Jesus of the Gospels—Fact or Fiction?
(Watch the debate on video)
At first, he declined the invitation, knowing the amount
of preparation it would require, but then he reluctantly
agreed. Dr. Peter Williamson now says, “I am so glad I
accepted and hope for similar opportunities in the future.”
Dr. Williamson holds the Cardinal Maida Chair in Sacred
Scripture and is an experienced Catholic evangelist. What he
accepted was an invitation to debate Dr. David Skrbina, chair
of the philosophy department of the University of MichiganDearborn.
The topic: “Is Jesus (Issa) a Fiction?”
The campus Christian student group Ratio Christi
invited Williamson to debate after a group member felt that
Skrbina was calling into question Jesus’ divinity, and even
Jesus’ existence, in his classroom teachings. The student
asked Skrbina if he would be open to defending his beliefs
publically, and the professor agreed.
The debate was held on the Dearborn campus on January
30, hosted by Ratio Christi and the university’s Philosophy
Club and Secular Student Alliance. Skrbina argued from the
perspective of the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche,
who believed that Christianity is “the one great curse . . . the
one immortal blemish on the human race,” and that St. Paul
is “a hate-obsessed false-coiner” who undermined the Roman
Empire by spreading a “Judeo-Christian slave morality.”
Williamson ably defended the divinity of Jesus and the
historical reliability of the New Testament. He received the
crowd’s most enthusiastic applause when at one point he
answered Skrbina’s reasoning with the quiet reply, “This
position is simply madness.”
Sacred Heart’s Dr. Peter Williamson, right, argues for the historicity of the
Gospels with University of Michigan-Dearborn professor Dr. David Skrbina.
Julia Cuneo of the university’s Philosophy Club moderates the January 30
debate. You can watch the event on YouTube.
Watch the lively three-part debate at
mosaic.shms.edu and make your own judgment.
Says Dr. Williamson, “What helped me to participate
was something I read by C.S. Lewis, ‘It’s not our job to
win the argument but to bear witness.’ I pray that the
Holy Spirit bring fruit from the sowing of the word of
God at the debate and through the videos.”
Although their interchange was intense at times,
Williamson and Skrbina along with their wives met a few
weeks later for “a very cordial” lunch, thereby proving out
the Christian maxim: “In doubtful matters, liberty; in all
things, charity.” The opponents agreed to meet again to
“continue the discussion” in another public debate.
“It’s important that Catholics dialogue with unbelievers
and learn how they look at the world,” Williamson says.
“And I’m glad to have made a personal connection, too.”
Dimidium Facti
Qui Coepit Habet
Dr. Peters’ Latin Club
Begun more than five years ago, Dr.
Edward Peters’ Latin Club serves his
current Latin students but is open to
anyone in the Sacred Heart community
interested in working on Latin. Sessions
provide an extra opportunity outside
of class for students to practice basic
speaking skills and to get help with
homework and drills.
The Latin Club, also called “Dr.
Peters’ Latin Clinic,” meets two evenings
a week. The number of students
He who has begun
has the work
half done.
Robert Peters
attending sometimes reaches as high
as eight. Given the informal nature of
the clinic, it is the students who suggest
what topics are covered. If, for example,
a student is looking to practice prayers or
pronunciation, the clinic is there to help.
The topics typically covered are the
exercises encountered in the two-year
Latin grammar sequence offered by the
seminary. This work can range from
practice of verb endings all the way to
reading medieval short stories.
The Latin Club has been much
appreciated by students. Seminarian
David Pellican says, “It’s real nice
having a professor willing to give
up two evenings out of the week.”
MA Theology graduate Robert
Wenderski says, “You really need
this sort of practice, more than you
can get in class.”