The Veritas Forum gathered students, professors and scholars on
Monday, beginning a weeklong educational exploration of the
relationship between science, history and Christianity.
The academic-based forum will gather physicists, philosophers,
musicians, doctors and students from UCLA and all over the country
to critically examine scientific theory and religious inquiry.
“We are going to gather and argue without being
argumentative, and intelligently agree to disagree,” said
Scott Buttes, a fourth-year philosophy student and Veritas Forum
coordinator, “and to openly explore the truth of Christianity
and its relevancy in academia and in every aspect of
life.”
Expounding upon the purpose of Veritas, Buttes explained that
“veritas” is Latin for “truth” and said the
forum seeks to facilitate the exploration of truth.
The Veritas Forum was founded at Harvard University in 1992 by
the writers of the book “Finding God at Harvard.” Since
then it has spread to over 45 universities throughout the United
States.
In its third year at UCLA, the Veritas Forum has taken an entire
year to plan and has cost close to $7,000 to fund, according to
Marian Hall, fourth-year comparative literature student and Veritas
publicity coordinator.
On the first night of the forum, philosophy professor at
University of Texas at Austin Robert Koons examined the historical
relationship between science and God.
He argued that the relationship is not one of conflict but of
mutual accord.
“The theological foundation of early scientists helped
them understand mathematically precise design,” Koons said.
“They would quote Solomon who said that God created
everything in a mathematical order with measure, number and
weight.”
Having grown up in a Christian home, Koons related how he
started questioning his faith as a teenager.
But as he became increasingly interested in philosophy and books
by C.S. Lewis, he discovered the intellectual roots of
Christianity.
Emphasizing the purpose of the forum, Koons addressed the need
to rationally challenge the anti-intellectual stance of relativism,
which complacently accepts every belief as equally true.
Addressing the wave of relativism inundating academic thought,
Koons said the position is actually not tolerant because it
inherently assumes an intolerance from those who believe in
absolute truth.
“Relativism is worrisome because it’s a thought and
conversation stopper,” Koons said. “There’s no
point in discussing things because I’m right and you’re
right ““ we have to believe we’re wrong about certain
things.”
Koons encouraged students to question and challenge sociological
and cultural assumptions about science and religion.
“I hope that people will come away seeing that
Christianity is not just a reflection of personal experience and
emotion but is founded upon thousands of years of rational
debate,” Koons said.
The forum will also cover topics such as creation and evolution.
Jed Macosko, a molecular biologist, will present the argument for
intelligent design, which defends the evidence of an intelligent
designer through study of the cell.
Tonight, the forum will assess the historicity of Jesus in a
debate between Gregory Boyd, professor of theology at Bethel
College, and Robert Price, editor of the Journal for Higher
Criticism.
Price is a member of the Jesus seminar, a group that believes
the Jesus of history is inconsistent with the Jesus of
religion.
The forum also featured environmental topics led by UCLA physics
Professor Alfred Wong on Tuesday.
He argued to debunk cultural assumptions of the fatalistic
Christian perspective on the environment, and related how the
Christian world view exemplifies preserving life.