A Place for Truth

Many today pursue knowledge and even wisdom. But what about truth? In an age that disputes whether truth can be universalized beyond one's own personal experience, it seems quaint to speak of finding truth. But whether in the ivory towers of the academy or in the midst of our everyday lives, we continue to seek after the true, the beautiful and the good.Since its founding at Harvard in 1992, The Veritas Forum has provided a place for the university world to explore the deepest questions of truth and life. What does it mean to be human? Does history have a purpose? Is life meaningful? Can rational people believe in God? Now gathered in one volume are some of The Veritas Forum's most notable presentations, with contributions from Francis Collins, Tim Keller, N. T. Wright, Mary Poplin and more. Volume editor Dallas Willard introduces each presentation, highlighting its significance and putting it in context for us today. Also included are selected question and answer sessions with the speakers from the original forum experiences.Come eavesdrop on some of today's leading Christian thinkers and their dialogue partners. And consider how truth might find a place in your own life.



Dallas Willard (1935-2013) was a professor in the School of Philosophy at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles for over forty years. A highly influential author and teacher, Willard was as celebrated for his enduring writings on spiritual formation as he was for his scholarship. His books include The Divine Conspiracy (Christianity Today?s Book of the Year in 1998), The Spirit of the Disciplines, Hearing God, Renovation of the Heart and others. His books have received numerous Christianity Today Annual Book Awards and other recognitions.Willard served on the boards of the C. S. Lewis Foundation and Biola University, and was a member of numerous evaluation committees for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. He received bachelor?s degrees from both Tennessee Temple College and Baylor University and a graduate degree at Baylor University, as well as a PhD from the University of Wisconsin in Philosophy and the History of Science.

Foreword By Harry Lewis, Harvard University


Preface By Daniel Cho, Executive Director, The Veritas Forum


Introduction By Dallas Willard


Truth


1 Is There Life After Truth?
Richard John Neuhaus


2 Time For Truth
Os Guinness


3 Reason for God: The Exclusivity of Truth
Timothy J. Keller


Faith and Science


4 The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief
Francis S. Collins


5 The New Atheists and the Meaning of Life
Alister McGrath and David J. Helfand


6 A Scientist Who Looked and Was Found
Hugh Ross


Atheism


7 The Psychology of Atheism
Paul C. Vitz


8 Nietzsche Versus Jesus Christ
Dallas Willard


Meaning and Humanity


9 Moral Mammals: Does Atheism or Theism Provide the Best Foundation for Human Worth and Morality?
Peter Singer and John Hare


10 Living Machines: Can Robots Become Human?
Rodney Brooks and Rosalind Picard


11 The Sense of an Ending
Jeremy S. Begbie


Christian Worldview


12 Simply Christian
N. T. Wright


Social Justice


13 Why Human Rights Are Impossible Without Religion
John Warwick Montgomery


15 Radical Marxist, Radical Womanist, Radical Love: What Mother Teresa Taught Me about Social Justice
Mary Poplin


15 The Whole Gospel for the Whole Person
Ronald J. Sider


Notes


Contributors


Photo Credits

"Since its founding in 1992, The Veritas Forum has provided a place for the university world to explore the deepest questions of truth and life. A Place for Truth gathers the Forum's most notable presentations, with contributions from Francis Collins, Tim Keller, N.T. Wright, Mary Poplin, and more."



"These essays, mostly by Christian thinkers, are serious dialogue about important questions. Whether you find in them enlightenment and encouragement, or much to challenge, I hope you will agree that The Veritas Forum has done a service to the academy by encouraging the discussions."



"You will be ultimately strengthened in your Christian faith if you read carefully this genuinely unique book."



"The Veritas Forum began at Harvard University in 1992 as an effort to engage students with the deep issues of truth and meaning that its founders believed were lacking in the modern university setting. In A Place for Truth, Dallas Willard has edited a collection of speeches from two decades of Veritas discussions that attempt to address life's most difficult questions." weniger anzeigen expand_less