God and Reason

This sounded scary — Christianity has generally been viewed very critically by faculty and students here in Canada. But there were four of us Christian professors who knew each other from our faculty Bible study, and we agreed to give it a try. The panel drew a surprisingly large number of students and created lively and constructive discussions.

A Public Lecture Series

The response to our panel made it clear how many students wanted to explore these questions of science and Christian faith further. Over time, the four of us developed the vision of offering a public lecture series entitled God and Reason as a safe space where students could ask critical questions, discover that such faith is not unreasonable, and get to know some Christians.

Now each fall and spring semester since then we have presented eight lectures, including:

•       Does God exist?
•       Is the Bible reliable?
•       Why do so many people follow Jesus?
•       Can humanity flourish in a post-Christian world?
•       Artificial Intelligence and the future of humanity

A Diverse Mix

God and Reason is organized as an SFU student club and works closely with other Christian student groups. The student groups promote it, organize the lecture room, provide food, and then follow-up with students who want to know more. We professors speak for 30 minutes, followed by 20 minutes of Q&A, and then talk more with students who stay for the food.

The God and Reason lectures draw a diverse mix of Christians, Muslims, agnostics, and atheists. Some show up only once, some attend many lectures, and some even come back the next semester. 

We are so encouraged when a student says, “You are the first one to explain Christian faith so that it makes sense to me.”

A Sense of Warmth and Safety

One doctoral computer science student said: “I discovered the God and Reason lecture series in the first weeks of starting my Ph.D. at SFU, going through a particularly difficult time in my life. Perhaps the uniqueness of these lectures is the intellectual and emotional honesty and integrity that is always present.

“There is always room for questions that can challenge one’s core beliefs, and yet such questions are not shied away from – they are welcomed. That is a very rare thing, to be treasured, and I am grateful to have been able to share in it. There was always a sense of warmth and safety while exploring Christianity in the lectures, and the lectures dispelled many misconceptions I had about Christianity, accelerating my own path towards becoming Christian.”

Strength in Diversity

The four of us professors come from very different academic disciplines and Christian backgrounds, which has actually proven to be a strength, as long as we maintain the unity of the Spirit. We have learned that our goal is not to win arguments but to win people.

We encourage you to consider offering something similar at your campus and have created a website with helpful resources at https://www.godandreason.com/   We will be happy to share more advice in-person.