Is the Bible historically reliable? How does it compare with other ancient texts? These and other questions are the focus of discussions and presentations at The Symposium (#symposiachristi), the annual conference held on the campus of Purdue University by Ratio Christi (@RatioChristi), a global movement that equips university students and faculty to give historical, philosophical, and scientific reasons for following Jesus Christ. This year The Symposium begins February 5.

Bible Gateway interviewed Corey Miller, president/CEO of Ratio Christi.

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Explain what The Symposium is and its history.

Corey Miller: The Symposium is an annual event held at Purdue University that draws thousands from the campus, community, and surrounding region, and several thousand more live-stream nationally and around the world. Led by multiple campus ministries and churches, its purpose is to explore and debate some of the most probing questions about faith, reason, and life via panel discussions, lectures, and debates.

Who are this year’s speakers and what is the theme?

Corey Miller: The keynote speaker is Daniel B. Wallace, President of the Evangelical Theological Society, whose keynote live-streaming talk among his other talks over the weekend will be “How Badly has the Bible been Corrupted?”

Few people in the world possess the knowledge of the manuscript evidence vis-a-vis the New Testament. The conference theme this year is The Book that Changed the World: No Longer Relevant? No Longer Reliable? All the breakout and plenary sessions are by professors, pastors, and parachurch ministers whose sessions will focus on the relevancy and trustworthiness of the Bible over time and in today’s climate (for example, relevance to human sexuality, science, history, philosophy, the university, modern medicine, etc.)

Why is it important for people to gather to hear whether the Bible is “no longer relevant or reliable”?

Corey Miller: The most memorized Bible verse is John 3:16. We are asked to believe the man. The man is in the book. But what if people don’t believe the book or fail to understand its message?

There’s an unholy alliance gathered in opposition to the truth of biblical Christianity. Whether it’s naturalism in the sciences or post modern relativism in the humanities, the Bible and its truth claims are under assault like never before in its history in the universities and in the media. Providing an apologetic (rational defense) for its historical trustworthiness is not an option in our current climate if its message is to be embraced.

The gospel does not take place in a vacuum, but is heard in light of the cultural milieu in which it’s presented. Part of the apologetic is connected to its relevance. For example, there’s a reason why hospitals usually possess names like St. Jude, St. Elizabeth, Presbyterian Hospital, Methodist Hospital, etc. There’s no greater motivation in life than a religious motivation and there’s no greater compassion ethic than the compassion of Christ. Further, the modern university owes it existence to the Judeo-Christian worldview that stems from the Bible.

Women’s rights, the abolition of slavery, human dignity impacting life ethics from cradle to grave including war and government, etc., are influenced in the west and also in the east by biblical convictions even when unrecognized as to their source. It’s important to have a hearing on this topic at the university; the single most influential institution in western civilization.

Who comes to the conference and why?

Corey Miller: Given the location at a university, attendees are typically made up of 70% students, 15% grads and faculty, and 15% community. They’re atheists, skeptics, agnostics, Mormons, Christians, Muslims, etc. Ages range from high school to retired people. We strive for intellectual excellence and communicative ability with our speakers who are evangelical at the core. While attendees may not always agree, they’ve come to trust that we’re intellectually serious and interesting in relevant ways.

We present topics to engage with the intellectual elites and yet are such that even non-intellectuals participate and benefit greatly. Our topics have ranged from human trafficking and sex slavery on the one hand to science and faith on the other hand. Our speakers are usually asked to speak in the secular university departments given their expertise. The symposia conferences are not only mega events to present the head, hands, and heart of Christ, but they leave a residual impact and are movement driven. Most of the significant local churches and campus ministries collaborate in unity because we can do things bigger and better together.

What will you be live-streaming and why should people register for it?

Corey Miller: We will be live-streaming the main event featuring seven Purdue “Professors Who are Confessors,” a heart felt testimonial by a mom, a donation of a 3-century old Torah scroll which will be read live by a Jewish physics professor, and a talk and question-and-answer session from one of the most qualified individuals on the historical reliability of the Bible. Registering helps us to know the demographics of our national and international audience and we share that in the introduction to encourage people that they’re part of something big and significant. Currently, almost 40 states and 4 continents are represented.

What is Ratio Christi?

Corey Miller: Ratio Christi (the reason of Christ) is a global movement that equips university students and faculty to give historical, philosophical, and scientific reasons for following Jesus Christ. The Bible does not praise laziness, but encourages thinking (Isaiah 1:18 says “come let us reason.”) It seeks to bring about a renaissance of Christian thinking by defending truth and Christianity primarily at the university.

