Drea Cabral, Contributing Photographer

On Thursday, Cliffe Knechtle and his son Stuart Knechtle visited campus to answer Yalies’ questions about Christianity. Over 100 students visited Beinecke Plaza to see Knechtle.

In a collaborative effort with the Yale Christian Union, Cliffe and Stuart Knecthle spent six hours on Beinecke Plaza debating with Yalies, constantly surrounded by a crowd of students. The event was intended for persons of any faith to challenge or reaffirm their beliefs and to receive answers to any questions about Christianity. 

“This event is designed to actively engage skeptics, empower truth-seekers, and offer meaningful responses to the questions, doubts, and challenges that arise when exploring faith, reason, and the meaning of life,” the Yale Christian Union wrote on its Instagram when advertising the event.

Knecthle gained popularity online by posting clips of himself debating college students on the existence of God, evolution and other topics related to Christianity. His son Stuart Knecthle has followed in Cliffe’s footsteps, visiting college campuses around the country with his father. 

Throughout the event, a few topics repeatedly resurfaced: evolution, free will, morality and the interpretation of the Bible. 

Cliffe Knecthle said he believes in evolution as a process but not as a theory of creation. When questioned why evolution is not written in the Bible, Cliffe Knecthle noted he believes there in the Bible as a philosophy rather than as science.

When Cliffe Knecthle was asked what in the Bible should be taken literally or metaphorically, he said one should use one’s reason, not one’s conscience. In response to free will, he argued humans have free will, that God is outside of time and we are not. 

“I found the questions about evolution and objective morality to be the most remarkable because their nuance makes me, as a Christian, do the most introspection about my own beliefs,” attendee Nicodemus Bezuayeho ’28 wrote to the News. “Overall, the event was refreshing, fostering mutual respect and open dialogue that encouraged everyone to reflect on their own beliefs.” 

A member of the Christian Union, Bezuayeho was excited to attend the event after watching Cliffe and Stuart Knecthle on YouTube. He admired the individual attention and dedication the Knecthles paid to attendees on Thursday. 

Another attendee, Elle Trident ’27, told the News she attended the event to receive answers to questions that had recently caused her to question her faith after growing up in a conservative Christian environment.

She asked the Knechtles two questions and had differing reactions to his answers.

She first asked how to cope with the discrepancies between how she feels and what is said in the Bible. She said that at one point in this conversation, Stuart Knecthle disagreed with her, and the question very quickly became a “moot point.” 

Yet, she also asked him about concerns she had about non-Christians, to which he responded that people can follow God’s spirit without knowing that they are. She said that his response helped to quiet her anxiety on that topic.

Attendees came from a wide array of backgrounds and religions, if any. As such, the attendees had varying reactions to Cliffe and Stuart Knecthle’s arguments.

Another student attendee, who wished to remain anonymous due to fear of retribution from Knecthle’s online followers, told the News that she fundamentally disagreed with Cliffe and Stuart Knecthle’s approach to the debate. 

“I think discussion about religion should be based on mutual respect,” she said. “I think that [Cliffe Knechtle’s] approach to discussion on religion was not based in respect, and seemed more like trying to get ‘gotcha moments’ instead of trying to actually spread the word of God.”

Cliffe and Stuart Knechtle’s YouTube channel has 719,000 subscribers and Stuart Knechtle’s Instagram has 1.4 million followers.