Dan Simon

What is truth? It’s a question that’s been asked countless times over many millennia. I’ve asked the question myself, starting when I was a teenager in Phoenix, Arizona. I was raised as a Christian but after I started college, I realized that my faith wasn’t strong enough to engage the new intellectual challenges that I faced. Did God really exist? Did Jesus really rise from the dead? Was the Bible really trustworthy? Why would a good God allow suffering? The more I struggled in this theological quicksand, the deeper I sunk. Every answer I found just raised more questions. As the years passed, I hung on to my faith but was never comfortable or confident that I had really found the answer to that haunting question, “What is truth?” But God gradually brought me to a point where I realized that I didn’t need to know all the answers. I learned that faith isn’t the absence of doubt – in fact, faith actually requires doubt. If there’s no doubt, then it’s not faith – it’s knowledge. I realize now that God requires my commitment in spite of the absence of proof. Like Job in the Bible, I now say, “I will trust him, no matter what – even if he kills me.” Unconditional commitment – that’s faith. Don’t misunderstand – there’s a huge amount of evidence for the existence of God, the resurrection of Jesus, and the reliability of the Bible – but I’ll never have proof. But I have something better than proof – I have faith, and that’s a gift that only God can give. Although I’ll continue asking questions the rest of my life, I’ll never again need to ask, “What is truth?” I’ve discovered that truth is not a concept, an ideal, or a philosophy. Truth is a person. Jesus is the truth, so I can now say that I know the Truth. He’s always with me through his Spirit. He guides me, listens to me, and speaks to me, all through faith. He even answers some of my questions – although he asks more questions than he answers. My search for truth was long and arduous, but in the end, I didn’t find the truth – He found me.

My Life

Favorite Quote

You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free - John 8:32

Friends describe me

behind my back

My hobbies

Running, Reading, Bible Study

Fantasy dinner guests

Martin Luther, Larry Norman, my dad

Best advice I ever received

Buy Google stock (too bad I didn't listen ...)

My undergrad alma mater

Arizona State University

My worst subject in school

Art

In college I drove

VW Bug

If I weren't a professor, I would

be frustrated

Favorite books

Romans - Revelation - anything by C. S. Lewis, N. T. Wright, or Timothy Keller

Favorite movies

Twelve Monkeys, The Gods Must be Crazy

Favorite city

Boston

Favorite coffee

Brazilian

Nobody knows I

bench pressed 340 pounds back in the day

My latest accomplishment

modesty forbids ...

Current Research

control theory, computer intelligence, human-machine systems