FREE Audio Book by Mark Driscoll — Religion Saves

This audio book is free this month here: http://christianaudio.com/product_info.php?products_id=2028

Narrated by Mark Driscoll & published by Crossway

In his distinctively edgy—yet theologically sound—style, Pastor Mark Driscoll addresses the nine most pressing questions posed by visitors to the Mars Hill Church website.

Inspired by 1 Corinthians, in which Paul answers a series of questions posed by the people in the Corinthian church, in 2008 Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle polled the visitors of his church’s website to determine their most pressing questions. Visitors were allowed to vote up to 10 times per day, and in the end, 893 questions were asked and 343,203 votes were cast. The top nine questions are now each answered in this audio version of Religion Saves.

After an introduction devoted to the misconception that religion can save us, Driscoll tackles questions relating to birth control, humor, predestination, grace, sexual sin, faith and works, dating, the emerging church, and the regulative principle. Because the purpose of this audiobook is to address commonly asked questions, all listeners will find relevant, engaging material, presented in Driscoll’s distinctively edgy – yet theologically sound – style.

Oh, and the coupon code to get it free is “FEB2010″

The AppleiPad and Theological Study

An incredibly exciting device, long speculated by many people, has finally been revealed to the masses. You can check out the videos of both the keynote speech by Steve Jobs, and the iPad video here:

http://www.apple.com/nz/ipad/#video

This device will no doubt revolutionize the way many of us access information. The great pricing will guarantee that millions will buy it, and the consuming masses guarantee lots of dollars for the numerous developers that will be writing software for the beast right now as you read.

I did a quick search for Bible software and found this:

http://www.olivetree.com/

Of course, this will not run on the iPad right now … I am having you on … in fact it will run this app right now as the iPad will run iPhone and iPod Touch applications without modification.

However, the Olive Tree company will no doubt modify this app to use the large screen and make tremendous improvements to a product that is already highly rated by users on the Apple store.

Given the base price is $499 USD, these should land in New Zealand for about $700 NZD I would expect Here’s hoping!

Apologetics For A New Generation

I feel so lost…I’m not sure what I believe anymore. Can you help me?

For every teenage or college-age person who shares these thoughts, many more hide similar feelings inside. This generation’s faith is constantly under attack from the secular media, skeptical teachers, and unbelieving peers. You may wonder, How can I help?

Working with young adults every day, Sean McDowell understands their situation and shares your concern. His first-rate team of contributors, including Dan Kimball, Josh McDowell, and Brian Godawa, shows how you can helps members of a new generation plant thier feet firmly on the truth. Find out how you can talk them through the process of…

• formulating a biblical worldview and applying scriptural principles to everyday issues
• articulating their questions and addressing their doubts in a safe environment
• becoming confident in their faith and effective in the witness

The truth never gets old, but people need to hear it in fresh, new ways. Find out how you can effectively share your answers to life’s big questions with a new generation.

Available online are the FREE study and a FREE chapter, both in PDF format. You can find both on this page:

http://www.conversantlife.com/apologetics-for-a-new-generation

Glaciergate – should the public trust scientists? What about Darwinism?

Occasionally polls are taken and results published, and we find which groups in society are perceived to be the most trustworthy, according to society. The findings usually show something like: we trust doctors and firemen, but lawyers, used-car salesman, real estate agents and politicians, are, um, not very trustworthy. Well, something like that anyhow.

Well, what about scientists?

UN climate panel blunders again over Himalayan glaciers is yet another mainstream-published piece that adds to the recent torrent of credibility claims about the previously-called global warming saga. Look at the opening shots from the Times article, and consider whether terrible damage that is being done to the credibility of science and/or scientists.

The chairman of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), has used bogus claims that Himalayan glaciers were melting to win grants worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Rajendra Pachauri’s Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), based in New Delhi, was awarded up to £310,000 by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the lion’s share of a £2.5m EU grant funded by European taxpayers.

It means that EU taxpayers are funding research into a scientific claim about glaciers that any ice researcher should immediately recognise as bogus. The revelation comes just a week after The Sunday Times highlighted serious scientific flaws in the IPCC’s 2007 benchmark report on the likely impacts of global warming.

Ouch!

Stephen Meyer doing another debate in Tampa, FL

Stephen Meyer, Michael Medved, David Berlinski and Thomas Woodward are coming to Tampa Florida for Design vs. Darwin Event

The debate between Darwin and design is coming to Tampa, Florida with a major one-night event featuring some of the leading voices challenging Darwinian evolution.

