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The Third DegreeOddities of atheism in OxfordOne feature of living in Oxford is the possibility of spotting Richard Dawkins emerging from the supermarket or John Lennox disappearing into the post office. How do the Christian students operate in this environment? One way is through organising Big Issue ‘lunch bar’ events, which happen every Friday throughout term. How do they work? Christians find it easy to invite their friends to a free lunch in a central cafˇ where a Christian speaker tackles a specific question and follows the presentation with questions and discussion. Big IssuesI met with Amber Lee Coakes, who is the OICCU’s (Oxford Inter-Collegiate Christian Union) outreach secretary and the current organiser of the Big Issues. Between mouthfuls of a delicious but messy Lebanese sandwich I asked her what Big Issues are all about. ‘The purpose of the lunch bar is to address some basic misconceptions that prevent people even considering Christianity. Questions this term include “Leap in the dark: what is faith?”, and “Get smart: isn’t religion the enemy of intelligence?” There are many cases of people who wouldn’t normally come to a Christian event but who do choose to come to a lunch bar because it’s a topic they’re particularly interested in.’ As I mopped up some sauce from the table, I enquired as to the impact of these lunch bar events. ‘I know that there are people in the Christian Union who were not Christians when they first came up to Oxford and the first Christian event they came to was one of the Big Issues, and from that their interest has opened up.’ I smiled, remembering how a series of Ravi Zacharias lunch bars put the chainsaw to the trunk of my atheist’s tree house back in 2000. With all my beliefs suddenly wobbly, I pursued with great interest the hope that my Christian friends had. Plans for next termAmber waited patiently as I scanned the cafˇ for a waste bin, sodden paper napkin in hand, ultimately dashing to the trash can over the road. Having returned, she politely outlined the plans for next term. ‘We are currently preparing a programme of talks, probably called “The Oddities of Atheism”, tackling the unacknowledged assumptions that people make when they believe in a world without a God. The aim is to show how atheism fails to make sense of life as we experience it. How can there be real morality without the giver of a moral code, real purpose in a purposeless universe, or real beauty where values are only imposed by us? We’ll always finish up looking at Jesus. The idea is that people will question the atheistic assumptions that most have when they come to university.’ And who do you plan to speak at these Big Issues? ‘It’s really important for Oxford students to know that Christianity is compatible with academic excellence. We’ve had talks from some great student workers but for certain topics it’s important to have specialists who can answer some specific questions.’ Amber is planning on finding a range of speakers from the worlds of Christian ministry, theology, academia and the arts. I was happy to encourage her that such speakers do exist. My role with UCCF’s new Christian Persuaders programme has revealed a growing army of gifted communicators who love the gospel and engage with culture and apologetics. They’re keen to be trained, tried and tested, and students are keen to offer the opportunity! Who knows what the impacts of such events might be? We’re hoping that the potential Richard Dawkins of Amber’s contemporaries will emerge as the next John Lennox! Alex Banfield Hicks,
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