A Place for Truth

I would like to make a plug for the new compilation of Veritas Forum lectures and discussions that have taken place over the past decade or so at universities all across America. The book, A Place for Truth: Leading Thinkers Explore Life's Hardest Questions, is edited by Dallas Willard and includes the best of the Forum's discussions that have taken place over the years. One of them, a discussion between Peter Singer and John Hare, was a highlight of my first year here at MIT. Below, I'm including an excerpt from the Forward by Harvard professor Harry Lewis, who I presume by his writing is an atheist.

"I am not among those who regret the departure of God from the academy. I join the atheists in their skepticism about scientific proof of the existence of God or of any meaningful argument for God's existence that is not subject to scientific verification. Yet I regret the extent to which God took with him, when he left the classroom, questions of values and morals and purposes with which young people struggle today as they always have. As much as ever, a good education owes students guidance on examining their own lives.

These essays, mostly by Christian thinkers, are serious dialogue about important questions. Whether you find in them enlightenment and encouragement, or much to challenge, I hope you will agree that The Veritas Forum has done a service to the academy by encouraging these discussions. For those of us who don't agree with the answers suggested here, we are challenged to a simple remedy: do what we can to bring the big questions back into the practice of academic life. The questions aren't going away, and we should not cede to religious thinkers the job of helping youth search for answers."

I think the value of having this sort of endorsement from a non-believer is significant. I have experienced the power of The Veritas Forum to engage the secular university campus, and I think that what is in this book will not only be good reading, but may also turn out to be a good tool to open the door to discussions with people who think that faith is beneath them. And if you know any Christians on a college campus anywhere, encourage them to get involved with the Forum. It's a great experience.