The Veritas Forum

Theology professor Matthew Kaemingk's book Christian Hospitality and Muslim Immigration in an Age of Fear is a powerful synthesis of his life’s work. Combining his theological expertise with his lived experience in Europe, Kaemingk challenges Christians to respond differently to the political crisis surrounding Muslim immigration. Earlier this year, we sat down with Kaemingk to discuss his book and his hope for a more genuine pluralism.

Children believe in the tooth fairy until their reasoning capabilities mature and they recognize this belief is neither grounded nor relevant. Does belief in Jesus Christ require a similar suspension of logic? Can Christianity be proven to be true? UCLA law professor Daniel Lowenstein interviews Oxford mathematician John Lennox with honest questions about Christianity and the grounds for faith.

At a Veritas Forum from Middlebury College, Notre Dame philosopher Meghan Sullivan explores the questions that defined her journey to the Christian faith.

A conversation with Rachael Denhollander, the brave woman and attorney who stopped the "greatest sex scandal in sports history." Hosted at New York University and moderated by Melissa Murray, Professor of Law at NYU.

Americans spend over $11 billion on self-help every year, but philosopher Jennifer Frey says that if you want to be happy, you should read philosophy instead. For Dr. Frey, if we want to uncover a more holistic vision of the good life, we need to go back to the classics—to Aristotle, Augustine, and Aquinas. When we do that, she says, we discover that happiness is less about feeling good all the time and more about cultivating a vision of life that gets you outside of yourself.

73 years after his death in a Nazi Concentration Camp, Dietrich Bonhoeffer remains a fascinating and influential icon. A man who embodied his theology in both his life and death, he earnestly wrestled with the questions of his time and what they meant for his Christian faith. At a Veritas Forum from Hope College, Charles Marsh (UVA) reads excerpts from his biography on Bonhoeffer as he attempts to make sense of the great Christian thinker and martyr.

How we care for our sick tells us much about who we are as a society. How should we view those who come to us for care? For Dr. Bob Cutillo, a physician at the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, what we see depends on how we look. At a Veritas Forum from the Mayo Clinic, Dr. Cutillo draws on central themes from his book, Pursuing Health in an Anxious Age, and through examining ancient perspectives on patient care, including Dante, Nietzsche, and the Bible, argues that looking back may help us see the way forward.

Whether or not we know what we believe, our worldview shapes our perception of the truth. At a Veritas Forum from UCLA, the late philosopher Dallas Willard helps us ask the right questions about how our picture of reality lines up with the truth.

The advances of neuroscience have given us unparalleled knowledge of the human brain, but as any neuroscientist will tell you, we’re just scratching the surface of the brain’s potential. At a Veritas Forum hosted by Stanford students, William Newsome (Stanford) and David Eagleman (Stanford) explore the depths of neuroscience and what it means for our understanding of human identity.

For over 25 years, Ian Hutchinson (MIT) has been a speaker at Veritas Forums across the country. Throughout those years, he’s answered countless student questions about science, theology, and his Christian faith. In his latest book, Can a Scientist Believe in Miracles?, Hutchinson compiled every question asked of him at a Veritas Forum and set out to answer them. On our latest podcast, we sit down with Hutchinson to discuss his book, his journey to Christianity, and his hopes for the next generation of scientists.

What would it look like for universities to take religion seriously? For New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, it starts with the recognition that religion will continue to influence the way we see the world. In fact, the data shows that the 21st century will be far more religious than the previous hundred years. At a Veritas Forum from the University of Michigan, Douthat explores the importance of understanding religion in the modern university.

Alissa Wilkinson (Vox) is a film critic, professor, and cultural commentator, who works at the intersection of art, postmodernism, and theology. On our latest podcast episode, we sit down with Alissa to discuss film, secularism, and why religion keeps showing up in Hollywood.

It’s the one universal on which we all agree: everyone dies. How we deal with death determines much of what we spend our lives trying to accomplish and become. At a Veritas Forum from Yale, theologian N.T. Wright (University of St. Andrews) and philosopher Shelly Kagan (Yale) discuss the reality of death and whether we should hope for something beyond it.

As Cory and Drew conclude the series, they wrestle with their personal doubts and the barriers to belief in God. In this final episode, they attempt to untangle the question at the heart of the show: If God exists, why would he not reveal himself to everyone?

Many people experience powerful emotional reactions to both the story of Jesus and the church community. Others encounter immense suffering and lose their belief in God altogether. At what point, though, do our emotions and personal experiences lead to an unreasonable bias in our beliefs about God?