Click here to register for this event: http://signatureinthecell.eventbrite.com/

Discovery Institute senior fellow and national radio personality Michael Medved will lead a two-hour discussion about the evidence for intelligent design and the challenges it proposes to modern evolutionary theory. Joining him will be Signature in the Cell author, Stephen C. Meyer; leading Darwin skeptic and author of The Deniable Darwin, David Berlinski; and scientist, scholar and writer, Thomas Woodward author of Darwin Strikes Back.

The event will take place at The A La Carte Pavilion, Tampa, FL, Thursday, January 28th at 7pm and is hosted by the C. S. Lewis Society. Discovery Institute is one of the co-sponsors.

The cost of admission is $6 for Students and $12 for Adults. For more information and advanced ticket sales, call (727) 376-6911 x 336. Or you can simply purchase tickets to the event online: http://signatureinthecell.eventbrite.com/

Source: Facebook

Random feeds from Thinking Matters New Zealand

• The New Veritas Forum Website
• Authority and Application
• Apologetics Study Bible for Students
• Who Designed the Designer?
• Panel Discussion of Stephen Meyer’s Signature in the Cell
• Five Arguments for God
• An Interview with J.P. Moreland on Christian Worldview Integration
• Stargate Universe and the Inference to Design
• The Ten Most Popular Philosophy Articles from Think
• Don Carson on Learning How to Interpret the Bible

Random feeds from Apologetics 315

• Jay Richards vs. Christopher Hitchens Debate MP3 Audio
• Terminology Tuesday: Principle of Sufficient Reason
• Weekly Apologetics Bonus Links (01/29-02/05)
• Book Review: The Devil's Delusion by David Berlinski
• Apologist Interview: Andy Bannister of RZIM Canada
• Sunday Quote: Gordon Lewis on Apologetics
• Matt Slick vs. Eddie Tabash Debate: Does God Exist? MP3 Audio
• Is Atheism Dead, Is God Alive? MP3 Audio by Ravi Zacharias
• Signature in the Cell Discussion: Meyer, Berlinski, Woodward & Medved
• Blogger Interview: Roger Morris of FaithInterface.com.au

Mark Driscoll On the ground in Haiti

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HT to Christian News

MUST-LISTEN: Audio of debate between Stephen Meyer and Peter Atkins

UPDATE: This is an excellent discussion with lots of argy-bargy from Prof. Atkins. What I so liked about this discussion is that Atkins is an honest atheist and does not beat around the bush. These guys should should do a full moderated 3-hour debate — it would be so beneficial to those interested in this debate. Meyer too was brilliant.

Justin Brierley from the Christian radio program Unbelievable has put together an amazingly high-quality debate. I made a rough transcript, so please see below for that.

The MP3 file is here. (60 minutes)

The following is from the Unbelievable website:

Intelligent Design theorist Stephen Meyer vs. Atheist scientist Peter Atkins debate Intelligent Design.

The documentary film “Expelled” is presented by US Actor Ben Stein and makes the case that scientists who question Darwinian orthodoxy and support Intelligent Design are being “expelled” from academia.

As the UK edition of the DVD is released we ask “Is freedom of thought at stake or is Intelligent Design out of bounds when it comes to biological science?”

Stephen C Meyer is co founder of the Discovery Institute in the USA and a major proponent of Intelligent Design.

Peter Atkins is Professor of Chemistry at Oxford University and an outspoken atheist.

They both feature in “Expelled” and join Justin to debate the pros and cons of Intelligent Design theory.

Mark Haville who is bringing the film to the UK also joins the discussion.

Thinking Christians should subscribe to Justin’s podcasts here to get a regular dose of scholarship:

http://ondemand.premier.org.uk/unbelievable/AudioFeed.aspx.

PS. Justin Brierley also interviewed William (Bill) Dembski and Lewis Wolpert a couple of weeks ago on the same radio show.

Redeeming Science by Vern Poythress (FREE PDF)

Professor John Frame writes about this book:

“With doctorates in both New Testament and mathematics, and with a solid commitment to orthodox Reformed theology, Vern Poythress is uniquely qualified to write on the theology of science. Further, he is one of the most insightful theologians writing today. As you read this book, you will be amazed at the ways in which a biblical perspective illumines the work of science. Poythress deals, of course, with all the traditional science-Bible issues, like the days of Genesis. But he also shows that a biblical worldview is essential to the work of science itself, for scientific law can be nothing other than the law of the God of Scripture. This is by far the most important book you can read on this subject. I recommend it without reservation.”

