At 7:45 p.m. last night, students packed into Emerson 105 for the kickoff of the Veritas Forum-a debate on the existence of God.

The debate, titled "Theism Reconsidered: Does God Exist?" pitted Harvard Christian Unity members Richard T. Halvorson '03 and Lara M. Buchak `03 against Shankar Duraiswamy `02 and Christopher M. Kirchhoff `01 of the Harvard Secular Society.

Wolfson Professor of Jewish Studies Jay M. Harris, who teaches Moral Reasoning 54: "If There is No God, Then is all Permitted?" moderated the debate.

About the only point the participants could agree on was that this kind of debate is important.

In an hour-long whirlwind discussion of postulates, theorems and axioms to make your head spin, the participants dissected everything from the big bang to evolution. The debate centered on the question of whether or not there is a benevolent creator.

Halverson cited the belief that everything must have a cause and the complexity of DNA, the universe, and other natural phenomena as evidence of a creator.

Duraiswamy and Kirchhoff were more than happy to debate the fine points of DNA and argued that complexity itself can arise from evolution and is not itself evidence of a creator.