EUGENE, Ore., Nov. 11 (UPI) — The student body president at Northwest Christian University in Eugene, Ore., has revealed he’s an atheist.
Eric Fromm, 21, a senior at at university, announced in the Beacon Bolt, a student-run online newspaper, that he does not believe in God despite going to a Christian college, ABC News reported.
“I was an atheist long before I came to NCU. I was baptized Lutheran, and raised Methodist, but as time went on I slowly came to the conclusion that God wasn’t real. For me, church was an empty ritual that I participated in so I could see friends, Scripture was largely mythological, and Jesus was a great moral teacher, but he wasn’t God,” said Fromm’s post.
Jeannine Jones, director of university relations at NCU, said that Fromm’s statement wasn’t a surprise.
“Eric’s story within the blog post isn’t a surprise to us,” Jones said. “Eric and his journey to his faith is central to our mission.”
As stated on its website, the school’s mission is to “foster wisdom, faith and service through excellent academic programs within a Christ-centered community.”
“We seek to highlight our Christian identity in ways that unite Christians everywhere, and not in ways that tend to cause division between various groups of Christians. In this spirit, we believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and we proclaim him Lord and Savior of the world,” NCU’s website said.
“All of our students are on a journey,” Jones said. “While the majority of our students profess a Christian faith, not all do. We as an institution meet students were they are at and believe that our God is big enough.”
Fromm said people on campus have been extremely supportive since his publicly came out as an atheist.
“I actually have gotten more hugs than ever before. It’s a very strange thing,” Fromm told ABC News.
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