Seminary Prof: Post Calling Evangelical Christianity ‘Greatest Threat to Human Existence’ Was ‘Taken Out of Context’

Curtis Freeman Duke
DukeChapel/YouTube
Alana Mastrangelo

A professor of Theology and Baptist Studies at Duke University Divinity School says that a social media post in which he called evangelical Christianity “the greatest threat to human existence” was “taken out of context.”

“Worse. Evangelical Christianity is the greatest threat to human existence today. It must be laid waste,” wrote Duke Divinity professor Curtis Freeman in a now-deleted tweet.

The professor was responding to another user on Twitter.

Freeman told Breitbart News that his tweet was “a hyperbolic statement referring to the extreme, militant, and radical expression of Christianity that led to the Jan 6 storming of the US Capitol.”

“But it was taken out of context,” the professor added. “It refers to the need for evangelical churches to counter this extreme and violent ideology through teaching and correction.”

While Freeman deleted the tweet, the professor later took to social media to explain why he is “concerned” about “white American evangelical culture,” which he claims is fundamentally rooted in the belief that “black lives don’t matter,” among other things.

“Thx for calling out my excessive rhetoric. Let me try to be more clear,” Freeman tweeted. “I am concerned about the white American evangelical culture that is focused on 5 fundamentals: guns are good, vaccines are bad, science is bunk, news is fake, & black lives don’t matter. These are dangerous.”

In another follow-up tweet, Freeman doubled down on his previously deleted tweet, writing again that evangelical Christianity is a “threat to human existence.”

“I am not an evangelical Christian. I follow Jesus Christ. I affirm life. I accept science. I am not a know nothing,” Freeman tweeted. “Evangelical Christianity is a threat to human existence. The treat[sic] to human survival is @ericmetaxas.” Freeman apparently believes conservative author and radio host Eric Metaxas is a danger to humanity.

Freeman is a research professor of theology, and Baptist studies, as well as the director of the Baptist House of Studies at Duke University Divinity School, according to the seminary’s website.

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, on Parler @alana, and on Instagram.

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