Our DNA is about partnering with other organizations because we believe that we can do things bigger and better together. Our influence spans high school via our College Prep initiative with local churches up to and including professors in our RC Prof initiative where we believe that if we can reach the professor to contemplate what it means to be a missional professor rather than a professor who happens to be a Christian, then we get their classroom too for 30 years!

Explain what Christian apologetics is and why people should care about it.

Corey Miller: Christian apologetics is simply the field concerned with providing a reasonable defense of the Christian faith and is non-optional for all believers for two reasons. First, it’s commanded in Scripture (1 Peter 3:15) that we be prepared to give a defense for the hope that’s in us with gentleness and respect.

Second, I believe many in the west don’t do apologetics because they don’t do evangelism, something we’re also commanded to do (Matthew 28:18-20). If we did evangelism, we would not be able to avoid apologetics for long because our rapidly secularizing culture often requires it. Gone is the day when most in our culture share a biblical worldview and need only be personally converted to Christ.

How would you characterize the mood among college students toward Christianity and the Bible?

Corey Miller: As one who has taught for over decade at major secular universities, the mood toward Christianity and the Bible spans from lethargy to open hostility.

There is with secularization an increasing ignorance and misconception of the content of the Bible. Often times, the Bible and Christianity are treated with condescension and even contempt. Many students imbibe the view of secular university professors, some of whose stated goals are to nudge belief away from biblical Christian thought. They’re often defenseless to these attacks because they’re all too often not equipped in the churches. A campus minister called me to ask for help because a “Christian” professor of religion at the university is apparently tearing the Bible apart and he’s concerned about his son being in that class.

We’re increasingly losing generations at what sometimes and in some places might be referred to as ‘secular baptismal fonts’ called universities which once served Christ. The university is the most influential institution of western civilization and it may well be the Great Omission in the Great Commission if we fail to consider it as a viable mission field. The professor is, in my view, the 10/40 window of world missions; that is, the most unreached people group in world missions who are at once the most influential, given the classroom and texts. Students coming from western universities become our doctors, lawyers, journalists, political leaders, teachers, and future professors around the world.

How should Christians respond to people who say the Bible is no different from any other book?

Corey Miller: Put it to the test. Examine its claims. The Bible and its Jesus claim to be respectively the living and written word of God (John 1:1-3, 17:17).

The Bible is the worlds best-selling and most widely distributed book in the history of the world for a reason. Failure to read and understand it amounts to being, in part, uneducated. When compared to other books of antiquity there is no close second in terms of its historical reliability and gravity of its truth claims. It’s literally embarrassing how much evidence we possess in favor it.

I tell my students that in their journey toward truth, they need to begin with the person of Jesus in the Bible because our knowledge of him compared to leaders of other significant religions is incomparably great and his claims stand out above and beyond any others. The Jesus movement is the largest movement (religious or secular) in world history. We begin our journeys about ultimate answers to life’s biggest questions by examining what is the most likely to be true by objective and influential standards. Movements from hospitals to universities trace their roots to biblical Christianity.

For Christians to give a response, at the very least, they need to have resources available to know where to send people and where to get answers for themselves (books, Internet, and apologetics ministries like Ratio Christi).

What are your thoughts about Bible Gateway and/or the Bible Gateway App?

Corey Miller: I love it. I use it regularly! It is a phenomenally helpful resource.

Is there anything else you’d like to say?
Corey Miller: Contact us if you’d like to support or partner with the work of Ratio Christi.

Bio: Corey Miller, PhD, is the President/CEO of Ratio Christi. While he grew up in Utah as a sixth generation Mormon, he came to Christ in 1988 and he has since been a youth and college pastor, a Bible college and university professor, campus minister, lecturer, and first and foremost an evangelist. From 2009-15 he served on staff with Cru directing the Christian Faculty, Grad, and Staff Network at Purdue. He’s an Adjunct Professor of Philosophy and Comparative Religions at Indiana University-Kokomo. He is variously published and is co-editor of Is Faith in God Reasonable? Debates in Philosophy, Science, and Rhetoric (2014). He holds masters degrees in philosophy, biblical studies, and in philosophy of religion and ethics. His PhD is in philosophical theology from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland.

Miller is well versed in all academic and ministry strata of university life via both classroom and campus ministry. He understands worldview issues and also how to communicate winsomely with evangelistic fervor. He lives with his wife Melinda and three children in Indiana. He’s passionate to unify the body of Christ to defend and proclaim the truth of the gospel in winsome and bold ways.