Dr. Stephen Meyer from the Discovery Institute and writer of the much acclaimed Signature in the Cell writes:

“Poythress shows how a proper understanding of biblical theology makes possible not just one but many credible harmonizations of biblical and scientific truth. Along the way, he provides an insightful defense of the theory of intelligent design as a viable scientific research program. His examination of the mathematical beauty inherent in the universe gives yet another compelling reason to acknowledge the wisdom and design that lie behind physical reality.”

HT to Christian News for this item.

You can download this, and other PDF books by Poythress here:

http://www.frame-poythress.org/poythress_books.htm

The Tip of the Climategate Iceberg

The global-warming scandal is bigger than one email leak.

This piece from the Wall Street Journal is a pretty good summary of what a lot of us are no doubt thinking about “global warming”. When scientific data is kept behind closed doors, unavailable, or classified, then why should we not be suspicious that there is really something else going on other than science. The fact that the masses in Copenhagen are apparently so slow or even so unwilling to respond to the points raised in an article such as this while singing to the same tune just fuels the fire. This seems to me to be NOT science, but ideology, running wild on tax-payers money.

NZ Agnostic’s Campaign

Well, well,well, NZers often get accused of importing the worst from America, but in this case we have imports from the UK. Not that I am saying that this is worst — I hardly think so. I would much rather listen to Richard Dawkins than Oprah Winfrey! In fact, when MCAS was interviewed for the local paper a few years ago, one of the main points we wanted to get across was that we wanted “the God issue” to be brought back into public discussion. And this bus campaign will do exactly that. Hallelujah!

Check out their website here: http://www.nogod.org.nz/

Stuff article here: http://www.stuff.co.nz/oddstuff/3149823/Theres-probably-no-God-coming-to-a-bus-near-you

Related Websites
Apologetics 315 (cutting edge apologetics news)
Beretta (NZ philosophy blog)
MandM (NZ philosophy blog)
Thinking Matters (NZ Christian Apologetics blog)

“Richard Dawkins” – like you’ve never seen him before (parody)

Ouch. Intelligent Design Guys Put the Sleeperhold on Darwin’s Defenders

From here: http://www.evolutionnews.org/2009/12/ouch_intelligent_design_guys_p.html

The great debate over the adequacy of evolution continues. Sort of. The latest head to head meeting had Dr. Stephen Meyer and Dr. Richard Sternberg debating Dr. Michael Shermer and Dr. Donald Prothero. Heading into the debate I was quite excited; these aren’t lightweights, after all. The defenders of evolution are well known in science circles and to followers of the overall debate. Indeed, we’ve blogged a fair amount on Dr. Prothero who has, shall we say, a colorful and cavalier way with the facts. He is known more for polemical bromides and spurious personal attacks than for any serious science.

Waiting for the event to start, I was wondering if Prothero would be better behaved in person than he is hiding behind a keyboard. His partner was Skeptic magazine’s head honcho, Michael Shermer, who has debated Stephen Meyer before, and is known for making more theological arguments against ID, as opposed to bringing any serious scientific criticisms bear. I expected he would be the good cop to Prothero’s keystone cop. What I didn’t know was that Prothero would be Ed McMahon to his Johnny Carson.

On the other side, the contenders are just as well credentialed — maybe more so — with one holding a philosophy of science degree from Cambridge (Meyer) being the less qualified, since Sternberg holds two degrees in evolutionary and theoretical biology. Not to mention that Meyer’s new book, Signature in the Cell, is by far the most prominent book of any of the participants, having just been named a bestseller by Amazon.com, and last week honored in the Times Literary Supplement of the London Times as one of the best books of the year.

It was all shaping up to be a serious heavyweight bout. And then Meyer and Sternberg simply KO’d the competition in the opening round. If I were being generous I might say that Prothero tripped over his own arrogance and impaled himself on his condescension, but let’s be honest; he was completely knocked out by Sternberg. I think Sternberg earned a third degree tonight, one in evolutionary bulldozing.

The debate video will be made available at some point by American Freedom Alliance, the sponsors of the debate, along with Center for Inquiry, The Skeptics Society and Discovery Institute.

