Many who would not attend formal sessions stop to hear what is being said in the informality of a university’s free speech area. Those students’ questions can be asked and answered in this setting.
Newspaper articles about Bob’s Open Forums
Christian apologist Siegel draws crowds, controversy
Tyler Wilson-Ross
The Willamette University Collegian
November 1, 1996
Campus Ambassadors invited the outspoken Christian speaker Bob Siegel for a series of talks and appearances here at Willamette University. “Mr. Siegel is very good at communicating and interacting with audiences in a respectful manner,” said Campus Ambassadors spokesman Dan Barram, “but at the same time he’s always wrestling with the issues.” Siegel’s appearance was hyped with flyers and table tents titled “Atheism is Inconsistent.”
Siegel. an ordained pastor with the Baptist church, was challenged at Jackson Plaza on Wednesday with a series of questions posed by the throng of students who gathered to hear him. With the deftness of a professional speaker, Mr. Siegel addressed the students’ questions and attacks on Christians’ stances and views, as well as criticisms of the Bible. As a child growing up- in a Jewish household, he explained, he became disillusioned and embraced atheism, a belief that fulfilled his needs at the time. But, as he continued, he found that one could not live as a true atheist. Thus he came to a belief in God and joined the Christian faith.
Atheism was but one of the many topics discussed by Siegel and his audience. Other areas of discourse included the Bible, slavery, and homosexuality. During Siegel’s explanation of the latter, he was met with the opposition of an outspoken member of the audience who angrily challenged his view and then stalked away. Near the end of this two hour question and answer session, Mr. Siegel encouraged anyone with further questions to talk to him during his visit here, either outside the Willamette Bookstore on Thursday and Friday or at his next open air discussion on Saturday.
“I think Mr. Siegel has a very rational approach to Christianity,” said participant Danielle Gordon, “and that’s helpful, especially if you’re seeking truth.”
Siegel, who spoke at Willamette last year as well, will appear on Friday from 10:00-12:00 at the book table outside the Bookstore, from 12:00-2:00 in Jackson Plaza, 6:30 p.m. in the Hatfield Room during Koinonia, and from 8:30-10:00 in the Bistro.
Speaker answers the tough questions
San Diego minister uses open dialogue to share his religious views with students
Kristy Hessman
The Daily Barometer
Oregon State University
Oct. 25, 2001
Crowds of curious students congregated outside the steps of the Memorial Union on Wednesday. Some stood on the fringes, taking in the scene, while others sat munching pizza or gazing down from the balconies. In the center of the constantly changing group stood an animated Bob Siegel. Siegel, a Christian minister from San Diego, spent three hours at the MU on Tuesday and Wednesday, drawing in passers-by with his willingness to answer questions on the Bile, Jesus, Christianity and religion. “People are usually pretty friendly;’ Siegel said. “There is an antagonism with Christianity. I acknowledge it. Which makes people more willing to listen.
Mike Bittner, a senior in finance, took in the dialogue and reactions from audience members for more than an hour. “He’s not being aggressive,” Bittner said. “If someone confronts him, he’s like, ‘I’m glad you’re here asking questions.’ He’s cool.”
Siegel works for Mission to the Americas, an organization whose aim is to evangelize to who it calls “the unreached of the Americas,” according to the organization’s Web site. His visit, which will include two focused discussions today at noon and 7:30 p.m., is sponsored by the OSU Campus Ambassadors. Siegel has traveled to a number of campuses in the Midwest and East Coast, he said. Next week, he will make an appearance at Willamette University.
One of the most common questions he gets asked is, “How can God be a loving God in a world where there is so much evil. It is one that has been particularly prevalent since the recent tragedies in New York City and at the Pentagon. God did not bomb the World Trade Center,” Siegel said. “I believe humans are responsible for the evil in the world. Just because God exists doesn’t mean he is going to intervene with man’s free will. We are still held accountable for our choices.” Siegel will elaborate on this ideas tonight at an open forum titled, “Where was God on 9-11?” to be held at Milam Auditorium.
The second most popular question Siegel gets concerns other religions. Growing up with both atheist and Jewish influences, Siegel said he can relate to different theologies. It was during his second year in college at San Jose State that Siegel became a Christian. “I told someone that if there was a hell I would rather go there than become a Christian,” Siegel told Wednesday’s crowd. “The next day I became a Christian.” The change came after Siegel had an encounter with Christ. “I was convinced that his spirit was real,” he said.
After Siegel was finished speaking, a number of students extended their thanks, hugs and encouragement for the words he spoke. Others were simply impressed with his courage. “I think it’s interesting he wants to talk about it,” junior in business Sarah Niewald said of Siegel’s discussion ‘It’s pretty brave.”