(Mason Cru / Fourth Estate)

Viral father-son pastor duo Cliffe and Stuart Knechtle discuss Christianity with large Mason crowd

BY BASIL MUSTAFA, STAFF WRITER

Cliffe and Stuart Knechtle from the YouTube channel “Give Me an Answer” discussed Christian faith at a public event hosted by Mason Cru to over 3,000 attendees on Thursday, Feb. 5.

The pair spent a total of seven hours in the Hub Ballroom, and the line to get in frequently stretched two floors down to The Hub’s basement. The event was catered to skeptics who wanted to see if the tenets of Christianity can hold up to real scrutiny.

Topics such as discerning the difference between major and minor aspects of Christianity, sectarianism and colonization surfaced throughout the event.

Cliffe maintained a stance against sectarianism, the devotion to a particular sect of a religion. When the topic of Mormonism arose, he asserted that those who truly follow the word of Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet, are not Christian. He added that his Mormon friends “put their faith in Jesus” and don’t understand the message of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young.

Cliffe also argued that academics are being “racist and bigoted” when they assert that colonization is the sole reason that the black diaspora believe in Jesus.

Questions about faith were also asked outside the Hub Ballroom. While waiting in line for the event, one attendee asked, “What do you guys think of Jesus?” to two others.

Cliffe has been showing up on college campuses for over 45 years, and he has videos of his discussions that date back to 2007. His videos have amassed over 90 million views on YouTube alone. His son, Stuart Knechtle, joined his father’s campus talks after graduating from seminary.

Junior Ian Rodgers described Cliffe Knechtle as “very informed” when asked what made him such an effective pastor. 

“He backs up all his statements with Bible and scripture,” junior Ian Jones said.

At the end of the event, many students bowed their heads as Cliffe led a prayer asking for forgiveness and guidance toward the right path.

(Basil Mustafa / Fourth Estate)

“[The event] was something that one of the affiliate staff had been dreaming about,” said Bridget Hite, a staff member involved with Mason Cru. “And once he shared it with everyone, they were like ‘What? Is that really a possibility?’ … so it was really a group dream.” 

Junior Emma Messer, a member of Cru, attributed the large turnout to a hefty amount of prayer.

“We’ve been praying for weeks on end to prepare for this moment,” she said. “We had a vision for 5,000 people and we were like, ‘God can do something really great with this,’ but when we wrote that number down, we were like ‘there’s no way.’” 

Messer added that there were only 250 sign ups when the event was first announced.

Senior Brennan Lasher, also a member of Cru, said Mason’s diversity allowed the event to “plant a lot of seeds,” and provide “a lot of direction” to students who have questions about faith. 

Lasher also said the event helped show the resources that Cru has access to and will hopefully inspire others to join the club.

As the event wrapped up, six attendees huddled together with their heads bowed in prayer before leaving the room.