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A George W. Truett Theological Seminary scholarship recipient recently was stripped of his scholarship after word spread that he was homosexual.

Matt Bass, 24, from Rowlett, left the seminary because he could no longer afford the tuition after his scholarship was revoked. However, when asked if Bass would have been allowed to continue his education had he been able to afford tuition without the scholarship, Dean Paul Powell's response was "no."

"Last May, I dealt with the fact that I was gay and I accepted it," Bass said. "I was able to interpret the Bible as not such a black and white issue."

Bass said he told his friends, and word eventually got to a pastor of a Central Texas church, who then informed Paul Powell.

"I was called in and asked if I was gay," Bass said. "I told them it was none of their business."

Bass said the administration could have very easily found out from other people, but he never answered one way or the other or spoke with Powell directly. His only correspondence with Powell was through e-mails. Bass did, however, say that he supported gay marriage.

On Dec. 17, Bass received a letter composed by members of the counsel's office and signed by Powell informing him the scholarship was being withdrawn.

"Your position on this issue interferes with Baylor's pursuit of its objective: to prepare persons to carry the Gospel to churches and the world in a manner which is consistent with historic Baptist commitments," the letter read.

Bass' main problem with the issue is he feels he has not broken a rule or gone against Baylor's policy.

He pointed to the mission statement of Baylor where it states, "Baylor's pursuit of knowledge is strengthened by the conviction that truth has its ultimate source in God and by a Baptist heritage that champions religious liberty and freedom of conscience."

"This is an academic freedom and religious problem," Bass said. "From a religious standpoint, this is a debatable topic that we're not allowed to debate."

Powell contended that had a student merely talked about homosexuality or even confessed that he or she supported homosexual marriage or accepted the lifestyle, it would not be grounds for withdrawing the scholarship.

"At this seminary, we go for students who are serious about being good ministers of Jesus Christ and seeking the Christian lifestyle, and I don't want to waste scholarship money on somebody who doesn't want to live the Christian lifestyle," Powell said.

Powell said that there are three reasons the scholarship was revoked.

First, other organizations and donors such as the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, as well as individual donors and churches, have certain standards for where their money is spent.

"The BGCT has consistently spoken against homosexuality and that the practice of it is wrong ...," Powell said. "As good stewards of other people's money and the strings they put on it, we cannot conscientiously give money to a person who continues in the homosexual lifestyle."

The BGCT gives money to the scholarship fund for Truett Theological Seminary as well as to the university in general. The organization also appoints some trustees to the Baylor Board of Regents.

"We have no authority over the trustees," Becky Bridges, director of communications for the BGCT, said. "... we abide by the internal school's policy for monitoring [scholarships]."

A spokesperson from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship could not be reached for comment.

Bass said the Baylor rule is against homosexual acts, not advocating the lifestyle. He said he was never asked about committing the act, and he would not support sleeping around, whether heterosexual or homosexual.

Powell's second reason for revoking the scholarship is that the seminary aims at training students for ministry in Baptist churches, and a homosexual lifestyle contradicts Baptist thinking as he sees it.

"I do not want to graduate a practicing homosexual and send him out into the world as a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ," Powell said. "I believe in treating people with civility and kindness and love, but they can't all come to this school."

Powell explained if Bass had come to him confessing his homosexuality and asked for help, he would have been happy to oblige and assist in any way he could.

However, he said he cannot send Bass out as a minister or missionary in a Baptist church while he remains content in his sin.

"If Paul Powell were to say to me "the Bible says [homosexuality] is a sin," given the wealth of scholarship that exists on the subject, I would say that he's more interested in maintaining his homophobia and making a political point to some old friends than he is in providing a high quality education," Bass said.

The third, "and most profound," reason Powell revoked Bass' scholarship is based on evidence found in the Scriptures. He specifically referred to 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, where it refers to the inability of the "sexually immoral" and "homosexual offenders" to inherit the kingdom of God.

"The Scriptures, which are our standard, repeatedly and consistently say that this is a sinful, wrong lifestyle," he said. "Nowhere in the Bible does it ever speak of this in any terms except as a wrong behavior."

Bass said that it is dangerous to base reasoning on the fact that Christian tradition is against a certain lifestyle. He said Christian tradition also said that women are the property of men and that slavery was acceptable.

Original article