One week ago, On Oct 26th, 2018, confessing Christian and confessing scientist, S. Joshua Swamidass MD, PhD, shared a dangerous idea with over 200 people at our annual fundraising dinner. Based on post-dinner feedback, it seems almost everyone was swayed toward Josh’s point of view by his persuasive keynote speech, including me.
On Friday, at around 7:45 PM, Josh shocked and amazed our audience of pastors, parents, students, and donors by saying, “[At Base Camp] you’re letting your kids go to a place that is dangerous… in all the right ways. The students encounter a community of believers that are unthreatened by questions and disagreements. This is a good thing.”
Other Faith Ascent speakers and I may disagree with Josh on a few non-essential particulars. However, we all agree on the essentials of the historic Christian faith and we all agree that students are better prepared for a university setting after being exposed to a wide range of answers to a wide range of questions while emphasizing sound Biblical hermeneutics, sound Biblical exegesis, and the centrality of Jesus to the Christian faith. If these are dangerous views, we certainly are not a “safe” ministry.
Sean McDowell, PhD shared a similarly dangerous view at our 2015 fundraising dinner. He said, “ A recent study showed that creating space for students to doubt and ask questions is critical. Ministries like Faith Ascent take students seriously and help them to think through the big questions.”
Dangerous Ideas & Dinner Donations
Reminds me of what Sean McDowell has said elsewhere:
This is how FaithAscent explains it to their audience:
Why does Faith Ascent have so many different professors, pastors, and teachers on the speaking team?
Our programs are designed to prepare students for the real challenges they’re likely to encounter at the university level. Best practices and common sense suggest that students are better prepared for a university setting after being exposed to a range of different positions while emphasizing sound Biblical hermeneutics, sound Biblical exegesis, and, most importantly, the centrality of Jesus to the Christian faith. This exposure fosters confident curiosity and thoughtfulness as students work out their own positions on debatable matters. Remember, the word “university” is derived from the Latin universitas magistrorum et scholarium , which roughly means “community of teachers and scholars.” Exposure to debatable matters within the Church’s “university” draws us back to confidence in the person of Jesus and the centrality of The Gospel.
https://faithascentministries.com/frequently-asked-questions/
Great job @JSmith.