First ever Stevens Veritas Forum hosted on Wednesday
It was Wednesday, February 5, 2014, 9:00 p.m., and a full capacity Babbio Center 122 – it was the first-ever Veritas Forum at Stevens Institute of Technology, and the topic at hand could not be more controversial: can faith and science coexist?
Latin for “truth,” the Veritas Forum is an event held at universities across the United States to explore life’s most difficult questions and thus seek truth in. The stage was set (literally) for a discussion on the night’s topic, two cushioned chairs, microphones, and a spotlight prepared not unlike “60 Minutes.” To the right was Dr. Hans Halvorson, professor of philosophy and mathematics at Princeton University and to the left was the moderator of the Forum, Professor Gary Dobbins.
The Stevens Christian Fellowship, co-sponsors of the event with the Stevens Philosophy Club and the College of Arts & Letters, submitted questions to be asked by Professor Dobbins to Dr. Halvorson for the majority of the Forum. Students were also asked to submit questions, some of which would be asked near the Forum’s end.
The first question of the night was about Dr. Halvorson’s worldview, which is essentially what a person believes in and his or her dispositions. Dr. Halvorson explained that worldviews are often inherited when we are barely ten years old. “That’s not a bad thing,” remarked Dr. Halvorson, as today’s culture is pluralistic, and he believes that it is every person’s responsibility to see if one’s beliefs hold up against the scientific data that our world revolves around. “The right attitude [that many believe],” began Dr. Halvorson, “is to wipe the slate clean and let science tell you what to believe.” For Dr. Halvorson, this idea is implausible, for it is equally as narrow as the converse, letting religion tell you what to believe. A Christian man engulfed in the empirical sciences almost daily, Dr. Halvorson’s core Christian beliefs remained intact despite his numerous and continuing revisions made to his worldview as science continues to explain more as the years pass; “Do the second experiment,” urged Dr. Halvorson, explaining that if the default position that God does not exist is accepted without review of other claims to the contrary, then such belief would be irrational without further testing.
One key component of the question on whether science and religion can coexist is identifying the main cultural and societal problems that currently exist. Among them is the tremendous power that scientists have been given by society: they are permitted to state that there was no designer of this world, period. Through another question asked to him (if he can make unbiased truth claims) Dr. Halvorson responded by identifying another sociocultural problem: “If [my claims are] biased, so will the other person who doesn’t believe that. We cannot escape this.”
A point of great difference among religious and nonreligious people is the Bible, which Dr. Halvorson does believe is “truth, [a] definitive revelation of God to humans (i.e. Jesus).” However, Dr. Halvorson views the Bible as what it also is – literature: “The Bible is not a list of propositions. It is literature written by human beings… They are embedded in a cultural context.” If the Bible were written today, Dr. Halvorson posits, the metaphors and parables would probably utilize technology, a hallmark of the time period and culture the Bible was written in.
Often a matter of perspective on both sides in the question being discussed at the Veritas Forum, Dr. Halvorson explained his view on miracles as the true example of how perception is pivotal in the general divide amongst science and religion.
In short, Dr. Halvorson accepted the view of a miracle as God’s intervention into the world, but recognized that its significance has been grossly inflated on both sides.
In the same vein of perspective, Dr. Halvorson spoke to the history of Christianity specifically, acknowledging that “[s]ome of humanity’s greatest embarrassments are from Christianity,” but admired the richness that Christianity embodies.
For example, many philosophers that pioneered the era of the Renaissance were Christians.
On a more personal level, Dr. Halvorson cited the tension in his worldview as a reason for why he finds it so stimulating, for it creates a “fruitful, intellectual life.”
When asked by Professor Dobbins what would be lost if the moral core of religion was kept but the “God-related” portions of it were discarded, Dr. Halvorson used his personal experience to illustrate why, for Christianity at least, God is necessary.
“There is a certain persistent difficulty with basic moral rules,” Dr. Halvorson started, “[which is] an indication that we need external help to enable our moral shortcomings.”
As the Veritas Forum began to come to a close, some final questions and answers were presented to those in attendance that may not have answered the question definitively, for it may never be answered, but gave a hopeful viewpoint.
Professor Dobbins recalled Dr. Halvorson’s view that “As long as you’re true to yourself you can’t be forced to God.”
To that, Dr. Halvorson responded with honesty: “There are many corrupted forms of Christianity. In life, a more Christian version [of Christianity] may be rejecting another version of [it].” The matter of each individual person adhering to his or her beliefs in harmony with the rest of humanity is perhaps the ultimate ideal.
Dr. Halvorson continued on this matter, saying, “The right attitude may have nothing to do with Christianity.”
However, Dr. Halvorson does believe that Christianity is not to be automatically excluded, for he firmly believes that there is a version of Christianity that “doesn’t go against our hearts.”
The first-ever Veritas Forum at Stevens featured a fantastic philosophy professor here at Stevens, an open, intelligent guest speaker, a full audience in attendance, and pizza and drinks at the end.
At a very basic level, this event gathered people together of vastly different points of view of the world, science, and religion.
Together they sat in unison, listening respectfully to Professor Dobbins and Dr. Halvorson. For a university such as Stevens Institute of Technology, it is amazing that the question of science and religion’s ability to coexist can be discussed with reverence for every party involve.
While the question may not have been given a concrete answer, the answer to it may lie in the simple fact that the Veritas Forum even happened at Stevens at all.
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