NYU President John Sexton appeared on “The Colbert Report” on Thursday
night to discuss his newest book. What he got was a rose.

After a brief parody of “The Bachelor” in which President Sexton was given a
rose by Stephen Colbert to appear as his guest, the two sat down and discussed
his book “Baseball As a Road to God: Seeing Beyond the Game.”

The book discusses exactly what the title entails: how baseball can be used to
be closer to whichever higher deity one chooses to believe in, if any. The book is
based on the Gallatin course of the same name that Sexton has been teaching
for several semesters.

“Are you saying Jesus is baseball?” Colbert asked Sexton at the beginning of the
short interview, noting that according to Catholic teachings, the way to God is
through Jesus.

Sexton replied that the point of his book is to show there are many roads to god.
He noted that due to his Catholic upbringing, he wrote the book in a Catholic
context, but this philosophy can apply to any religion.

“God, like baseball, is timeless,” Sexton said.

He also spoke about finding the meaning of life and said that meaning is often
ineffable.

Colbert appeared befuddled after listening to Sexton explain this and said that
Sexton didn’t make any sense.

However, in a brief nod to the student body, he noted that NYU students would
probably understand Sexton’s work better than he ever would.

Charlie Spector is a contributing writer. Email him at [email protected].