“There’s not a bigger question than, ‘Is there a God?'”said Jose Davis, junior philosophy major and president of Texas A&M Philosophy Club.
A&M’s Philosophy Club and the Christian Apologetics Club Ratio Christi will be presenting the “God Dialogues,” a roundtable discussion between two atheists and two theists concerning the meaning of life, the existence of God and the basis for morality and religion in society on Thursday.
Kip Lewis and Zachary Moore of the North Texas Church of Free Thought in Dallas will discuss atheism, and the two men arguing for theism will be John Ferrer of crossexamine.org and R. Sloan Lee of the Dallas Socratic Society.
“You should hear the arguments both for and against the existence of God by people who would know a lot more about the subject than the average college student,” said Brittany Swihart, a junior English and Spanish double major and co-founder of Ratio Christi.
McGregor said the point of the event is to not sway attendees in one direction or another, but to provoke meaningful conversation about the issues.
“The purpose of the God Dialogues is to start a conversation about the rationality and coherence of both Christians and atheists and also the impact of holding those world views in daily life,” he said.
Ratio Christi is the ministry component of Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, N.C., a graduate school that focuses on Christian apologetics and philosophy.
Glenn Smith, A&M representative to Ratio Christi’s national organization and God Dialogues moderator, said Christian apologetics believe Christianity is logical and reasonable, and it appeals to people who enjoy thinking. The purpose is to discuss the evidence for Christ.
Davis said the Philosophy Club’s involvement is meant to bolster philosophy on campus and to help create discussion about a highly debated topic.
“A&M is considered a conservative school and this kind of discourse is good for everyone whether you are an atheist or a Christian. Everyone is inclined to ask these kinds of questions,” Davis said. “I personally believe that everyone is inclined to ask the question, ‘Is there more?’And I want everyone, not just my club members, to be presented with these things.”
The event is open to the public and along with the open discussion there will be a question and answer session with the panelists.
Thursday’s event will be the third installment of the God Dialogues in Texas, the first two were at University of Texas at Dallas and University of Texas at Arlington.
Though the purpose of the God Dialogues is to have a non biased philosophical discussion, Ratio Christi’s purpose at A&M is to stand for the existence of Christianity.
“We want people to know that you don’t have to check your brain at the door to be a Christian and for people to see Christianity is not a hindrance to a robust intellectual life, and when you see the call in Christianity to love the Lord with all of your mind, your soul and your strength; I think it gives things a full purpose in the intellectual life,” McGregor said.
Davis said the Philosophy Club stresses the need to look at and try to understand issues from both sides, and the God Dialogues are a crucial time to practice this belief as well as stress the importance of A&M’s philosophy department.
“The Philosophy Club is secular and does not take sides on the issue of philosophy. We have members that will take interests in seeing both sides of the argument,” Davis said. “Texas A&M is considered an agriculture and mechanical college and a tech school because of engineering. But it is a little-known fact that A&M has one of the best philosophy departments in the nation. We’ve made it a point to bring philosophy to A&M undergraduates.”
Davis said the God Dialogues will be a great opportunity to hear an educated discussion on a much debated topic.
“People should expect to see respectful discourse between four very educated men in atheism and theism,” Davis said.