JACLYNN STAUB | staff writer

From gothic rebel to Christian professor, Brian Plummer uses his story of redemption.

From as far back as he can remember, history professor Brian Plummer grew up going to church every Sunday with his parents. He said that it became something that was a routine rather than a heartfelt conviction. His story is one of a winding journey to find his life in Christ at the age of 26.

Plummer recalls a time of darkness when he saw so much pain and suffering in life without answers. In response, he began rejecting anything to do with Christianity and at age 21 became a goth.

“I was looking for something to fill my life and I discovered this whole gothic subculture,” Plummer said. “I didn’t know it at the time but, the philosophy that I was adopting was that of Arthur Schopenhauer who vowed that all people are basically out for themselves.”

Schopenhouer’s philosophy says that each person is selfish. Because of this notion, Plummer believed the world was corrupt. He began to allow this philosophy to fill the need he had for finding a meaning in life.

Yet even during Plummer’s gothic days, he still regularly attended church for two reasons.

“I did it to make my parents happy and I did it to prove to all these people that they didn’t know what they were talking about,” Plummer said. “I kept going every week and people started noticing I was getting weirder and weirder.”

By age 26, Plummer had finished grad school, received a master’s degree and was working a full time job, yet he said he was still unfulfilled. He disliked his job, which added to his “life stinks” attitude. There finally came a moment where his life hit rock bottom.

“I felt as though I had no purpose in life, at least from my perspective. I didn’t want to live. I just thought ‘this is it, I’m done, its over,’” Plummer said. “Finally, one day I was really mad and really depressed and I just had a shouting match with God saying, ‘if you are there I dare you to fix me!’ so of course I’m either expecting the voice of Charlton Heston or a lightning bolt and I got nothing.”

When there was no instant sign, Plummer continued to behave Christianity was a fraud. That is until six weeks later when he began noticing a change in his attitude.
“I remember thinking, ‘I don’t get it’, and then I remembered back to that prayer and I was like, ‘oh my word, it’s for real and God is there and God cares about me, maybe my pastor’s not a fraud after all,” Plummer said. “From that moment on, I thought, ‘I’ve got to really look into this.’ So I went to church after that with a renewed desire to know God and find out what going on.”

Now as a professor on campus, Plummer teaches World Civilization, U.S. History and occasionally U.S. History of Foreign Affairs. Plummer intentionally thinks about how he can use his faith in God to teach a topic surrounding dates and facts.

“He has so much energy. I hope I’m that excited about my job after graduation,” senior business administration major Jill Skowera said.

Plummer said he challenges students to think about their faith.

“If you were raised in the church you might take certain ideas about history for granted so I try to challenge that,” Plummer said. “It not only challenges students but me as well because students at APU are smart and they always have challenging questions for me.”

Plummer believes that Christians should be transparent. Everyone has a past and by sharing about his “dark past,” Plummer hopes to be showing students that there is no shame in admitting weakness and needing occasional help through life.

“If you had a problem you could always talk to him about it,” senior English major Julie Guzzetta said. “He cares about his students and that shows his love for God.”

The one thing Plummer wants students to remember is, “Whether it’s studying or worshiping, remember that all of it has purpose,” Plummer said. “Even though classes are a drag and you think there is stuff that you will never use in your life through the whole process of being in college and meeting people and learning what you do here at APU will matter for the rest of your life. So make the most of it.”