Welcome

This is the home of the Socratic Club at Oregon State University. The OSU Socratic Club is a group dedicated to the intellectual and philosophical discussion and debate of the issues surrounding modern Christianity. Please click on the links to the left to learn more about us or to view our archived debates.

"The Reason for God" Book Club!

The Socratic Club at OSU is sponsoring a book study that will meet weekly on Mondays in MU 110 from 7-8 pm, except for when there is a debate. The book is Timothy Keller's "The Reason for God." Copies are available in the OSU Book Store in the Book Club section. We will read and discuss one chapter a week. The discussion is open to everyone. The second meeting, on Chapter 1, will be held on Monday, February 6th, and so on.

Upcoming Events

Have Science and Technology Made God Irrelevant?

The second debate of Winter Term, 2012 will be held at 7pm on Monday, February 27th at Milam Auditorium.

Do science and technology make God obsolete? Do they reduce the idea of a god to one of no useful significance? Can we now rely on the power of our own ideas to prevail against health problems and mortality, relationship difficulties, social and political issues, and the other quandaries we now and will face, without help “from above”? Can science and technology, if guided by reason and human values and not restrained by religious dogma, solve the problems we face now and meet the challenges of the future? With science and technology, can and should we finally take full charge of our own destiny?

Is Christianity Anti-Science?

This Spring term debate is currently scheduled for May 7, 2012 in Milam Auditorium (location is tentative).

For both upcoming debates, the initial presentations will be followed by a dialogue between the speakers and by questions from the audience. All debates are free and open to the public.

Two Philosophers Debate the Existence of God

Submitted by emsearcy on Wed, 03/31/2010 - 07:25

Is God the greatest fact or the greatest illusion? Of all the questions posed by philosophy this is surely the most important. Has scientific knowledge made belief in God unnecessary and outdated? Is the universe all there is and God merely a human invention and a fantasy? Or is there an uncreated being, who is absolute, perfect, eternal, and personal that we call God? If there is no God man can free himself from an illusion that no longer casts its transcendental spell. But if God exists humans can find meaning and purpose in life and a secure foundation for ethical behavior.

Marriage and Same Sex Unions

Submitted by emsearcy on Fri, 01/29/2010 - 09:49

The question of gay marriage is one of the most hotly debated moral and cultural issues of our time. Should same-sex couples enjoy the same right to marry that heterosexual couples have? Is homosexual activity within a committed monogamous relationship truly marriage?

Euthanasia: A Good Death?

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 11/20/2009 - 20:18

The OSU Socratic Club will sponsor a debate on the topic, "Euthanasia: A Good Death?" on Monday, November 16, at 7 p.m. in Gilfillan Auditorium on the OSU campus. The speakers are Jerome Wernow and Lani Roberts.