American republican Presidential candidate makes a false claim about a theology degree... So what? Well, it says something about theology!

Heck, I remember the times when people claimed to have fake Law degrees, or the Southern African academics who claimed (falsely) to have Doctorates in science and the fraudulent CV of Professor Makgoba from WITS University (back in 1995)... If I recall he also claimed to have some qualifications in science, or was it education? Then of course there is my third doctorate (the Jedi Doctorate in Science from MIT!)

So, what does this have to do with the American Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee who claimed to have a Theology degree?!

Well, for one thing, it just goes to show what qualifications have 'currency' in the USA! In South Africa the only thing you can do with a Theology degree is become a minister of a Church (or Imam if your degree is in Islamic studies), or of course use your Theology degree to gain access to doing another degree (like one in economics, law, or psychology - these seem to be the most popular degrees for 're-training' amongst South African theology students)...

It would seem in America that if you want to lie your way into a high powered position in government you need to claim to have a fake degree in Theology! [switch on the sarcasm now] How cool is that for Theology [switch off the sarcasm now]. In South Africa, I would suggest, we too should raise our standards... Why don't we expect our officials to lie about degrees that could be considered as 'worthy in adding to their 'moral stature' or knowledge of God'?! Surely we should also put a fake degree in Theology as a requisite for high powered position in government here in South Africa!? I mean, what use is a fake degree in science anyway? I'm sure a fake degree in Theology is worth a lot more (in God's eyes ;-) I do know of one or two members of the clergy in South Africa who, sadly, have used their position as ministers in the Church to gain positions in our new government... In fact I know of one ministers who got ordained and the next day... Wait, let me say no more...

Anyway here's the story about our friend Huckabee! At least he claimed to have a good FAKE degree!

WorldNetDaily:

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee told the Christian Broadcasting Network he had a theology degree, he told voters in Iowa he had a theology degree, he repeated the claim in last month’s CNN YouTube debate … but, his campaign now says, it was not true. Huckabee's claim began unraveling following his offhanded comment about Mormonism in a New York Times interview last weekend. Reporter Zev Chafets wrote: "I asked Huckabee, who describes himself as the only Republican candidate with a degree in theology, if he considered Mormonism a cult or a religion. 'I think it’s a religion,' he said. 'I really don’t know much about it.'

"I was about to jot down this piece of boilerplate when Huckabee surprised me with a question of his own: 'Don’t Mormons,' he asked in an innocent voice, 'believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?'"

"I'm going to call horsepuckey on Huckabee's claim that a New York Times reporter knew more about comparative religions than [a] guy with a theology degree," Geraghty wrote.

That prompted Joe Carter, Huckabee's research director, to respond to Geraghty by e-mail.

Jim,

Governor Huckabee doesn't have a theology degree. He only spent a year in seminary.

Also, it's not surprising that he doesn’t know much about the specific beliefs of the LDS church. There aren’t a lot of LDS members in Arkansas; they comprise just .007 percent [sic] of the population (about 20,000 out of 2,810,872 people). Most Southern evangelicals don't have much exposure to that particular religion. Even in seminary you're not likely to study the LDS faith unless you take a class on apologetics.

Joe

Here's hoping that one of my degrees becomes desirable enough to be faked in South Africa.... Ha ha!

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Christianity 101:

The Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) is often accused by Evangelical pastors of not believing in Christ and, therefore, not being a Christian religion. This article http://mormonsarechristian.blogspot.com/ helps to clarify such misconceptions by examining early Christianity's comprehension of baptism, the Godhead, the deity of Jesus Christ and His Atonement.

The Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) adheres more closely to First Century Christianity and the New Testament than any other denomination. For example, Harper’s Bible Dictionary entry on the Trinity says “the formal doctrine of the Trinity as it was defined by the great church councils of the fourth and fifth centuries is not to be found in the New Testament.”

Perhaps the reason the pastors denigrate the Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) is to protect their flock (and their livelihood).