An Historian Examines the Resurrection (Video)

In this short clip from the 'Life of Jesus' series, John Dickson explains that while there's no hard proof for the resurrection of Jesus, we do have the sort of historical evidence that a resurrection would leave behind. (Found on the Centre for Public Christianity website). An appropriate reminder for Easter.




See also this post:  Reasons to believe the Biblical accounts about Jesus

Formation of the New Testament Canon - Self Improvement Wednesday with Chris Forbes

Each week Richard Glover on the ABC Radio 702 Drive program has a segment called self-improvement Wednesday - a short interview and discussion with an Academic expert on a specific subject. This week (April 18th) the subject was the formation of the canon of the New Testament with Dr Chris Forbes, a Senior Lecturer in Ancient History and Deputy Chairman of the Society for the Study of Early Christianity at Macquarie University.

This is how the segment was described on the ABC website:

The Da Vinci Code is a hugely popular work of fiction but it's not historically correct. Find out how the books of the New Testament came to be chosen as the Christian canon on SIW today.

An interesting and helpful 10 minute listen. You can listen online or download here or subscribe to the podcast here.

Hope you find it as interesting as I did.

Responding to Richard Dawkins & the New Atheists

My friends at Outreach Media have just launched a website called DoubtingDawkins.Com to respond to the Global Atheist's Convention in Melbourne this week. The site is based around 22 questions and statements that challenge Richard Dawkins' logic and manner. The 20,000 words of great content have been written by a talented and diverse team of philosophers, theologians and scientists. Why not check out what it has to say.


You can also watch this short video promoting the site (On Vimeo)


Doubting Dawkins from Nicholas Ryan on Vimeo.


Check it out at DoubtingDawkins.com

Reasons to Believe the Biblical Accounts of Easter (Videos)

Last week Dr John Dickson visited UWS Bankstown at the invitation of the department of Social Science to speak about Humility. In these videos he looks at the reasons to believe the Easter story in the Bible is historically reliable.




Reasons to believe Part 2:


To talk more about this topic come to CBM (especially in Easter week): Tuesday 1-2pm in 1.1.223 and Thursday 1-2 pm in 1.1.081

Atheism for the Incorrigibly Religious

Alain de Botton is a Swiss Philosopher currently in Australia promoting he latest book: On Religion for Atheists.  Dan (who is a philosophy graduate and studying for his Ph D as well as working in University student ministry) went to hear him speak at the Sydney Opera House.


Here is an excerpt from his reflections on the event:

The reason that religions have much to teach atheists, according to De Botton, begins with the insight that humans are basically ‘not ok’: the basic human condition is one of vulnerability, fragility, lostness. For De Botton, this is the fundamental truth behind the Christian doctrine of original sin. And it’s a truth that New Atheism, proclaimed from the High Tables of Oxbridge, abjectly fails to reckon with. The modernist humanistic project has been altogether too quick to leave us to our own devices and what is needed is a thoroughgoing reappraisal of our need for an education in the disciplines of living well. Religions understand this, they understand that education is not about skilling people for tasks, but a process of moral formation and guidance to help us navigate the twin uncertainties of our world and our hearts. The rationalist education produces better hairdressers; the religious, better people.

De Botton’s sampling at the bain-marie of religion is guided by his desire to introduce atheists into these effective practices of moral formation. . . .

Do check out his brilliant review here: Papermind/atheism-for-the-incorrigibly-religious/.

The Case For God

I've recently been doing some preparation for some outreach meetings on campus where we have asked people what questions they have for God. In doing this thinking I find the CPX website invaluable.
I came across a series by Greg Clarke written in response to the Atheist convention held in Australia early in 2010. His article on 'The Case for God' is very helpful (and a good length!)
Here are two (brief) arguments for God:

1. An originating capital-M Mind is the best explanation of why there is something rather than nothing, of why the universe is here at all. A more complicated statement that might also hold true is that our observance of the natural world leads us to conclude that it looks like a capital-M Mind was involved in its structuring, and furthermore, rationally, a capital-M Mind explains very well why the conditions of the universe are so finely tuned for life.

2. It is very hard to convince a human being, whether religious or an atheist, that the universe is without meaning, without values and without purpose. We are all pretty much agreed that it is full of these things: meaning (our lives matter), values (we can recognise with some finesse the difference between good and bad), and purpose (history is going somewhere). The hypothesis that there is a God does a better job of explaining these things than its alternative, the naturalist hypothesis, simply because with God these things are then real rather than illusory, as they are in the naturalist worldview. Real meaning, genuine values, lasting purpose. God is the best explanation of these elements of existence.

Greg also makes the important point that very few people are ever argued into the kingdom of God. Much more helpful is an encounter with the Lord Jesus through the scriptures, however this kind of article can be helpful in laying down the philosphical background and framework that helps Christians (and not-yet-Christians) understand the philosophical underpinnings of faith.
It is certainly worth reading the rest of Greg's article, here: http://publicchristianity.org/library/response-to-global-atheism-conference-a-short-case-for-god.

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John Lennox on Science, the Bible and Belief in the 21st Century

John Lennox is currently in Australia. He is Professor of Mathematics and Philosophy of Science at Oxford University. I went to hear him this week speak to a packed auditorium at a school in Southern Sydney. He particularly spoke about the arguments of the 'New Atheists' (who include Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins and Peter Singer - all of whom he has debated) and some of the flaws in their arguments.

It was a helpful talk that also presented clearly some of the arguments for Christianity and the basis of Lennox's own belief.  Unfortunately it was all-too-brief and has motivated me to continue reading his book (which I have just started): God's undertaker: Has Science Buried God (2009).

This interview from CPX was recorded on a previous visit to Australia, and discusses some of the issues in a helpful way:


Science, the Bible and belief in the 21st Century from CPX on Vimeo.


You can find more Lennox videos at:  http://www.publicchristianity.com/lennoxvids.html

...

Richard Dawkins debates John Lennox on 'The God Delusion'

I have recently been thinking about the relationship between Science and Christianity in seeking to answer the question of 'hasn't science disproved Christianity?' (See http://www.godtalkatuws.blogspot.com/.) One of the most famous debates in recent times on the topic was between Professor Richard Dawkins (of Oxford) and Profesor John Lennox (also of Oxford). Held at the University of Alabama in Birmingham in 2008. The topic was specifically the title of Dawkins' book, The God Delusion.

The video can be found here.  The whole debate goes for an hour and 40 minutes (153 MB!). Let me know what you think.

You may be interested to have a look at some of the other work Dawkins is doing. Here is a report on Dawkins' crusade regarding Faith Schools. A series of videos called Faith Schools Menace was released on August 18th.

His own website is here, and his related founndation: "The mission of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science is to support scientific education, critical thinking and evidence-based understanding of the natural world in the quest to overcome religious fundamentalism, superstition, intolerance and human suffering."  Sounds like a crusade to me. No wonder people are calling him a 'fundamentalist'!

Professor John Lennox on the Problem of Suffering and Evil

At a recent outreach at UWS we raised the question of suffering and evil by asking: 'Is God Really Good'

I found this helpful resource at the Centre for Public Christianity (CPX). Professor John Lennox (of Oxford University) discusses the arguments for God's goodness - at both an intellectual and emotional level. I hope it is helpful.


A good God? from CPX on Vimeo.



More videos can be found here:  http://www.publicchristianity.com/Videos/lennox.html