Frank Turek comments on the Hitchens-Turek Debate

On Tuesday night, I debated atheist Christopher Hitchens, author of God is not Great:  How Religion Poisons Everything, at Virginia Commonwealth University. The topic was, “Does God Exist?” 

Thanks be to God (and to you for your prayers) because I don’t think the debate could have gone much better. There were several atheists who approached me afterwards to say that I had won. 

One young lady actually apologized for being an atheist!  Her position was not well represented, and she said that the arguments for God were. 

Hitchens was his usual charming and witty self (I really like him and said as much), but he did not answer any of the eight arguments that I presented for the existence of God.  And as many in the audience acknowledged, he dodged nearly all of my questions.  

Here is the introduction of a long e-mail sent to me two hours after the debate by a VCU Philosophy professor who attended (this professor told me that he is completely “non-religious”):

Dear Dr. Turek, I wanted to say once again that I greatly enjoyed your talk and that, in my judgment, you clearly and unequivocally prevailed against Hitchens. Your two mind-body arguments were, I thought, very good, as were your modernizations of the cosmological argument and the teleological argument. I was also moved by your argument that, given how vanishingly close to zero are the chances of there being any sort of life, let alone intelligent life, it is more reasonable to infer that there is a God than it is to infer that there isn’t — the first an inference, but not the latter, being an ‘inference to the best explanation’, as philosophers of science would say.

Read the rest here.

The Darwin Lectures

National Radio are running this series. Check out the MP3s here.

Evidence for Correlations Between Nuclear Decay Rates and Earth-Sun Distance

http://arxiv.org/abs/0808.3283

Unexplained periodic fluctuations in the decay rates of Si-32 and Ra-226 have been reported by groups at Brookhaven National Laboratory (Si-32), and at the Physikalisch-Technische-Bundesandstalt in Germany (Ra-226). We show from an analysis of the raw data in these experiments that the observed fluctuations are strongly correlated in time, not only with each other, but also with the distance between the Earth and the Sun. Some implications of these results are also discussed, including the suggestion that discrepancies in published half-life determinations for these and other nuclides may be attributable in part to differences in solar activity during the course of the various experiments, or to seasonal variations in fundamental constants.

ARN - Real Science-4-Kids

What is Kogs-4-Kids?

Kogs-4-Kids is a workbook set that has just been released that supports the Real Science-4-Kids curriculum. This workbook set helps students make cognitive connections between the scientific discipline they are studying (chemistry, biology, physics, and earth and space) and other disciplines such as critical thinking, language, technology, the arts, philosophy, and history. Kogs-4-Kids plus Real Science-4-Kids work together to create not only a foundation for scientific knowledge but also a framework for scientific literacy.

Order the complete Chemistry 1A Bundle today or the individual workbooks of interest (recommended for grades 3-5).  You can also download sample chapters for each topic.  Find out why kids are going krazy for kogs.

A Massive compilation of materials

www.apollos.ws

Bill Craig - Bill Cooke Debate

It happened in Auckland…

http://mandmandmandm.blogspot.com/2008/06/battle-of-bills-review-of-craig-cooke.html

My small idea of getting Dr William Lane Craig to have a debate at Auckland University ended up being an event that far exceeded my expectations. Despite the New Zealand Association of Rationalists and Humanists (NZARH) booking a larger lecture theatre at the last minute we still had to open up three additional lecture theatres with live video feeds and we still had people sitting on the floor! Question time had to be extended because of the interest. The range of people in attendance was excellent; hardened skeptics, evangelical Christians and everyone in between, young and old, high school students through to tertiary faculty.

And is about to happen in Palmy…

http://christiannews.co.nz/2008/debate-bill-craig-and-bill-cooke/

Darwin or Design Show Notes

These are some useful interviews by an Aussie! Webpage here: http://thesciphishow.com/darwinordesign

The author of Darwin or Design is Jason Rennie. Jason is also the host of The Sci Phi Show a podcast that looks at questions of science fiction and philosophy. He lives in Sydney Australia and works as a software engineer when he isn’t busy doing things like this.

If you want to contact Jason in regards to Darwin or Design he can be reached at darwinordesign@gmail.com. He checks his email regularly so you can expect a speedy reply.

