Thiemann could not be reached for comment.

Some students said they feel that it is time to move on. "In a community as small and close as that of the Divinity School, a community that's based on things like forgiveness and understanding and trying to deal with somebody for who they are, we should try to welcome him back," said fourth-year student Simon P. Augustine.

And Veninga pointed out that due to Thiemann's extended absence from HDS, there are now many new students like herself who aren't even aware of the circumstances under which Thiemann left.

"If I were him, I would just lay low and do my job," she said.

Augustine said that he felt Thiemann's past may actually make him more qualified for his job. "Teaching ethics is not about being a perfect person," he said. "It's about grappling with the issues. And someone who's faced these ongoing ethical struggles might be in a better position to understand and explain them."

Constas said that he felt he could speak for his entire department when he said that Thiemann is "an outstanding and excellent colleague, and we're just happy to have him back."

Thiemann is a specialist on the role of religion in public life, a subject on which he has written several books, including Constructing a Public Theology: The Church in a Pluralistic Culture and Religion in Public Life: A Dilemma for Democracy.

For six years, he was also the Director of the Divinity School's Center for the Study of Values in Public Life. In addition, Thiemann is well-versed in modern Protestant thought, and has written a book entitled Revelation and Theology: The Gospel as Narrated Promise.