Former Master's University Professor Explains Why He No Longer Affirms the Deity of Jesus
Bill Schlegel is a former professor at John MacArthur's Master's University who announced last year that he could no longer affirm the school's doctrinal statement as it concerns the deity of Jesus Christ. According to a statement posted on Master's website,
Bill believes that Jesus is only a man. He is the most important man and he is Messiah, but he is not God and he is not pre-existent. Jesus is not the Second Person of the Trinity, and the Holy Spirit is not a person but the power of God. Even though Bill affirms much of what we would, what he rejects is of the utmost seriousness (1 John 2:22-23; 5:20). For this reason, we were vigilant to plead with Bill about the truth.
According to the statement, Schlegel was suspended from teaching as they followed the disciplinary guidelines of Matthew 18 and subsequently terminated as he showed no repentance.
In a video recently published by Schlegel and his wife, Stephanie, the couple explain their apostasy and how they came to deny the deity of Jesus.
What's sad is that often, wives will believe what their husbands teach them. If husbands believe and teach heresy, wives are often duped. This is a sad case of this man "capturing weak women" (2 Tim 3:6) and leading them away from the truth.
The Schlegels describe how they came to a belief in the One God of the Bible, and His Messiah Jesus. They had been living in Israel where Bill taught Bible geography, history and Hebrew to college students. Through the study of the Scriptures Bill came to realize that the God of the Bible is not a Trinity, but is One person, and that Jesus is the Messiah, whom the One God (the Father) raised from the dead and exalted to His right hand. It took a few months, but Stephanie as well eventually came to understand this biblical truth. Their new found faith caused some big changes in their lives, including the loss of a job, church, friends and an international move. This is the first time Stephanie has told “her side” of the story on video.