This Sunday, Christians everywhere will be celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. During the week leading up to Easter, Christians all over campus came together to commemorate Christ's last moments on Earth during various Jesus Week events. Jesus Week -- an independent, student-organized event not affiliated with any Christian group on campus -- began three years ago and has expanded since then. Wharton junior Jason Hsu, who served on the event's planning committee, said Jesus Week "is a consorted effort to worship God, which happens on the micro-level by itself, but Jesus Week is a way to do it on a bigger level." On Wednesday, Rick Phillips, a 1992 Wharton graduate, delivered a speech in Houston Hall entitled "A Perfect Solution to an Imperfect World," where he answered the question, "What do our attempts look like to bring about civilization with harmony, peace, and justice?" Phillips discussed the four main approaches that the world currently takes to answer this question: politics, man and time, education and psychology. Speaking to a crowd of more than 50, Phillips showed how man alone does not have the answer to the world's problems. He explained that man wants to be in charge of himself, but noted that God's help is needed to solve the problems in the world. "The world needs a miracle," Phillips said. "The big miracle is that God himself has walked down the roads of the world. He alone lived sinless and died on the cross for us. Trust in Jesus means an end to rebellion against God." Nursing freshman Jill Mogensen praised Phillips' speech, saying he "doesn't delude anything." "There are few opportunities to see Christianity presented as it is," she noted. The week's events also included a coffee house and a campus-wide worship service. On Monday, Christians sang together and listened to a message delivered by Campus Crusade for Christ Regional Director Steve Baker on College Green. The speech centered around the importance of Christ in the lives of Christian youth. The coffee house Tuesday at Houston Hall was a presentation of the Gospels through drama and music. "There was such unity among the people there," Mogensen said of the event. "There was a skit called 'The Bridge' that showed how Jesus Christ is the bridge between God and man. There were people crying. It was so powerful." The week culminated in a campus-wide worship yesterday in the Nursing Education Building. The event consisted of praying, singing and preaching from the Bible. Hsu said non-Christians also participated in the celebration of Jesus Week. "Our goal was to create events that non-Christians would come to," he said, adding that if they failed to accomplish the goal, the week "is not a success."
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
DonatePlease note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.