The Difficult Dialogues program was started at Ohio University this fall to encourage students to discuss issues of race, sexuality and religion. This month, Campus Crusade for Christ and Athletes in Action hosted their own set of dialogues to address religion and philosophy.
Tonight will conclude a three-week series titled, “Reasonable Faith,” featuring OU alumni presenting their insights and encouraging discussion at weekly Campus Crusade meetings.
While the Difficult Dialogues program was created to encourage freshmen to discuss religion, “Reasonable Faith” brings these topics to the members of Campus Crusade, said Brian McCollister, director of Campus Crusade.
“It’s to expose our students that come to our weekly meeting to some of our best and brightest graduates and to address topics that are of interest both inside and outside of the Christian community,” he said.
Tonight’s speech will feature Matt Harmon, an OU graduate who now serves as associate professor at Grace Theological Seminary in Indiana, and is titled “God of Vengeance, God of Love: Is the God of the Old Testament the same as the God of the New Testament?”
The last two discussions featured OU alumni Matt Jordan, a Ph.D. candidate at Ohio State who focused on the larger question of God’s existence and Luke Potter, a Ph. D. candidate at Notre Dame who explained to students why he thought no one should be religious.
Steve Hays, a lead faculty member of Difficult Dialogues, said he is proud of what Campus Crusade is doing and that he thinks it’s great that they are bringing these intellectual issues to their members.
Harmon, who graduated from OU in the early ’90s, said he’s excited to get involved in the conversation going on at OU and notes a change from when he studied here.
“When I was a student, I don’t think these issues were as widely discussed,” he said.
Harmon said he sees the importance of what Difficult Dialogues and Campus Crusade are doing, he said.
“In order for a person to really hold firmly to any sort of conviction or belief, it has to be put to the open examination of questioning,” he said.
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