An overview of Evolution

Chapter 1 : PZ Myers, An overview of Evolution and ID 15:48
Chapter 2 : Sean Carroll, What is Evo Devo ? 20:17
Chapter 3 : Nick Matzke, Can the flagellum evolve ? 29:27

Design in the ID advocates own words

Chapter 4 : Salvador Cordova, What is ID ? 20:20
Chapter 5 : Mike Behe, What is Irreducible Complexity ? 17:51
Chapter 6 : Angus Menuge, Agency and how to identify it 18:28
Chapter 7 : Guillermo Gonzalez, The Privileged Planet 17:26
Chapter 8 : Joey Campana, Does ID research actually exist ? 26:17

Non-Darwinian approaches to Evolution and Common Descent

Chapter 9 : James Shapiro, Sentient Cells ? 33:50
Chapter 10 : Mike Gene, What is Front Loading ? 23:37

ID’s critics

Chapter 11 : Elliot Sober, ID and the Philosophy of Science 10:46
Chapter 12 : Scott Turner, The problem of Design 24:02
Chapter 13 : Glenn Morton, Can ID work in Biology ? 15:19
Chapter 14 : Ryan Nichols, Are ID and Theology Inseperable ? 14:28
Chapter 15 : Georgia Purdom, Isn’t ID just Creationism in Disguise ? 21:44

ID, The Philosophy of Science, History and The Law

Chapter 16 : David Livingstone, Evolution and Christianity, The History 32:37
Chapter 17 : Del Ratzsch, Can ID be Science ? 25:38
Chapter 18 : Massimo Pigliucci, Evolutionary Epistemology and ID 28:34
Chapter 19 : Henry Schaefer, Science and Religion 14:40
Chapter 20 : Donald McConnell, Intelligent Design, Creationism and The Law 34:42
Chapter 21 : Steve Fuller, ID & Social Epistemology 19:11

ID in the Wild

Chapter 22 : John Davison, The Price of Dissent 35:26
Chapter 23 : Denyse O’Leary, ID & The Media 22:51
Chapter 24 : Geoff Simmons, Darwinism, ID & Medicine 27:40
Chapter 25 : Rob Sawyer, Calculating God 25:27

Websites and Blogs

• Beretta (NZ)
• Bible Technology (NZ)
• Culture Watch (OZ)
• John Pickering (NZ)
• Matt Flannagan (NZ)
• Stand to Reason (US)
• Scott Mackay (NZ)
• Uncommon Descent (US)

Dr. JP Moreland Books

This is an excellent book :: the title says it all.

JP calls this book the Magnum Opus of his writings.

Lee Strobel Books

Intelligent Design Arts

Links

• Evolutionary Informatics

Check it out at: http://ultimatequestions.org/

William Lane Craig coming to New Zealand

Christian News has news that W.L.C. is coming to NZ in June. Check it out here.

This is huge news for those interested in apologetics as Craig is one of the best.

Apparently Richard Dawkins was asked if he would debate W.L.C. and replied: "It would look good on his C.V., but not on mine."

Probably what Dawkins really means is that: "Um, I know I will not be able to play fast and loose with this guy like I can with most others, so, um, what derogatory comment can I use to diffuse the question?"

It’s a shame that he turned it down. Craig debated Peter Atkins (MP3)from Oxford University a few years ago, and has done numerous other debates and written and co-written several books.

Check www.reasonablefaith.org for more details!

Oxford Scholar John Lennox on Atheism and Richard Dawkins

Well - has science buried God? Of course not. John Lennox answers his own question decisively. No one who understands what science really is and is not could suppose that such interment was ever on the cards. No one who understands what religion really is, beneath its sometimes ugly face, could suppose that it would be good to bury it.

From article:

“He is taken seriously in this not because his arguments are sound but because he is an outstanding rhetorician. It is the art of bamboozlement.”

Source: http://books.guardian.co.uk…

Dinesh D’Souza Debates Daniel Dennett

Thanks to Richard Dawkins dot net for this material!

Description:

Dinesh D’Souza, Christian and best-selling author, faced off against Tufts professor, author, and atheist Daniel Dennett in a debate on the existence of god. The resolution for the debate was as follows: “God is a manmade invention.” Daniel Dennett argued the affirmative, and Dinesh D’Souza the negative.

Full debate - VIDEO QuickTime format (185 MB, 2:15:12)

Full debate - AUDIO only mp3 (60.9 MB, 2:15:12)

Part 1

Read more

God and the Flying Spaghetti Monster

Dear Professor Craig,

The cumulative case for the existence for God proceeds from some data (physical constants, sentient souls, testimonies for miracles, etc.) to the existence of God as the best explanation of these data. There are some important objections. 1. Such inference does not show why theism is a better explanation than, say, the hypothesis of the existence of a very powerful Flying Spaghetti Monster. 2. Neither it says why some evil being - some powerful, malevolent being, say, something like Satan - is not a better explanation than God; especially when the existing evil is included in the data. How would you counter? Thank you very much.

