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Public evangelists Cliffe and Stuart Knechtle, who have spent the last 45 years visiting college campuses, came to Harvard on Friday to speak to students about Christianity.

Knechtle, the founder of “Give Me an Answer” ministry and a pastor at Grace Community Church, has built his brand on answering questions about religion.

Friday’s events — hosted by Christian campus group Harvard Undergraduate Faith in Action — kicked off with an open question and answer session in the Science Center Plaza, where Knechtle and his son, Stuart, answered questions from more than 100 students.

The Knechtles continued to take student questions on a range of topics at a follow-up event in Yenching Auditorium Friday night, where they encouraged students to develop their relationship with God and with Jesus Christ.

“We can know — not in entirety, can’t prove — but we can know things based on evidence, based on the exercise of our rational minds, and we can actually know God,” Stuart Knechtle said. “We can actually know Jesus Christ in a spiritual relationship.”

Cliffe Knechtle has grown a large following online, primarily on Instagram and TikTok, by answering questions from skeptical students on camera. He also frequently appears as a guest on celebrity podcasts, including with Charlie Kirk and Logan Paul.

He and his son have visited more than a dozen campuses, including Cornell University, Yale University, and Stanford University.

At Friday’s event, the Knechtles answered questions on a range of topics, including evolution and whether or not God has a path for us.

“The beginning of Scripture, when Moses is writing in the Torah, is he thinking about a scientific question or a mathematical one? He is not thinking about process,” Cliffe Knechtle said. “So whether evolution exists or not, that’s a direct scientific theory.”

“He is thinking and talking to God and processing,” he added. “Why are we here? How do we get here? What’s our meaning and purpose?”

Students also expressed doubt in their questions, asking how to reconcile their faith with inequality and suffering.

The Knechtles acknowledged the concerns, but encouraged them to maintain their faith in an “all-loving” God.

“So you go through the worst type of suffering imaginable, but at the very bottom of it, you know that he still loves you, because his son died on the cross for you,” Stuart Knechtle said.

Cliffe Knechtle said students should engage with their faith by seeking out other believers.

“There’s no such thing as a lone wolf Christian,” he said.

“We need each other to love on each other, to build each other up, to read the Bible together, to deal with difficult questions in an honest, intellectual way,” he added.

Knechtle also told students to seek out mentorship from “brilliant” Christians in the Cambridge area.

“Find those Christians who are more intelligent, more experienced, and pin them wit questions,” he said.

HUFA hosts regular Friday night meetings for Christian students of all denominations.

James “Jim” Galvin, a staff member of HUFA, closed the event by leading the group in singing a hymn and reading a closing prayer.

“Thank you for being open and honest and real with your questions,” Galvin said. “Don’t ever stop asking good questions.”

—Staff writer Sebastian B. Connolly can be reached at sebastian.connolly@thecrimson.com and on X @SebastianC4784.

—Staff writer Julia A. Karabolli can be reached at julia.karabolli@thecrimson.com.