InterVarsity partnered with Campus Crusade to bring the debate Do Ethics Require God? to the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Over 400 students heard Dr. Peter Payne, an evangelism and apologetics specialist serving InterVarsity students in Michigan, express his view that, yes, ethics do require God. On the other side of the argument, Dan Barker, a former minister who went public about his atheism, argued “Beliefs should be based on reason, not tradition or established belief.”
Although audience members showed strong support for each side of the ethical question, InterVarsity and Campus Crusade students were challenged to share the Gospel and discuss Christianity with their friends. Several new students attended the InterVarsity Large Group meeting the week after the event. The leaders of both groups also hope that students curious about the issues raised during the debate will attend one of the Bible studies now forming on campus.
InterVarsity students are excited about the discussions around campus focusing on God and his work in the world that have resulted from the debate. Students who would not usually attend church or a religious activity are discussing Jesus. The ethics debate made InterVarsity and Campus Crusade students more aware of how non-Christians may perceive them and Christianity.
Students at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point want to interact with other clubs on campus as they spread the Gospel of Christ within the campus community.
