Testimonies
Stories of Impact
Tony S. - Attendee
Undergraduate Student, SFU, Computing Science
"God and reason explores topics with far-reaching impact on us - such as the purpose of life and god's existence. I always enjoyed listening to SFU professors who draw their expertise from science to humanity to shine a light on these difficult questions. It is also a safe and open space for any questions we may have. I would highly recommend God and Reason lectures to anyone who seeks to find the essence of life."
Angelina D. - Attendee
ELC Instructor, SFU
"God and reason explores topics with far-reaching impact on us - such as the purpose of life and god's existence. I always enjoyed listening to SFU professors who draw their expertise from science to humanity to shine a light on these difficult questions. It is also a safe and open space for any questions we may have. I would highly recommend God and Reason lectures to anyone who seeks to find the essence of life."
Jasmine - Attendee
Undergraduate Student,
SFU, Linguistics
"God & Reason has given me an open space to make thoughtful inquiries into my knowledge of God and faith. The university setting offers students to interact with different worldviews, so God & Reason helped me consider questions to navigate through. I most appreciate the dialogue that takes place, where people from all backgrounds are welcome to question, explore, and respond. Witnessing intellectual and honest discussion among questioners and the well-versed of the Christian worldview has been a highlight of my undergraduate experience. Thank you to God & Reason for creating this space of inquiry and dialogue for students and the academic community!"
Initially, I joined the God & Reason lecture series in Fall 2020 during Covid. I came with the motive of meeting more people and exploring the intersection of science and faith. God & Reason lectures certainly fulfilled these goals, but I have gained much more than I expected. Leading by knowledgeable professors, these lectures provided us with a thought-provoking environment about god and diverse topics, including computing science, economics, politics, and more. I can still clearly remember several critical but inspiring perspectives actively raised by my peers, during lectures "is there life after death," "is money evil," and "are we just machines". These questions are the ones that I would like to ruminate over during my spare time.
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Before the God & Reason lectures, I have had two years of volunteer experience in a Christian church, Vancouver Light and Love home, where I taught seniors English and discussed Bible questions with them. Serving others consistently changed my view towards how I can better spend my time in university. I was exposed to a group of pure-hearted people, felt empowered, and was encouraged by their attitude. "Who (Lord Jesus Christ) gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all lawlessness and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good deeds" (Titus 2:14).
Many extraordinary scientists that I admire, such as Newton, Maxwell, and Faraday, spent their twilight years or even life-long time exploring the nexus of science and faith. As a young researcher, I believe that there is still a long way for me to think and go. The God & Reason lecture session is a place to accelerate and defend my faith.
Andy
Attendee - SFU Undergrad, Data Science
Dr. Martin Ester
Professor, Computing Science
I joined Simon Fraser University (SFU), a public, secular university in Vancouver, Canada, as a faculty member in November 2001. Moving a family with wife and two boys age 8 and 10 from Munich, Germany was not an easy thing, and the first semester in my new job was overwhelming. After we had settled down a bit, I started to seek fellowship with Christian colleagues. Through various connections I got introduced to a few SFU colleagues who were running a Bible study group on campus. I enjoyed the fellowship on campus, and we had interesting discussions, but in the course of the time I was no longer satisfied with having yet another home group-like meeting. As a group we were discussing the lack of Christian witness on campus for a while, and in the fall of 2010 we decided to create a series of Christian lectures. We felt we might make it a not-for credit course and dubbed it Christianity 101. Later we changed the title to “God and Reason” with the subtitle “A Christian perspective” to make it clear where we were coming from.
Our vision was to provide a safe space on campus where students can hear that and why it is not unreasonable to believe in God, ask critical questions and get to know some Christians. Every fall and every spring semester, we have lectures on standard topics such as “Does God Exist?”, “Is the Bible Reliable?”, “Are Science and Faith in Conflict?” and on more current topics such as “Equality, Social Justice, and the Bible” and “Artificial Intelligence: Are we just Machines?” Right from the beginning, we have built a team that involves several Christian student ministers and students, who do most of the promotion, organize the lecture room and snacks or even pizza, and follow-up with students who want to know more. We professors prepare a short 30-minute presentation, run the 20 minutes of Q&A, and talk more with students who stay for the food. These offline conversations are often the most valuable part, since they foster deeper and more personal discussions and help build trusting relationships between the students and our team as well as among the students.
Delivering a God and Reason lecture pushes me out of my comfort zone and is still much more challenging than presenting a lecture in my areas of academic expertise, but it is also in many ways more rewarding. The lectures draw a diverse mix of Christians, Muslims, agnostics and atheists. Some show up only once, some attend many lectures, even come back the next semester. Some are offended by our message, but some open their minds and hearts and make progress on their spiritual journey. Highlights are when a student says “You are the first one to explain Christian faith so that it makes sense to me!” or when a participant wants to know how it is possible that God speaks to us. Perhaps the most important lesson that we professors have learned is that the goal is not to win arguments but to win people. In conclusion, I continue to be amazed and grateful to Jesus that we have the opportunity to run the God and Reason lecture series at our secular university.