Cornerstone University Annual Magazine 2022

pictured
Page 25: Panelists with CU
President Gerson Moreno-Riaño
during the Oct. 27 event.
Clockwise from top: April 2022
panelist Mary Ann Gomez Orta,
April 2022 panelist Noah Feldman,
October 2022 panelist Samuel
Rodriguez, October 2022 panelist
Miroslav Volf, April 2022 panelist
Ross Douthat and October 2022
panelist Ian Rowe.
RYAN PRINS PHOTOGRAPHY © 2022
If we can duplicate
this and clone it
around America,
we can actually
change the atmosphere
in America today.
SAMUEL RODRIGUEZ
Wisdom Conversations could have been a small
event, but Moreno-Riaño dreamed big and said, “Let’s
see who we can bring in.” He hand-picked national
leaders to share their wisdom on the topic. Last spring,
panelists included New York Times conservative
columnist Ross Douthat, Harvard law professor Noah
Feldman and congressional Hispanic caucus president
Mary Ann Gomez Orta. This fall, the panel featured
Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National
Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference; Mr. Ian
Rowe, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise
Institution; and Dr. Miroslav Volf, a professor of
systematic theology at Yale Divinity School. Both
events were moderated by Moreno-Riaño.
In this fall’s Wisdom Conversations, panelists
discussed what Schaeffer so eloquently laid out in his
book—living out a Christian life amidst a crumbling
morality. What does this look like today? How do we
live the life God asks us to in a world that is becoming
more and more self-centered by the day? How are we
to be Christians in an anti-Christian environment?
Schaeffer reasons that the only way to live in the
modern world of declining morality and values is to
embrace the Christian life laid out in the Bible.
“The panel assembled to discuss this topic was
outstanding,” said Bob Sack, Cornerstone’s vice
president for university advancement. “Volf is a deep
thinker and strong communicator. Ian Rowe was
brilliant in a book he wrote on African American youth.
Rodriguez has risen to a role as a president of an
organization that has much clout and an ethnic group
that is fast growing and increasing in influence.
“The beauty of Wisdom Conversations is that it asks
profound questions and fearlessly explores them from
a Christian worldview,” Sack continued.
Leading up to Wisdom Conversations, the Logos
Center, CU’s campus think tank that helps Cornerstone
community, faculty, staff and students to consider the
integration of faith and learning, hosted a series of
Friday discussions for faculty and staff about each of
the panelists’ works. After the event, the Logos Center
staged five more Friday discussions for faculty and staff.
“Wisdom Conversations isn’t just a one-and-done
event,” Dr. Michael Pasquale, professor of linguistics,
said. “It’s something that’s part of our culture that we
enjoy engaging in.
“Students, faculty, staff, constituents and the
community were all invited to the event in the hopes
that everyone who engaged in the event would
continue to think about the question, ‘How do we
love God with all our being in our world today?’” said
Pasquale. “As a faculty member, I encourage students
to continue to think about things as more than just
being important for a grade. We want our students to
be lifelong learners and have an influence in the world
beyond campus.”
Following the Oct. 27 event, post-event feedback
affirmed the value of the event for West Michigan and
beyond. “The concept is brilliant and beautiful. It’s full
of civility—not rancor, not rhetoric, not hyperbole—just
great conversations that lead to societal transformation
and cultural reformation,” Rodriguez said. “If we can
duplicate this and clone it around America, we can
actually change the atmosphere in America today.”
“Wisdom Conversations provides CU the opportunity
to offer Christian thought leadership to a world that
desperately needs it,” Moreno-Riaño says. “That is
wisdom in action.”
Every semester will hold a new Wisdom
Conversations with a new topic and panel. Listen
to past events and find more information on the
upcoming Wisdom Conversations event slated for
the spring semester at cornerstone.edu/wisdom.
26 27
CORNERSTONE UNIVERSITY ANNUAL MAGAZINE
FALL 2022
CORNERSTONE UNIVERSITY ANNUAL MAGAZINE
FALL 2022