Veritas Forum engages students and faculty in discussions about life’s hardest ethical and religious questions and presents the relevance of Jesus Christ to all of life. Such forums have been held on over 50 campuses since the first forum began at Harvard in 1992. From February 21-24, 2006, the Veritas Forum returned to Harvard University with a series of evening discussions titled Christianity, Power, and the Powerless.
On the first night, Tuesday evening, the panelists discussed issues about the use of force to prevent harm to a society. This discussion (moderated by Bryan Hehir, Parker Gilbert Montgomery Professor of the Practice of Religion and Public Life at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University) admitted the dilemmas of using violence to defend the powerless. Stephen Carter, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law at Yale Law School; Alan Dershowitz, Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School; and Gary Haugen, President of International Justice Mission, discussed the concept of a Just War.
On Wednesday evening in the Ames Courtroom of Austin Hall, Richard Parker, Lecturer at the Kennedy School of Government and Senior Fellow at the Shorenstein Center; John Stapelford, Professor of Economics at Eastern University, and Jim Wallis, Executive Director and Editor-in-Chief at Sojourners Magazine, discussed the obligations and opportunities that are integral to financial power. The discussion (moderated by David Simms, Managing Director of Bridgestar, a consulting group to nonprofit organizations) demonstrated that many Americans do not think of themselves as powerful, even though they exert great power in the world through financial resources.
Should Christians divest themselves of financial power to empathize with the poor and serve them with humble compassion? Or should Christians seek to use their financial power to boldly change systems and institutions that may better serve the poor? The panelists agreed that people with power are morally obligated to help improve the lives of the poor, but disagreed about the means by which Christians may best help the poor.
On Thursday night in the stately Memorial Church in Harvard Yard, Timothy J. Keller, Senior Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City; David Koepsell, Executive Director of the Council for Secular Humanism, considered perspectives about social reformation, particularly the differences between changing a society’s attitudes through individual transformation and social reformation. This discussion (moderated by Bill Stuntz, Professor of Law at Harvard Law School) focused on the meaning and influence of individual power in a society that includes diverse power bases. The panelists offered different perspectives about the individual and collective ways financial power is expressed in contemporary culture.
InterVarsity is honored to co-sponsor the Veritas Forums on college campuses around the nation. For more information about Veritas Forums, please visit their website.
