Veritas Forum comes to OU
By Samantha Pirc, Campus Life writer
April 14, 2007 | 11:58 p.m.
Questions of religion, tolerance and the existence of god were all being discussed this week at Ohio University as it played host to the Veritas Forum.
Veritas is an idea thought up and brought to life by Kelly Monroe Kullberg, a 1981 OU alumna. After graduating with a B.A. in Organizational Behavior from Ohio University, Kullberg went on to earn an M.A. from the Ohio State University in Communication Theory. She was a visiting student at the Harvard Divinity School, where she served for many years as the chaplain to the Harvard Graduate School Christian Fellowship. Kullberg also co-authored the bestseller Finding God at Harvard: Spiritual Journeys of Christian Thinkers.
It was in 1992 while she was at Harvard that Kullberg, along with some of her fellow Christian scholars, organized the first Veritas Forum as an answer to “emptiness” that seemed to surround the university.
According to the Veritas website, the first forum drew 700 people “with a desire to explore true life.” The first forum featured the writers of the book Finding God at Harvard and was a chance for all involved to come together “to discuss pursuit of knowledge in the university related to the truth claims of Jesus Christ.”
Since that first forum in 1992, over 75 universities have held similar Veritas Forums to answer similar questions about faith, and now it is Ohio University’s turn.
The Veritas Forum this week is being sponsored by various religious organizations across campus and in the Athens community, including Campus Crusade for Christ, Reach Out on Campus, Student Activities Commission and Young Life.
OU director of Campus Crusade Brian McCollister said in a press release, “We want to provide a place for skeptics and believers to explore questions of real importance together.”
Tuesday evening kicked off the OU Veritas Forum with a lecture given by Dr. William Lane Craig of the Talbot Theology School.
A respected philosopher, theologian, New Testament historian and Christian apologist, Craig spoke to a large crowd at the Convocation Center on the topic “Is Anyone Out There? Is The Material World All There Is?”
Joseph Hooker, a sophomore Accounting and Management Information Systems major and member of Campus Crusades, attended Tuesday’s opening event because of an interest in hearing Craig speak. Hooker said he had read and heard great things about Dr. Craig.
Hooker hoped to get out of the event “a little more information I can use to defend my faith on campus,” and took notes throughout the lecture.
Before Dr. Craig spoke, the results of a survey done on campus were announced. 1,964 students were surveyed about some of the questions that were trying to be answered during the Veritas Forum. 75 percent of those surveyed answered yes to the questions of whether or not there is an intelligent “high being.”
Veritas continued on to Wednesday with a panel discussion on “Does Following Jesus Make You Intolerant” at 1:00 p.m. in Baker and another lecture by Dr. Craig at the Convo titled “Will The Real Jesus Please Stand Up?” at 8:00 p.m.
Thursday night concludes the Veritas Forum at Ohio University with Kullberg returning to her alma mater to give the talk “Finding God at Ohio University and Harvard” at 8:00 p.m. in Old Nelson Banquet Hall.
Wednesday’s panel discussion featured two OU professors: Steve Hays, associate professor of Classics and World Religion, and Dr. Anne Sparks, assistant professor of Social Work.
Hays is a member of the Amesville-New England Cooperative Parish where he sometimes preaches. He got involved with Veritas when he was approached by Dr. Sparks and said beforehand he had little to no knowledge of what the Veritas Forum even was.
“I want to pay attention to what people mean by intolerant,” Hays said beforehand of the panel discussion he took part in. He also said that while it is a factor, intolerance does not necessarily come from Christianity.
Hays also expressed beforehand the hope that students and those involved would “raise objections and challenges” so that the panel discussion would “benefit the understanding we have of ourselves as humans.”
Hays pointed out that the idea of god and faith is not just something with which only Christian people struggle.
“Even the Romantic poets had trouble with it,” Hays said, although he also mentioned that people with religious beliefs do need to stop and ask themselves if what they believe in makes sense. He pointed out that it will be a test for people who see themselves as religious to have their beliefs challenged.
Dr. Sparks had heard of Veritas before and was happy to hear that it was coming to Ohio University, especially with Dr. Craig as the featured speaker.
She agreed with Hays that the definition of intolerance is something she hopes to get out of the panel discussion and also hopes that people will come with questions about Christianity they want to be answered.
“You don’t have to agree with [what is being discussed] to still find it interesting,” Dr. Sparks said.
She also pointed out that Veritas is an opportunity for people on campus to see what the different religiously oriented groups on campus are all about. “It is important being part of this campus community for all groups to learn about each other.”
Hays said that he hopes students and everyone who comes to one of the Veritas events will see that not everyone who believes in a god is irrational or fanatical.
“It will give people a chance to rationally discus issues of faith, and for people of different views to see the goodness in one another,” Hays said.