Irony alert: Wheaton College fired Joshua Hochschild. Now Notre Dame hires Dr. Mark Noll...

... longtime professor at Wheaton College and a noted Evangelical scholar and author. Irony of ironies!

The background: Last spring, assistant professor Joshua Hochschild, who taught philosophy at Wheaton College, was fired by the school because he had become Catholic. He is now assistant professor of philosophy at Mount St. Mary's University in Emmitsburg, Maryland. (On a related note, Hochschild has recently clarified his perspective about the firing.) I should also point out that Hochschild received his Ph.D. for work in Medieval Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame.

That fact further enhances, I think, the irony of news that I just received from a graduate student (history) from Notre Dame who tells me that Dr. Mark Noll, the highly-regarded historian and prolific Evangelical scholar, has just accepted a position at Notre Dame. This news came to my source via an e-mail from the head of Notre Dame's history department. It's not yet clear if this is a full-time position for Dr. Noll (chances are that it is). I'll post more info as I receive it.

UPDATE (9:53 a.m., Thursday, Feb. 9): I just spoke to Dr. Mark Noll on the phone and he confirms that he has accepted a full-time professorship at ND, taking the place of the retiring Dr. George Marsden, who is the Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History at ND. When I asked Dr. Noll about the Hochschild situation, he said he has no comment. BTW, here is the link to my September 2005 interview with Dr. Noll about his fine book (co-authored with Carolyn Nystrom), Is The Reformation Over?

UPDATE (4:06 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 9): Christianity Today has posted a piece by Rob Moll about Dr. Noll's move from Wheaton to Notre Dame:

Aside from his scholarly writing, Noll has fostered networks of evangelical scholars. He helped to found the Institute for the Study of American Evangelicalism, and in other informal ways, Noll fostered the evangelical intellectual community, according to Wilson.

"I think he has helped us break caricatures of evangelical anti-intellectualism," says Jones. "Noll is an exemplar of all that's good in Christian academia. He set the standard of what it means to be a Christian scholar and a Christian teacher." Despite being courted by other major universities, Noll has, until now, turned them down.

"The position he is going to is fantastic," says Jones. "There are two things Notre Dame is offering that Wheaton can't. One is Notre Dame's expansive intellectual community, especially in regard to history and religion. Another is the intensive training of a fine cadre of doctoral students."

Comments

[Carl Olson]

It appears that all of the comments being made about this news are being posted at Amy Welborn's blog. Go check them out. But don't let that keep you from making comments here. ;-)

[Mark Brumley]

I don't think I'm qualified to get into the rarefied discussion at Open Book of what makes for irony and whether the moves of Noll and Hochshild cummulatively qualify.

Yea and nea, ja and nein. So says he, so says she. And here, simple me, I thought the business was unquestionably ironic.

But, then, what do I know? I don't even know enough even to see why, if I didn't think it ironic, I would bother saying so in public. It's Brumley contra mundum, though, when it comes to the "contributions" blogging makes to time-wasting and picking at nits.

Maybe that's why I'm posting this comment here, rather than at Open Book.

[Carl Olson]

I said it was ironic. Therefore it is possibly true.

Mark Brumley said it was ironic. Therefore it is undoubtedly true.

Nothing ironic about those ironclad facts.

[David Wright]

I guess I feel a little sad for Wheaton. And I do see the irony.

However, I think it's fair to point out how huge Notre Dame is, and the kind of resources it has when compared to Wheaton. That has to have figured in here. (This also must have something to do with the many Calvin profs Notre Dame has attracted). If I had a Ph.D in history or philosophy and had put in a fruitful and good chunk of my career at Wheaton or Calvin and then got an offer from Notre Dame, I'd think long and hard about it. It certainly would look like a step up the academic ladder (and that's not knocking Wheaton or Calvin--good schools both).

Also, the position probably comes with free "Hang Tags", whatever those are exactly. (I saw that phrase everywhere on signs around Notre Dame when I drove to South Bend once). Wheaton does not have "Hang Tags". (They're probably proscribed, along with Catholic professors.)

[David Deavel]

Just between you and me and the wall, David Wright, Notre Dame pays a lot better (I'm a Calvin alum and have friends teaching at Wheaton).

[joe]

Has Noll signed up for RCIA yet?