Christian Groups Plan Veritas Forum

Christian fellowship groups from the College and Harvard's graduate schools are working together to stage a spring conference about Christianity in the modern world.

But one of the University's leading religions figures, the Rev. Peter J. Gomes, Plummer professor of Christian morals and minister of Memorial Church, has not been invited to participate in the three-day long conference scheduled for early April.

The Veritas Forum was first staged at Harvard in 1986 as an academic conference in Christian apologetics. The event, held nearly every year, was a focal point of Kelly K. Monroe's 1996 bestseller Finding God At Harvard.

Organizers of this year's forum--the first in more than two years--say the conference's main purpose is to discuss Christianity from an intellectual perspective.

"A lot of the world says [Christians] are fools. The Veritas Forum is about saying what is the intellectual basis for the faith we have," says Jennifer L. Whiteside '01, a member of Christian Impact.

A Christian Conference Without Gomes

Three guests will speak about the academic principles behind Christianity: Alvin Plantinga, professor of philosophy at the University of Notre Dame; Peter Kreeft, a philosophy professor at Boston College; and David Barton, the founder of Wallbuilders, a Christian political organization.

In addition to academic discussions about religion, the forum will feature discussions on racial reconciliation, eating disorders and how to get into graduate school.

Gomes participated in the first Harvard Veritas Forum in 1986.

But Benjamin D. Grizzle '03, the driving force behind the recent revival of the Veritas Forum, a member of Christian Impact and also a Crimson editor, says Gomes has not been asked to speak in this year's conference in part because he is seen by some Harvard Christians as an academic figure, rather than a spiritual leader.

"Beyond the walls of [Memorial] Church, the congregation, he's not a leader for the evangelical Christians, the Catholic students or the black [Christian] community," Grizzle says. "[Students] go to Memorial Church and they feel like they're being taught. Most students involved in the Veritas Forum want to worship."

In a recent interview, Gomes said that Memorial Church was not directly involved in planning the Forum. The conference however, will be using Memorial Church for its kickoff event with a Christian rock band.

Both Grizzle and John C. Huang '02, a member of the Harvard Radcliffe Christian Fellowship, say that the Forum organizers are not trying to exclude Gomes, but that they are mostly recruiting speakers from off-campus.

Grizzle says that the organizers of the Forum did not consider Gomes' sexual orientation when deciding not to invite him to participate. Gomes publicly revealed that he was gay in 1991, after the conservative student journal The Peninsula published an issue denouncing homosexuality.

The relationship between Christianity and homosexuality will be discussed at the Forum, Grizzle says.

"One of the leaders is going to be talking about the Christian church being more accepting of gays. We're not trying to dodge the elephant in the living room," Grizzle says.

The Revival of the Veritas Forum

Whiteside says she felt a divide between Christian faith and intellectual thought when she took Literature and Arts C-37, "The Bible and Its Interpreters." There was a division in the class between biblical scholars and the people who believed in the story of the Bible, Whiteside says.

The Veritas Forum aims to bridge that divide.

"One of the big things this will hopefully do will make the point that Christians think. We recognize that our faith isn't just this easy cut-and-dry thing," Whiteside says. "If we really believe this is truth, then we believe this will stand to scrutiny."

Grizzle says the forum is also meant to foster discussion about what it means to be Christian and to be in a secular career field.

"We want to break down the perceived barrier between the secular and the spiritual. Everything should be to the glory of God," Grizzle says. "It is hopelessly myopic to think that it only matters to Jesus what we do on Sunday."

Veritas Forum is a national organization that stages conferences on Christian apologetics at campuses nation wide. Harvard's conference is receiving funding from the national group, and Veritas Forums will be going on simultaneously in April at Northwestern and Georgetown.

A Church United

Aside from Gomes' absence, the forum may indicate a trend of growing unification among campus Christian groups. Eighteen different Christian organizations--both undergraduate and graduate--are working together to organize the event.

Some leaders of Christian groups on campus say that Christian students have tended in the past to separate themselves based on styles of worship and ethnic background.

Otis Gaddis '01, one of the founders of Soul Food, a ministry to black students on campus, and a founder of last year's week-long Christian outreach program Jesus Week, says the divisions arose less from differences in faith than from a lack of communication.

"My freshman year, people didn't know each other across [group] lines. It was hard to find out how to contact someone," Gaddis says. "All these organizations have a common goal, but that only becomes apparent when you communicate."

But last year's Jesus Week included many of Harvard's Christian groups, and the Veritas Forum may be a sign of future cooperation among campus Christian organizations.

"We're happy to work together," Huang says. "It's not as if we have exactly the same ideas. The cool thing about Christian unity is that we bring people from different backgrounds together."

The Harvard Veritas Forum will be held from April 5 to April 8. More information on the conference can be found at www.jesusweek2001.com.

--Staff writer Anne K. Kofol can be reached at kofol@fas.harvard.edu.