What does it look like to study religion “objectively” in the classroom while remaining faithful to Christ? The question arises in a number of ways.  Take, for example, the recent viral video Why I Hate Religion but Love Jesus (with almost 20 million hits), and the thoughtful response Does Jesus Hate Religion? Kinda, Sorta, Not Really. Or take the challenge that students face when they enroll in a class in religious studies with a professor who teaches from a perspective that is not confessional. What is to be believed? Who is to be trusted?   

Helping us navigate these questions will be Chesterton House board member Dr. Ryan O’Dowd.  O’Dowd is an Old Testament scholar who has taught religion in the university classroom, and is the author of The Wisdom of Torah: Epistemology in Deuteronomy and the Wisdom Literature(V&R, 2009) and, with Craig Bartholomew, Old Testament Wisdom Literature: A Theological Introduction (IVP Academic, 2011). He holds degrees from the U.S. Air Force Academy, Reformed Theological Seminary, and the University of Liverpool (PhD).