Answer here:

http://www.reasonablefaith.org…

Letter to a Maladjusted Misotheist (Sam Harris)

Published by permission (http://www.tektonics.org/gk/harrisletter.html)

November 2, 2006

Dear Mr. Harris,

Greetings to you. I am writing to you because I am in possession of your latest work, Letter to a Christian Nation, and I have been asked to deliver a detailed response to it, which I intend to do over the next few days. Before I begin writing you letters in earnest, however, I thought I ought to let you know when the first time was I ever heard of you: I saw your appearance in Brian Flemming’s film, The God Who Wasn’t There.

Now if you know this, you will understand why, quite frankly, I consider you a non-starter as an ideological opponent, rather than any sort of informed, worthwhile threat. For you see, it is my policy as a defender of the Christian faith to ignore those who show little or no interest in presenting a fair, accurate, and above all informed critique of Christianity.

Read more

New ID Briefing Packet for Educators

Tired of misinformation about Intelligent Design?

Grumpy about people telling you what Intelligent Design is, when it isn’t?

Fed up of the ID misrepresentations in the media?

Bored by the ID = Creationism in a cheap tuxedo rhetoric?

Want to know more about what ID actually is?

Here are some valuable resources for you:

Educators packet here.

Download color version of the PDF here.

Download B/W printable version of the PDF here.

Enjoy!

William Lane Craig/Frank Zindler Debate

Ok, so this is a bit old now, but quite embarrassing for the atheist side. Check it out on the www.apollos.ws website.

Craig is like a machine gun, and Zindler was supposedly the best the atheists could find!

Christmas present: Letter from a Christian Citizen: A response to Sam Harris

You can get this book at an introductory price or at the heavily discounted price of 5 for $25 making them inexpensive enough for you to share with sceptical friends and even the media. We are also including a FREE DVD with every book. This DVD is of a ‘hard hitting’ video clip showing the irrationality of the claims of Dawkins and Harris. Also included are PDFs of related CMI articles and some video clips featuring CMI scientist Dr Jonathan Sarfati.

Get Letter from a Christian Citizen and the DVD Imagine … there’s no God here.

New book: The Design of Life

http://www.thedesignoflife.net

Excerpts from the book…

“Most of origin-of-life research is as relevant to the real problem of life’s origin as rubber-band powered propeller model planes are to the military’s most sophisticated stealth aircraft.” (Ch.8)

“The origin of information is not a problem of chemistry. Chemistry can be a carrier of information, but it cannot be its source.” (Ch.8)

“Chemists typically do not concern themselves with the problem of the origin of information because their work presupposes a smart chemist ready to provide it!” (Ch.8)

“The claim that natural laws are sufficient to account for the origin of life is far-fetched. Natural laws work against the origin of life. Natural laws describe material processes that consume the raw materials of life, turning them into tars, melanoids, and other nonbiological substances that thereafter are completely useless to life.” (Ch.8)

“For Clarence Darrow, evolution justified a biological determinism that turned humans into puppets of their evolutionary past.” (Ch.9)

“Darwinists have traditionally hidden behind the complexities of biological systems to shelter their theory from critical scrutiny. Choose a biological system that is too complex, and one can’t even begin to calculate the probabilities associated with its evolution. Consider the eye. A widely held myth in the biological community is that Darwin’s theory has explained the evolution of the vertebrate eye. In fact, the theory hasn’t done anything of the sort.” (Ch.7)

Flash New Intelligent Design Website

http://www.intelligentdesign.org/

“… www.intelligentdesign.org is not a Discovery Institute focused website, but rather a site that highlights the websites owned and operated by a number of pro-ID organizations, scientists and scholars, such as the Intelligent Design Network, Access Research Network, and Uncommondescent.com.”

From Darwin to Hitler

New book by Discovery Institute
Fellow shows influence of
Darwinian principles on
Hitler’s Nazi regime

Discovery Institute is pleased to announce the publication of the provocative intellectual history, “From Darwin to Hitler, Evolutionary Ethics, Eugenics and Racism in Germany” (Palgrave MacMillan), by Richard Weikart.

In this compelling and painstakingly researched work of intellectual history, Weikart convincingly makes the argument that Hitler built his view of ethics on Darwinian principles.

“Richard Weikart’s outstanding book shows in sober and convincing detail how Darwinist thinkers in Germany had developed an amoral attitude to human society,” says Dr. Richard Evans, Professor of Modern History, University of Cambridge, and author of “The Coming of the Third Reich.” “This provided Hitler and the Nazis with a scientific justification for the policies they pursued once they came to power.”

More here.

Darwin Day in America

Darwin Day in America tells the disturbing story of scientific expertise run amuck, exposing how an ideological interpretation of Darwinian biology and reductionist science have been used to degrade American culture over the past century through their impact on criminal justice, welfare, business, education, and bioethics.

At the dawn of the last century, leading scientists and politicians giddily predicted that science—especially Darwinian biology— would supply solutions to all the intractable problems of American society, from crime to poverty to sexual maladjustment.

