January “Hope Veritas Forum” to Examine if Truth Can Shape Decision Making
HOLLAND - For a fifth time, the biennial Veritas Forum at Hope College will consider the role of truth in life and society.
The event will run Thursday-Saturday, Jan. 13-15, and this year will focus on "Returning to Discernment: Can truth shape decision making in a post-modern world?" The Veritas Forum will feature three keynote addresses, four concurrent sessions, an evening literary/music event and a culminating worship service.
Although the Veritas Forum has been planned for the campus community, the public is invited. Admission is free to all events.
According to Dr. James Herrick, who is a member of the Veritas Forum's planning committee, the topic was chosen out of recognition that today's students face a highly complex set of life questions at the same time that the very idea of truth has been questioned.
"So that leaves them in a dilemma - good decisions have to be made, but there is no solid sense of truth to guide those decisions," said Herrick, who is the Guy Vander Jagt Professor of Communication at Hope.
"Biblically, good decision making goes under the heading of either wisdom or discernment. Wisdom is the practice of good decision making about practical affairs, while discernment might be defined as careful and informed decision making about ideas and concepts - the mental and spiritual commitments that are actually made prior to, and that often guide, practical decision making," he said. "This is what we are hoping to address at the forum - how to think well and truthfully about the ideas we accept, the concepts we embrace, the beliefs we affirm that will guide our other decisions."
The Veritas Forum began at Harvard University in 1992 as a way to get students to think about what the school was founded upon: the Veritas, or truth, of Jesus Christ. Since then, dozens of campuses in the United States and abroad have emulated the Harvard model and held forums of their own.
The Hope Veritas Forum is designed to include the arts, ideas, theology and popular culture, so as to listen to how God works in the lives of scholars, musicians, social activists, educators, writers and artists. This year's program is the fifth presented at Hope through the forum, which has run every two years since its 1997 debut on campus.
The opening keynote, "Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It," will be delivered by Jim Wallis on Thursday, Jan. 13, at 7 p.m. in Dimnent Memorial Chapel. Wallis, who lives in Washington, D.C., is a speaker, author, activist and international commentator on ethics and public life. He helped found Sojourners more than 30 years ago, and in 1995 was instrumental in forming Call to Renewal, a national federation of churches, denominations and faith-based organizations working to overcome poverty. He is the author of multiple books, including "Who Speaks for God? A New Politics of Compassion, Community and Civility," and his columns appear in major newspapers across the country.
Wallis will also participate in a "coffeehouse chat" immediately following his talk, on Thursday, Jan. 13, at 9 p.m. at The Good Earth, 14 E. 7th St.
The second keynote address, "My Future, the Meaning of Life, and Jesus," will be presented by Dr. Mary Poplin on Friday, Jan. 14, at 7 p.m. in Dimnent Memorial Chapel. Poplin is a member of the faculty of Claremont Graduate University in California, where her responsibilities included directing the Teacher Education Program from 1985 to 1995 and serving as Dean of the School of Educational Studies from 2000 to 2004. Between those positions she worked with Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta. Her current work emphasizes the application of the intellectual, social and psychological principles of the Judeo-Christian worldview as they apply to higher education, particularly among culturally and linguistic diverse peoples and the poor.
A time of open discussion is scheduled following Poplin's evening keynote. Dubbed "Caffeinated Expression," the event will run Friday, Jan. 14, from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the Kletz in the DeWitt Center and will feature readings sponsored by the college's "Opus" literary magazine, live music and free coffee.
Poplin will also speak during the college's Chapel service on Friday morning, at 10:30 a.m. in Dimnent Memorial Chapel.
Activities are scheduled throughout the day on Saturday, Jan. 15.
Saturday's presentations will begin with the keynote address "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" by the Rev. Ben Patterson in the Maas Center auditorium. Patterson is the campus pastor at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, Calif., and was dean of the chapel at Hope from 1993 to 2000. He was founding pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church in California, and served as senior pastor of New Providence Presbyterian Church in New Jersey. He is the author of several books, including "Serving God: The Grand Essentials of Work & Worship," "Waiting: Finding Hope When God Seems Silent" and "Deepening Your Conversation with God," as well as a "Prayer Devotional Bible."
Sessions beginning on Saturday, Jan. 15, at 10:45 a.m. and noon will feature a total of four presentations, grouped into two blocks that have been scheduled twice so that participants may attend them all.
"The Producers: Discerning the Media World from the Inside Out" will be presented in the Maas Center auditorium. The presenters will be Scott Millen, creative director and vice chancellor of beautification at the Cull Group in Grand Rapids; Josh Schicker, a singer/songwriter from Holland; Scott Bolinder, executive vice president and publisher at Zondervan in Grand Rapids; and Sabrina Fairchild, a morning host for WSNX radio.
"Holy Worldliness: A Christian Approach to Popular Culture" will be presented in the Maas Center conference room by Ken Heffner, who is director of campus activities at Calvin College.
"Policies and Porches: Embracing the Breadth of Justice" will be presented in the multicultural room of Phelps Hall by Steve Mayer, who is the global outreach associate at Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville.
"Africa: Engaging AIDS, Poverty and Human Rights Issues" will be presented in the Phelps Hall Otte Room. The presenters will be Jane Graham and Lori Strehler, who are co-founders of Chosen Hope, a non-profit organization that helps children, with emphasis on Africa; Tim Fry, a Hope senior from Grand Rapids, and Molly Halvey, a 2004 Hope graduate, whose time at Hope included interning with World Vision in Washington, D.C., and Johannesburg, South Africa; Jena Lee, director of "Blood: Water Mission," a non-profit organization founded by Jars of Clay to promote clean blood and clean water initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa; and Dr. Fred Johnson, a member of the Hope history faculty who teaches American and African history and whose research interests include the historical relationship between the United States and African nations.
The Veritas Forum will conclude with "Call to Action: A Time of Prayer and Worship," scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 15, at 2 p.m. at the Maas Center auditorium.
The DeWitt Center is located on Columbia Avenue at 12th Street. Dimnent Memorial Chapel is located on College Avenue at 12th Street. The Maas Center is located on Columbia Avenue at 11th Street. Phelps Hall is located on Columbia Avenue at 10th Street.
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