A group of ABAC students and faculty members are teaming up to organize a forum for students to discuss their religious beliefs while learning more about individuals of different faiths.
Cameron Sumner, the founder of the group, said, “I think it’s a great opportunity for people of different viewpoints to come together and have a civil discussion about theology and religion.”
The meetings seek to provide students with a safe and respectful space to exchange religious ideas, which is something Sumner says is missing from a lot of discussions.
“People just want to fight and argue, without actually understanding what the other side believes,” Sumner said. “So far, we’ve had people from multiple different religions and even no religion come together and have a civil conversation, which has been really good.”
In their most recent meeting, Dr. Joseph Devaney was the speaker. He gave a presentation about Saint Thomas Aquinas, a 12th-century Italian priest who is venerated around the world as the Patron Saint of scholars and universities.
In the presentation, Dr. Devaney focused on St. Aquinas’ cosmological argument for the existence of God, which seeks to prove God’s existence using observable facts about the world around us. The key argument made by Aquinas is that every instance of change is directly caused by something, with God being the original catalyst of change.
On the importance of St. Aquinas, Dr. Devaney said, “Many people regard religious belief as mere superstition. I’m interested in Saint Thomas Aquinas because he reconciles Faith with reason and demonstrates that we can know the existence of God and know his actions through reason.”
After the presentation, students and professors asked questions and discussed a variety of topics, ranging from simple clarification about Aquinas’ arguments to much broader topics, such as the origins of evil and what it means to truly be good.
Cole Rigdon, a student who attended the discussion, said, “I hope that what people get from this group is that whether you buy it or not, these aren’t ideas where you can just say, ‘Oh, that’s stupid,’ or ‘The other side is wrong,’ but that there’s literally thousands of years of philosophical, theological, and historical thought that goes into it. I hope that people can at least come away appreciating that.”
The group meets bi-weekly in Bowen 207. Both religious and non-religious students are encouraged to attend. Contact Cameron Sumner at csumner9@stallions.abac.edu for more detail.
