a Baptist Preacher in that position - or - they did take that into consideration but simply ignored their concerns - or - they were reassured by Dr. Hodges that his religious beliefs would not IN ANY WAY influence or guide his decisions or actions in his new position.  If he did offer such a reassurance, then he is a hypocrite, because I can guarantee the reader that Dr. Hodges, in his pastoral role, believes and preaches that the God of the KJV bible should be given control of EVERY area of the Christians life, including his or her job as community college president.

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Am I being unreasonable in my concerns?

Thoughts anyone?

r.u.reasonable@gmail.com

In matters of religion it is very easy to deceive a man, and very hard to undeceive him.
~Pierre Bayle, c. 1697

It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.

~Wiliam K Clifford