Ray Townsend, M.D.,
Renal Division, School of Medicine,
University of Pennsylvania,
[Feb 12, 2012] —
I am privileged to lead a weekly Bible study with undergraduates. This began with a few students I met at church – a “God-thing” since I am a medical professor and they are mostly in non-medical majors. Akin to a pick-up basketball game, a core of them attend regularly while others attend more sporadically. It’s always a blast!
It got very interesting when a student with a Jewish background joined our discussion one Friday. He seemed quite informed about the New Testament scriptures. He invited me to present at the Secular Penn Friday Tea — a meeting for atheists, agnostics, etc. The ground rules were that the presenter has 20 minutes and the attendees have open minds. Period!
A Very Different Audience
The Friday following Easter, I presented reasons why the resurrection of Christ is critically important to Christians. The room was full of both Christian and non-Christian students. I presented the case as made by Paul in First Corinthians of the primary importance of the resurrection.
Reviewing some of the Biblical evidence of the witnesses to the resurrection, I mentioned that if it is not true we deserve more pity than scorn. What followed over the next three hours was an “open-mic” discussion covering just about any objection one could make to the claims of Christianity, including the exclusivity claims (John 14:6), election (Romans 8), and intolerance of sin.
Two things caught my attention:
-the willingness of secular students to engage in and discuss a range of issues: autonomy and free will, the authority of scripture, the source of morality, truth, and a host of other issues – nothing seemed off the table.
-the depth of their well-thought-through positions.
A Challenge to Better Prepare
This revealed my limited ability to give an account of Christianity in the face of such thoughtful opposition (I Peter 3:15). I am grateful for the sharpening effect of this interaction. I hope that my presenting as a scientist and a professor who believes deeply in spiritual things caused students to consider the reasonableness of Christianity.
At the end of the evening one of the students thanked me for participating. He confided that he had drifted away from his Christian roots, but that the give and take of the past 3+ hours had served to “reconnect” him.
God be praised for the powerful “foolishness” of the gospel (1 Cor 1:25) — particularly in an academic setting. I think it was C. S. Lewis who said the point of preaching is not so much to instruct us in new things, but to remind us and reinforce for us those things we know already.
Just curious — what has helped prepare you to present the reason for the hope within you?
S.D.G.
© 2012 Ray Townsend
© istockphoto
Two words fuel my own passion, both in and out of the classroom, and both in and out of the church: AUTHENTIC COMMUNITY. Those of us who claim to know the living God, and have a relationship with His Son Jesus Christ should be modeling that relationship and sharing its benefits with those around us. The largest opportunity I nurture around my own campus is a small group that I lead every other Friday in my home just across from campus. We start with a “family style” dinner that models the Apostles’ own community experience in Acts 2. We continue with a study of His Word. After the study, we allow the Lord to take us where He will. A common sight is groups of 3-4 people addressing specific needs, engaging in prayer, allowing someone in need some strong shoulders to lean on, or maybe just some honest-to-goodness laughter over a cup of coffee. Some nights, we’ll engage in a community service project. Others, we’ll just go somewhere and have fun — building strong relationships between us. The permutations are endless, and I continue to be floored by what I see these people do and become. What started as 4 people is bursting at the seems at 25-ish now, and is about to multiply into 1 or 2 similar groups. God is good!