Is Beauty A Guide to Truth? A Physicist and a Philosopher discuss some Big Questions
The Veritas Forum — The Veritas ForumIs Beauty A Guide to Truth? A Physicist and a Philosopher discuss some Big Questions
September 16, 2021
The Veritas Forum
Beauty inspires humans to great feats of imagination and discovery. Can beauty also help us find truth about the world and ourselves? Might beauty contribute to the advance of science or reveal the presence of God? An Oxford physicist and a Virginia Tech philosopher explore the relationship between aesthetics, science, and human meaning. • Panelists: Dr Ard Louis, Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Oxford, where he leads an interdisciplinary research group studying problems on the border between chemistry, physics and biology. • Dr Ben Jantzen, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Virginia Tech, where he studies inference and language in science: the contents and character of the natural world and how we come to know it. • Moderated by Vivek Mathew, Executive Director of Chesterton House. Sponsored by Bradley Study Center at Virginia Tech and Chesterton House at Cornell University. •
More From The Veritas Forum
Finding a Common Story? An Anthropologist and a Biologist Discuss
The Veritas Forum
September 23, 2021
A conversation about human origins, evolution, and what's at stake followed by a Q&A with Dr. Pam Ashmore (UTC Anthropology) and Dr. Josh Swamidass (W
Can We Be Scientific and Spiritual? | Michael Hecht & Praveen Sethupathy
The Veritas Forum
September 30, 2021
Dr. Michael Hecht, Professor of Chemistry, Princeton University, and Dr. Praveen Sethupathy, Associate Professor of Biomedical Sciences, Cornell Unive
Resisting Bias & Reshaping Institutions | David French & Justin Giboney
The Veritas Forum
October 7, 2021
Resisting Bias & Reshaping Institutions: A conversation about advancing racial justice in religious institutions, government, and higher education. A
Liberal Arts Education: What’s The Point? | Dr. Robert George and Dr. Cornel West
The Veritas Forum
September 9, 2021
Dr. Cornel West (Harvard Divinity School) and Dr. Robert George (Princeton University) discuss the value of a liberal arts education at the Veritas Fo
God, Math, and the Multiverse | Satyan Devadoss
The Veritas Forum
August 19, 2021
You can check out our new podcast, Beyond the Forum, wherever you listen to podcasts. • What does math have to do with the multiverse? Is our sense of
Should Science & Religion Mix? | Beyond the Forum Edition
The Veritas Forum
August 12, 2021
You can check out our new podcast, Beyond the Forum, wherever you listen to podcasts. • Dr. Tia Powell, Dr. Tyler VanderWeele, Dr. Richard Sloan, and
More on OpenTheo
How Would You Convince Someone That Evil Exists?
#STRask
November 17, 2025
Questions about how to convince someone that evil exists, whether Charlie Kirk’s murder was part of God’s plan, whether that would mean the murderer d
Are Demon Possessions and Exorcisms in the New Testament Literal?
#STRask
December 11, 2025
Questions about whether references to demon possessions and exorcisms in the New Testament are literal, how to talk to young children about ghosts, an
How Can I Improve My Informal Writing?
#STRask
October 6, 2025
Question about how you can improve your informal writing (e.g., blog posts) when you don’t have access to an editor.
* Do you have any thoughts or
Why Would Any Rational Person Have to Use Any Religious Book?
#STRask
December 8, 2025
Questions about why any rational person would have to use any religious book, whether apologetics would be redundant if there were actually a good, un
Is It a Sin to Feel Let Down by God?
#STRask
November 6, 2025
Questions about whether it’s a sin to feel let down by God and whether it would be easier to have a personal relationship with a rock than with a God
How Do We Advocate for Christian Policy Without Making the Government Interfere in Every Area of Life?
#STRask
November 20, 2025
Questions about how to advocate for Christian policy without making the government interfere in every area of life, and the differences between the mo
Is It Possible There’s a Being That’s Greater Than God?
#STRask
February 5, 2026
Questions about whether it’s possible there’s a being that’s greater than God and that’s outside of God’s comprehension and omniscience, and how to ex
Does God Really Need a “Pound of Flesh” to Forgive Sins?
#STRask
January 12, 2026
Questions about how to answer the challenge that God doesn’t need a “pound of flesh” to forgive sins but can simply forgive, and whether the claim in
Christmas Cranks and Christmas Blessings with Justin Taylor and Collin Hansen
Life and Books and Everything
December 17, 2025
If you are looking for a podcast where three friends talk about whatever they want to talk about and ramble on about sports, books, and grievances, th
How Do You Justify Calling Jesus the Messiah?
#STRask
December 18, 2025
Questions about how one can justify calling Jesus the Messiah when he didn’t fulfill the Hebrew messianic prophecies, and whether the reason for the v
Protestants and Catholics: What’s the Difference? With Chad Van Dixhoorn, Blair Smith, and Mark McDowell
Life and Books and Everything
November 26, 2025
How should Protestants think about the Catholic Mass? About the Eucharist? About the history and development of the papacy? In this panel discussion,
How Could the Similarities Between Krishna and Jesus Be a Coincidence?
#STRask
October 9, 2025
Questions about how the similarities between Krishna and Jesus could be a coincidence and whether there’s any proof to substantiate the idea that Jesu
Did God Create Us So He Wouldn’t Be Alone?
#STRask
November 3, 2025
Questions about whether God created us so he wouldn’t be alone, what he had before us, and a comparison between the Muslim view of God and the Christi
Are You Accursed If You Tithe?
#STRask
December 15, 2025
Questions about whether anyone who tithes is not a Christian and is accursed since Paul says that if you obey one part of the Mosaic Law you’re obliga
Why Should We Pray If God Already Knows What’s Going to Happen?
#STRask
January 29, 2026
Questions about why we should pray if God already knows what’s going to happen, how the effectiveness of prayer is measured, and whether or not things