The fifth annual Veritas Forum, held Monday night in a fully packed Ryan Auditorium, brought N.T. Wright, a research professor at St. Mary’s College at the University of St. Andrews in England, and Gary Morson, a Northwestern professor who teaches “Introduction to Russian Literature,” together to speak on the manifestation of Christianity in modern culture. Amidst jokes about politics and American independence, the speakers engaged in a friendly intellectual debate.
N.T. Wright opened the evening with a 50 minute lecture in which he mourned the loss of direction and purpose that accompanies faithless progress. He drew his argument from the founding beliefs of the ancient Romans and Greeks. Epicurus and his rejection of fear and the divine, Wright began, evolved over the centuries into secularism–a dominant motif in modern Western culture, science, and politics. In the absence of a Christianity, he argued, society inevitably returns to the ancient values of wealth (the biblical figure Mammon), love (the Greek goddess Aphrodite), and war (the Roman god Mars).
In light of the casualties of our current belief systems–fallen soldiers, broken families, and economic crises–Wright expressed his conviction that new technologies which eliminate risk are not necessarily progressive, and calls for a return to a more integrated approach based on values of wisdom and love. Wright closed his lecture with a breakdown of the theology behind these values, connecting morals like humility, patience, bravery, delight, and selflessness with an unadulterated curiosity for and celebration of the unfamiliar. This alternative way of knowing, which counteracts the destruction of directionless progress, was the central claim that Jesus represented. His disciples discovered a larger reality called love in which their own partial knowledge would make sense, and Wright called the audience to reintegrate this mindset into our modern culture.
In his response, Northwestern’s own Gary Morson cautioned against Wright’s criticism objective science, citing a fanatical “belief in anything,” rather than secularism, as the heart of the issue.
His argument was elucidated in the ensuing open discussion portion of the program, where both speakers encouraged honest debate and intentional investigation of every argument. Wright brought this back in his argument for Jesus Christ, claiming that his story as a nonviolent figure against the culture of time does not make sense in the context of our own culture, which is “massive and breathtaking in its implications” of a larger kingdom. Both speakers addressed how a peaceful Christian approach could be manifested in such an unwelcoming environment as modern Western culture.
The Secular Student Alliance finished the night with a challenge to the Wright’s idyllic depiction of Christianity, pointing to numerous historical events which counteract Wright’s picture of a typical Christian. The response was in keeping with the underlying message of the rest of the evening: have tolerance and “forgive us our trespasses”: we are, after all, only human.
The final event of the program left students with an opportunity to pose their questions to Wright and Morson, fostering an open environment for attendees to engage in an open debate with the presentors.