How ’bout this quote:

All we are doing is catching up with Darwin. He showed in the nineteenth century that we are simply animals. Humans had imagined we were a separate part of Creation, that there was some magical line between Us and Them. Darwin’s theory undermined the foundations of that entire Western way of thinking about the place of our species in the universe.

Bioethicist Peter Singer, Princeton University

You can buy Singer’s so called ‘ethics’ books in our bookshops, today.

Kiwis more liberal than Americans

This Stuff article is really interesting and begins as follows:

Kiwis are significantly more liberal than Americans on issues of religion and morality, but are still not convinced by the theory of evolution, new research shows.

The UMR Research study compared New Zealanders’ attitudes with those of Americans using findings from a US Gallup Poll conducted this year.

Just 26 per cent of Kiwi respondents said the theory of evolution was definitely true.

Around the same percentage believed in the theory of creationism, with 24 per cent agreeing that “God created human beings in their present form exactly the way the Bible describes it”.

With our culture so saturated in Darwin-speak, this is a real surprise to me, especially in light of the fact that I was once heavily in that 26 percent.

Read more

Debate between Richard Dawkins and John Lennox

Well, the debate has happened — and it really was pretty good! More information here.

Richard Dawkin’s website has the audio files here:

Part 1 (47:28, 13.6 MB)
Part 2 (44:01, 12.62 MB)
Part 3 (27:28, 7.87 MB)

Comments on the debate can be made here.

I think Dawkins came out of this debate severely bruised. Lennox showed that The God Delusion is heavy on rhetoric but void of good meaty arguments. Well done both debaters — and especially the winner!

CDs and DVDs of this event are available for purchase, and will be complete and ready to ship by last week of November.

More comments here.

DNA unraveled — Darwinism or Intelligent Design?

A ’scientific revolution’ is taking place, as researchers explore the genomic jungle

By Colin Nickerson, Globe Staff  |  September 24, 2007

Snippets from the full article below…

The science of life is undergoing changes so jolting that even its top researchers are feeling something akin to shell-shock… they find themselves confronted by a biological jungle deeper, denser, and more difficult to penetrate than anyone imagined…

“To our shock and consternation, we’re learning how little we know about the parts of the genome that may matter most,” said Dr. David M. Altshuler, associate professor of genetics…

“The picture that’s emerging” of how living cells actually operate and evolve “is so immensely more complicated than anyone imagined, it’s almost depressing,” Rigoutsos said…

But few had predicted the complex orchestration of genes and nongenetic DNA suggested by the Encode research…

“We were looking at droplets,” she said. “Now we’re suddenly viewing the ocean. It will take time just to get our bearings.”

Source here.

Book Review: Letter to a Christian Nation #1

A Challenge to Faith

By Sam Harris
Foreword by Richard Dawkins
New York Times Bestseller

Being rather busy at present, I thought this book would be good for a review, and a rebuttal, since it is a mere 91 pages (and small pages at that). I expect that I will require at least a dozen posts to cover the entire book which has but one large chapter and numerous sections therein, a foreword and a Note to the Reader.

As I work through this book, I will be responding to it primarily using a presuppositional apologetic. That is, I will be presupposing the Bible to be the true word of God and presupposing the Christian worldview to be true. These things can and have been debated; you are welcome to use our forum for these purposes should you choose to.

I should point out that all people have presuppositions, otherwise known as axioms, which cannot be proven. These axioms are taken on faith, and can be thought of as pegs, driven into the ground, upon which all your subsequent truth-claims are tied. To discover your axioms, take a belief you have and ask how you know it is true. Then ask how you know that, and so on. Eventually you will arrive at an axiom.

This book is not the first time I have come across Sam Harris; previously I watched him on some videos from an atheist conference where I thought he came came across as articulate, dogmatic and at least in part, wrong. However, we will come to that in due course.

Further, I should say that I appreciate these atheists (Harris and Dawkins et al.) to some degree, having the guts to put their beliefs plainly on the table. Unlike many people in the churches I have attended over the years, these guys have determination and conviction, and they are prepared to stand up and be counted. That is not to say I am going to agree with them; it is to say that many Christians are effectively useless in this arena because they a too busy being entertained by the world Jesus told them not to be ensnared with, rather than pouring over books and studying and getting an education.

Ok, so let’s get into the book.

Read more

Apologetics.com podcasts

There are some great discussions on the Apologetics.com podcasts.

See the picture to the right? This is what you see in iTunes (www.apple.com/iTunes) if you subscribe to the free podcasts.

Then you probably want to grab an iPod and plug in in to your PC (or Mac) and it will automagically upload the podcasts on the iPod ready for listening!

Thanks www.apologetics.com !

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