Ratio Christi – Defending the Faith on Campus

LAFAYETTE, IN – Ratio Christi is observing its tenth year of ministry in the most hostile place for Christianity in the United States – at the university campus. The non-profit is a global movement that equips university students and faculty to give historical, philosophical, and scientific reasons for following Jesus Christ.

Ratio Christi is observing its 10th year of ministry in the most hostile place for Christianity in the United States at the university campus
Photo by Ratio Christi, YouTube

The ministry was established by Dr. Corey Miller, a seventh-generation Mormon who came to Christ in 1988. He holds a masters’ degree in philosophy, biblical studies, and another in the philosophy of religion and ethics, and a Ph.D. in philosophical theology. The leadership of Ratio Christi is similarly qualified in their commitment to Christ, the depth of their understanding of Scripture, and their ability to defend the truth of God’s Word to the pagan culture of American universities.

Analysis of American worldviews conducted by the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University has proved that not more than 6% of professing Christians either don’t understand what a Christian is or that they profess to be a Christian while pursuing the lifestyle of a practicing atheist.

Higher education in American has diverted students down philosophically errant paths so that, over the past two-and-a-half centuries, nearly 70% of students who entered college life claiming to follow Christ abandon the faith by the time they graduate.

The number one reason those students give for leaving the faith is “intellectual doubt.” That doubt was instigated and exacerbated by the university culture in which they have been immersed. It means that, as freshmen, those students could express what they believed but were not able to explain why they believed it.

Ratio Christi is a missionary organization proclaiming the truth about Jesus Christ to university and high school campuses around the globe. Its purpose is rooted in its name. Ratio Christi is a Latin phrase meaning “The reason for Christ.”

Christians on college campuses are subject to peer and professorial challenges to their faith. Confrontations may occur anywhere from the classroom to the commons. Attacking memorized Scripture verses and catechisms is like shooting fish in a barrel. They already know what His followers believe – and they believe that they have evidence that exposes the Christian faith as foolishness.

It’s common for confrontations to run the gamut of every part of faith and practice, including

  • How do you know that there is a Creator God?
  • Evolution is proven science.
  • The Bible is full of fantasies, fairy tales, and fiction.
  • How do you explain all the errors in the Bible? How can you trust it?
  • I’m a good person. I don’t need Jesus.
  • If God is good, why does He allow bad things to happen?
  • If God is love, why would He send people to Hell?

Those posits and probes are just a few of the lengthy litany of assaults to which Christian students may be subjected.

Ratio Christi is also engaged in their “appeal to Caesar” over the legal issues of free speech that allow Christian students to assemble and to advocate for the Lord without undue restraint.

Historical Note: Evangelist Paul E. Little wrote two books in the mid-20th century that were a foreshadowing of the eventual necessity of organizations like Ratio Christi. Those books were “Know What You Believe” (1970, Scripture Press) and “Know Why You Believe” (1967, Scripture Press). They are still worth reading and are available at Amazon.


Read more news on Non Profit / Faith Based Organizations, Christian Ministry, and Apologetics


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