Shermer opened by denouncing intelligent design as not science and not to be confused with science, which is what he and Prothero apparently assumed to be the topic of the debate. (It wasn’t, sadly.) Then he turned it over to Prothero, who — after repeatedly repeating that science cannot resort to the supernatural — proceeded to race through a litany of complaints against intelligent design and assertions about the creation of amino acids and proteins, most of which was non-controversial and also not evidence for Darwinian evolution. Prothero made a number of claims about RNA chains, about how the evidence of the fossil record is “ironclad” or would be if people treated it fairly, and about how the Miller-Urey experiment was right, “and even if they weren’t it still works” (quit laughing, he was serious!). His Darwinian motivational rant went on about how the Cambrian explosion was really a “slow fuse,” not an explosion. Amazingly, he claimed that almost all the major phyla had ancestors 50 million years before the Cambrian. Alas, he was so far wrong that it wasn’t all that much effort to point it out, completely discredit him, and then let him hang himself with his twisted rope of unearned arrogance and condescension. If you’re going to be arrogant, you’d better be able to back it up with something better than, “I climbed some rocks in Russia and read an article in The New Scientist.”

To call the debate a massacre would be a discredit to Sitting Bull. The only thing I can say is that Shermer needs to add a point to his booklet on how to debate “creationists” — namely, leave Donald Prothero at home in his van by the river.

This guy is to be taken seriously? I had to remind myself not to laugh every so often during his presentation — it was so pathetic and ill-informed. Basically, Shermer and Prothero blathered on about supernaturalism, and Meyer ceded his time to Sternberg, who made an interesting presentation about whale evolution. Then he proceeded to point out the topic of the debate to Shermer and Prothero: Has Evolutionary Theory Adequately Explained the Origins of Life?, something which they never addressed because they were so busy falling all over themselves to denounce intelligent design.

Some of the best points came later in the debate, when Sternberg slammed Prothero with factual put down after factual put down, citing the current literature time and again. His command of the subject matter — from population genetics to junk DNA — was so far and above beyond Shermer and Prothero’s knowledge, so far above their pay grade, that it was almost painful to watch him school them point after point. As I said before, shortly you’ll be able to watch the debate for yourself. But be warned, it isn’t pretty.

See also:
http://www.stephencmeyer.org/
http://www.signatureinthecell.org

Debating the Origins of Life

Dr. Stephen Meyer will debate Skeptic magazine editor and Darwin defender Michael Shermer in Beverly Hills on Monday November 30.

More info on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=184759894536&ref=share

William Lane Craig vs. Francisco J. Ayala – Is Intelligent Design Viable?

Apologetics 315 has a bunch of stuff about this debate online, including the MP3 which is over 2 hours long and includes questions and answers from the floor.

Moderator of the debate, Dr. Bradley Monton has kindly put up a review of the debate on his website here.

I was really hoping for some knock-down arguments from Ayala given his amazing academic credentials and outstanding ranking in the world of evolutionary biology.  But once again, I think there was little gunpowder in the evolutionist’s chamber and we are all intellectually the worse for it.

I wonder if Richard Dawkins will have time to listen to the debate (that could have been his) and reconsider debating Craig.

Reading the summary on Bradley Monton’s website, I wonder if Dawkins may regret NOT taking up the offer and debating Craig, especially if he is so sure of his incredible claims. Why? Because apparently Craig conceded afterward that he is very inexperienced at debating this subject, so Dawkins could have blasted some big holes in ID and its followers like myself by hitting us between the eyes David Tua style with the evidence that we keep asking for.

As for a winner, my feeling is that we can notch up another win for Craig, but overall the debate could have been a lot better.

Lastly, it seems to me that for such a smart guy, Ayala’s should have a worldview that is much more coherent.  He seems to believe in God, but rejects any notion that we can detect God’s handiwork in biology.  He also seems really confused about theology — even though he has a doctorate in theology!!!  I wonder if he has ever come across the essential doctrine of the fall because it seem to me that it plays a vital role in so many of the criticisms he has of “design” in biology. If Ayala rejects both general revelation and special revelation, upon what does he base any belief in God at all?  Why not just go the whole hog and ditch God-belief altogether?

MONKEY BUSINESS: Evolution and Intelligent Design

There is usually more heat then light generated in the evolution wars. However, this video is actually pretty good imo. Thanks to the Hoover Institution for making this available!

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