On Fake Evangelical Doctorates

[MsJack]

Most of you know that I ran into Mormonism as an evangelical teenager in the late 90s, when Mormon apologetics was in its heyday. In those days, exposing evangelicals with "fake" degrees was something LDS apologists did on a seemingly regular basis.

I still have Robert and Rosemary Brown's They Lie in Wait to Deceive volumes 1 through 4 (1992 - 1995) on my shelves, which boast exposés on the credentials of Dee Jay Nelson, Walter Martin, Richard Fales, Charles Crane, and John L. Smith. Their polemics sometimes hurt their case, but they were nothing if not good dirt-diggers.

I read Gary Novak's brutal exposé on James White's doctorate immediately after it was posted, when I was 16 years old, and even now, 24 years later and enrolled in my own PhD program, I still think (for the most part) that Novak's critique was correct. Unnecessarily biting, caustic, and rude, but correct. White did not do anywhere near the work that it would take to obtain a legitimate doctorate, especially not in America, where coursework is required. The coursework he took was a joke and the program at Columbia lacked most of the components of a legitimate PhD/ThD (language requirements, comprehensive exams, doctoral guidance from a specialist in the field, and a dissertation committee with at least two and preferably three specialists in the field).

I don't doubt that White could complete a legitimate PhD/ThD---he has a legitimate MA from Fuller, and has been working on a legitimate PhD through an accredited program out of South Africa for some time now (not sure what the status of that is)---but just like getting really good at Brazilian jiu-jitsu and then tying a black belt from Target around your own waist still makes you a fake black belt, getting good at academia and then finding a shell seminary to say "yup, you're a doctor" still makes you a fake doctor. A liberal arts doctorate is a testament to the fact that you've submitted yourself to a certain process, gone through a system of checks and balances, and been affirmed by at least a subset of the scholarly community. It's fine to take issue with that process---there are a LOT of issues there, and a lot of people out there with legitimate doctorates who probably shouldn't have them (Naomi Wolf, anyone?)---but if you don't like the process, stay out of the clubhouse, or work openly to change it. Don't try to sneak in with a fake ID and call it good.

Given the Mormon apologist revulsion for people with fake doctorates from unaccredited evangelical seminaries, I was surprised to learn that one of their own has just such a degree. His name is Alonzo Gaskill and he's a full professor in the Religious Education (Church History and Doctrine) department at Brigham Young University. The BYU Religion Web site touts him as having "a PhD in biblical studies," though it does not list the school. It's probably a stretch to consider him a "Mormon apologist," but he did publish in the FARMS Review of Books back in 2001, and the Review credited him with having a "Ph.D." from "Trinity Theological Seminary."

Now the BYU Religious Education department (and especially the Church History and Doctrine division) is a bit atypical as college departments go, at least in regards to its faculty members and their formal education. All of the other full professors have "doctorates" of some kind, but some have them in fields that are largely irrelevant to the subject they are teaching. One has a PhD in computer science; another has only a juris doctor (law degree, which is more of a master's degree despite the name and wouldn't confer the title "doctor"); two have PhDs in Middle East studies, while another has a PhD in "Family Sciences." Closer to the subject matter is the woman with an "EdD in educational leadership, with a minor in Church history and doctrine"; the rest have PhDs in American religious history.

Which is to say that while other full professors there do have PhD level education, some wouldn't be considered "doctors" in this field. That's fine; when I was at BYU, it was common to refer to religion professors as "brother" or "sister" rather than "doctor." I'm sure that practice continues. Ultimately, there really is no problem (in theory) with Gaskill teaching in the religion department while not having a legitimate PhD.

The problem, as I see it, is the dishonesty in touting it as a legitimate PhD after certain Mormons have been so critical of evangelicals with similar unaccredited degrees. I mean, if fake evangelical seminary degrees are good enough for The Lord's University, what aren't they good enough for?

To be clear, this is not new news, but old; our vaunted forum actually discussed it all the way back in 2007, though without much reference to similarly situated evangelicals; according to that thread, his "doctorate" may not be a PhD but a DRS ("Doctor of Religious Studies"?). The bloggers at Faith-Promoting Rumor attempted to do some legwork on Mr. Gaskill's PhD a few years ago, but got nowhere. They were unable to locate a copy of his dissertation (his school apparently did not have it on-file!) or learn any information about his dissertation committee.

Mr. Gaskill has previously been in the news for some other concerning issues---plagiarism and touting a known forgery as a possibly ancient document---but I am only interested in his credentials here.

I had a great experience with the religion department in my time at BYU and knew several excellent teachers there. I have no personal beef with Mr. Gaskill (who is described by one commentator at Faith-Promoting Rumor as "brilliant, engaging, witty, fantastic at teaching, etc. He’d be a good hire at a lot of places"). I'd simply like to know more about the differences between his unaccredited PhD and James White's unaccredited ThD---assuming there even are any.

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

I recommend posters read the Amazon reviews. I wish I could lol, but alas, no lols are to be had.

