If you’ve been reading this blog at all, you already know just how much I love and admire discussion and how intolerant I am of debate. Why? It’s simple; debate has a combative agenda to win an argument. Debate has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with mutual nourishment or the truth. It’s an “I’m right, you’re wrong”, either or battle.
I see discussion – and heaven knows I wish more of us who claim “tolerance & diversity” as core values would practice it – as a mutually enriching exchange of ideas without the combative agenda of a need to “win” an argument.
Having said that, I’ve come across yet another awesome website whose entire purpose is discussion; The Veritas Forum, and in their own words;
“Veritas Forums are university events that engage students and faculty in discussions about life’s hardest questions and the relevance of Jesus Christ to all of life.
The forums are created by local university students, professors, and ministers while shaped and guided by the headquarter Veritas team.”
A great many social & cultural movements are sweeping across America, and I suspect other continents/nations as well, in which the church (the body of Christ) is seeking new ways to engage our culture and bring the relevance of faith in God to the table. While this need has been evident and voices in the wilderness have been calling for it since the 1960’s, little has been done to affect real change in the church today.
Great voices such as the late Dr. Francis Schaeffer (How Should We Then Live?), the late Madeleine L’Engle ( Walking on Water:Reflections on Faith & Art), Luci Shaw (The Crime of Living Cautiously), the late Hans Rookmaaker (Modern Art and the Death of Culture), and many others have long been calling on the church to 1; unwrap the cocoon of mere religion and throw it away, and 2; live openly and authentically as an effective light & example in this difficult world. The Veritas Forum is another of the many opportunities Christians, from all walks of life, have to become a positive, loving tool of counsel and change for goodness.
You need to know that The Veritas Forum takes subjects head-on. There’s no pussy-footing around. Some of what you read may get your dander up, but I encourage you to remember that this is discussion. The only “agenda” is that of mutual enrichment through the respectful exchange of difficult ideas and world-views. I hope you are enriched and enjoy The Veritas Forums. I hope you are empowered to live more authentically in a world starved for the truth.
Be Real. Live Well. Enlarge & Engage
I’ve got another awesome NOVA special for this post; 