TUESDAY
JANUARY 14, 2020

lobdell dining, 2nd floor, student center

Is Being Good Good Enough? Do We Really Need God?
KASEY LEANDER - OXFORD CENTER FOR CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS

While there are many good things about humanity, something is also wrong with humanity. Our human experience leads us to raise questions about how to fight injustice, selfishness and evil, both in ourselves and in the world around us. Rightly so, we look to correct the evils that stain humanity and whatever violates our ethics. We seek to be good, but what is the objective of morality? Wasn’t religion created to reinforce certain ethical norms, and if so, has it adequately served that purpose? Haven’t we outgrown ancient modes of moral reasoning? Isn’t striving for goodness enough? Come for an open and honest inquiry to these questions as we think about the topic: Is Being Good Good Enough?

THURSDAY
JANUARY 16, 2020

lobdell dining, 2nd floor, student center

Aren’t We Better Off Without Religion?
Dr. REBECCA McLAUGHLIN, PhD Cambridge University, Speaker, Writer, and author of Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion

40 years ago, sociologists believed that as the world became more modern, more educated, and more scientific, religious belief would naturally decline.  Many western intellectuals thought this was both inevitable and desirable: religion would not survive in the modern world, and we modern people would be better off without it.  But these beliefs are becoming less and less sustainable.  What is our reality today in 2020? Is religious belief declining or increasing in the world? Is this positive or negative for individuals and society? As we take a hard look at the history of ideas, what has shaped how we determine what makes us “better off?” Join us as Dr. Rebecca McLaughlin leads us in an exploration of current research and ancient thinking.

TUESDAY
JANUARY 21, 2020

lobdell dining, 2nd floor, student center

God, Racism, and the Crisis of Equality. Why we Need God to Find the Racial Justice and Equality We Desire
DR. EMMETT PRICE - Professor at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary

It’s not hard to argue that we currently live in a society obsessed with race. In many regards race matters deeply because it shapes the differences in our life experiences, opportunities, and social relationships. Racism and questions of equality drive conversations across multiple spheres of influence including politics, entertainment, and education. The hope is that we might find and experience true justice and equality for all people in our society. And yet, we also realize that race is a social construct. So, what does God have to do with this? Is God or religion necessary to find the justice and equality that we all long for? Or is God and religion a continued perpetuator of social injustice, racism, and inequality? Join us as Dr. Emmett Price helps us define our terms and consider how reconciliation is not only social work, but rather it is spiritual work initiated by Jesus himself and one we are all called to participate in together.

THURSDAY
JANUARY 23, 2020

lobdell dining, 2nd floor, student center

Suicide, Mental Health and the Crisis of Meaning - How our Brokenness Points to God
DR. BRANDON UNRUH, M.D - Instructor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and at McLean Hospital

Come for an engaging evening as we look at the basic theology of the mind and of psychological disorder. Let’s take a look at contemporary evidence to explore how common pathways to suicide reflect core spiritual problems of our age and themes of universal brokenness. What can we glean from God’s presence in the lives of afflicted Biblical figures who long for death or die by their own hands? How do helpful, but imperfect, therapeutic responses compare to what God has revealed to us through the person and message of Jesus Christ?

TUESDAY
JANUARY 28, 2020

lobdell dining, 2nd floor, student center

When Hope is Lost - Can there Truly be a God Who is Morally Good and All-Powerful When Evil and Suffering Exist?  
LOU PHILLIPS, OXFORD CENTER FOR CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS

Although our lives comprise of accomplishments and exciting endeavors, often they can also include pain and frustration. And if we personally aren’t experiencing pain and suffering we know someone who it. In fact, regardless of one’s worldview or ideology, no one gets to escape the inevitable suffering of every day life. It is easy to question the goodness of God or even His power to actually change anything, so why believe in Him and why think that He can actually help? What should be our response? Sit in despair, desensitize ourselves and numb the pain, pretend that it doesn't exist or is there a better answer? Finding hope in this life can be the hardest part but once found can give us resources to live amidst the pain. We will explore how the Christian worldview not only acknowledges our pain as legitimate, it provides us with a livable hope.  

THURSDAY
JANUARY 30, 2020

lobdell dining, 2nd floor, student center

Can a Scientist Believe in the Miracles of Jesus?
DR. TOM RUDELIUS - POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER, INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDIES (PRINCETON), Ph.D. in Physics, Harvard University

How do we reconcile miracles with our modern, scientific understanding of nature? Do the miraculous claims of Christianity hold up under scrutiny, and what do they mean for us?