- Doc

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

Oh, boy. From Ms. Jack’s ‘plagiarism link’ there’s a link to a 30-page document meticulously documenting Gaskill’s plagiarisms which came about because neither he nor the school that supposedly granted him a PhD could find his dissertation:

https://mormonleaks.io/wiki/documents/2 ... itings.pdf

As it turns out

… Gaskill was plagiarizing the work of others and self-plagiarizing his own work from his first book all the way up until the present.

What are the odds the plagiarizing fraud would also work with an unabashed plagiarizer? *cough* What’s worse is when BYU was notified in BOTH cases they had plagiarizin’ professors on their hands the only response was crickets (note: the DN and Ensign College seem to have not cared about plagiarizers either, upon being alerted of it).

- Doc

[MsJack]

What’s worse is when BYU was notified in BOTH cases they had plagiarizin’ professors on their hands the only response was crickets (note: the DN and Ensign College seem to have not cared about plagiarizers either, upon being alerted of it).

I'm old enough to remember when the new BYU President was caught plagiarizing and the university's response was basically "nuh-uh."

[MsJack]

I recommend posters read the Amazon reviews. I wish I could lol, but alas, no lols are to be had.

Interestingly enough, looking through Gaskill's books on Amazon, I notice that his covers sometimes say, "Alonzo L. Gaskill, PhD."

I couldn't find a single book with "James R. White, ThD" on the cover.

[MsJack]

https://mormonleaks.io/wiki/documents/2 ... itings.pdf

Well, that's particularly damning.

The detail about his dissertation being lost---both by he himself and by his school---is just bizarre.

Your dissertation is your original contribution to the field. A doctorate is a seal that affirms the fact that you contributed to the field.

This is like that "if a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it question."

If you write a dissertation and no one can read it because it's lost, in what way have you contributed to the field?

Say what you want about White, but his dissertation is at least accessible.

[Gadianton]

I'd simply like to know more about the differences between his unaccredited PhD and James White's unaccredited ThD---assuming there even are any.

You could ask this question over at Sic et Non. My prediction is the answer will be something like, "I'm unaware of the allegation or any of the alleged facts, and I'm unaware of ____ demonstrating anything but the highest integrity. I'm not particularly interested in reviewing this matter as I'm busy with travel and a number of other projects, and I might add, just because you're interested in something doesn't mean that I'm obliged to be interested."

Basically the blank could be this guy, WS, or anybody else in the Mopoloverse.

[MsJack]

You could ask this question over at Sic et Non. My prediction is the answer will be something like, "I'm unaware of the allegation or any of the alleged facts, and I'm unaware of ____ demonstrating anything but the highest integrity. I'm not particularly interested in reviewing this matter as I'm busy with travel and a number of other projects, and I might add, just because you're interested in something doesn't mean that I'm obliged to be interested."

You forgot the positive ad hominem: a note on the personal connection to Person X and how he's a great man and certainly not a [thing he's being accused of].

[MsJack]

My growing list of differences between White and Gaskill:

Alonzo L. Gaskill (Unaccredited PhD -- Trinity Theological Seminary, 2000)
-- No known extant copy of his dissertation
-- Sometimes goes by "Alonzo L. Gaskill, PhD" on the cover of his books
-- Teaches at the premier Mormon accredited university (albeit in a department with varied educational backgrounds among its professors, many of whom do not have a PhD in a relevant field)
-- Is not working on a legitimate doctorate with any seminaries or universities
-- Has been credibly accused of plagiarism

James R. White (Unaccredited ThD -- Columbia Evangelical Seminary, 1998)
-- A version of his dissertation is widely published as The Forgotten Trinity (1998) --- unclear if the seminary copy is available anywhere
-- I could not locate any books with "James R. White, ThD" on the cover, though I have seen people call him "Dr. White" in their endorsements that come with the book
-- Teaches at Owen Strachan's unaccredited seminary
-- Was reported (in 2017) to be "in the PhD program at Northwest University in Potchefstroom, South Africa under well-known textual critical scholar Dr. Jorrie Jordaan;" no idea the status of that degree, but that is an accredited program
-- Has been at the center of numerous controversies, but to my knowledge, plagiarism is not among them

By the way, here is one of the things Gary Novak wrote about why White's doctorate was illegitimate:

I note with some irony that one can access the dissertation abstract from at least one of these sites. Dan Peterson's dissertation—and "Dr." White simply cannot stand Dr. Peterson—was easily available when I searched for it. "Dr." White's dissertation was not listed in the database. Will it ever be listed? If not, why not? Is it available through interlibrary loan? If not, why not? No doubt "Dr." White will want to claim that his dissertation is published and hence no one will need to access the seminary version. This is true in his case. My point is simply that dissertations from CES are not available for normal scholarly scrutiny unless one is willing to travel to the seminary and use them on-site. So much for "Dr." White's distance education model.

Apparently Gaskill's dissertation isn't available even if you are willing to travel to the seminary and use it on-site.

[Moksha]

Couldn't one of Utah's essential snake oils academies Young Living or doTerra offer these BYU professors honorary degrees for helping provide advances in Essential Snake Oiltry?

Incidental Question - Do Evangelicals still support Donald Trump with their hearts and souls?