Unbelievable?

Best-selling US Christian Author Philip Yancey writes books that address some of the hardest questions that Christians ask of themselves and skeptics ask of Christians.  His latest book "What Good is God?" looks at how Christian belief matters in the lives of those who suffer.

He chats with atheist Paul Thompson (aka "Sinbad" on the Premier Community).  Paul was present at the Twin Towers on Sep 11 2001. He says that while faith may be a comfort to those in distress, there is no proof that God is responsible.

For Philip Yancey http://www.philipyancey.com/

For his book "What Good is God?" http://www.amazon.com/What-Good-God-Search-Matters/dp/0446559857

For Paul's profile ("Sinbad") on the Premier Community http://www.premiercommunity.org.uk/profile/Sinbad

For more Christian/non-Christian discussions visit http://www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable or get the podcast or Via Itunes

If you enjoyed this programme you may also enjoy:

Unbelievable? 30 Jan 2010 - Where was God in Haiti? Christians Roger Forster & Nick Peters and atheist Gordon Livesey discuss the problem of evil.

Unbelievable? 27 Mar 2010 - Former atheists conversion experiences - Is it evidence for God? Richard Morgan & Todd Pitner with atheist Gordon Livesey

Join the discussion at the "Unbelievable?" page of the Premier Community http://www.premiercommunity.org.uk/group/unbelievable

This last week saw US Intelligent Deisgn proponent Michael Behe on the "Darwin or Design?" speaking tour of the UK. As well as hosting an evening event, "Unbelievable?" invited him to discuss ID with theistic evolutionist Prof Michael Reiss in front of an invited audience.

Michael Behe is professor of Biochemistry at LeHigh University, Pennsylvania. His book "Darwin's Black Box" launched the modern Intelligent Design movement which claims that aspects of biology are too compelx to have arisen by blind Darwinian processes but entail the guidance of an intelligent mind.

Michael Reiss is Professor of Science Education at the Institute of Education. Ordained in the Church of England, he was formerly director of education at the Royal Society before stepping down amid controversy over statements he made about engaging with ID and creationism in the classroom.

They engage the topic of ID and evolution in front of an audience of scientists, church and secular leaders at Charles Darwin house in London.

They discuss the limits of science, whether ID is a religious movement, the place of ID in the classroom and take questions from the audience.

For Michael Behe's visual presentation http://www.premier.org.uk/~/media/87809B06C34444DDB31D8B016F711D4A.ashx

For Michael Behe see http://www.lehigh.edu/~inbios/faculty/behe.html

For Michael Reiss see http://www.ioe.ac.uk/staff/GEMS/GEMS_71.html

For more Christian/non-Christian discussions visit http://www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable or get the podcast or Via Itunes

If you enjoyed this programme you may also enjoy:

Unbelievable? 23 Oct 2010 "Darwin's Black Box - Has modern Biochemistry shown that life was intelligently designed?" Michael Behe vs. Keith Fox

Unbelievable? 20 Mar 2010 - "Expelled" live audience debate at Imperial College London - Susan Blackmore, Steve Fuller, Keith Fox & Alastair Noble

Join the discussion at the "Unbelievable?" page of the Premier Community http://www.premiercommunity.org.uk/group/unbelievable

David Robertson is a Scottish church pastor and author of "The Dawkins Letters".  He recently hosted the first Conference of the newly established Solas Centre for Public Christianity.

As a key respondent to Dawkins he has earned himself the nickname "The Wee Flea". He takes questions from three skeptics on today's prgramme.

Stephen Lees has come to doubt his once-held faith.  He asks whether Christians are obliged to believe the miracles of the Bible.  Agnostic Stephen Pilcher asks how it can be fair for God to send people to hell who simply don't find enough evidence for his existence.  And atheist David Moser asks how prayer to an all knowing God makes sense.

For David's Book "The Dawkins Letters"  http://www.stpeters-dundee.org.uk/node/13

For Solas http://www.solas-cpc.co.uk/blog

For more Christian/non-Christian debate visit http://www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable or get the MP3 podcast http://ondemand.premier.org.uk/unbelievable/AudioFeed.aspx or Via Itunes

If you enjoyed this programme you may also enjoy:

Unbelievable? 24 Apr 2010 - "Grill a Christian" show - four atheists challenge David Robertson with their objections to faith

Unbelievable? 20 Feb 2010 - "Is Christianity Good for us?" US atheist Michael Shermer debates Scottish apologist David Robertson

Join the discussion at the Premier Community http://www.premiercommunity.org.uk/group/unbelievable

Richard Dawkins has said that "the theory of evolution made it possible to be an intellecually fulfilled atheist". But what if belief in evolution becomes irrational on atheist naturalism?

Alvin Plantinga is one of the foremost Christian philosophers in the world and is leading a resurgence of Christian philosophy in North America. He has formulated the "Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism" which proposes that if evolution is true then it provides a defeater for rational belief on a naturalistic framework. Can we trust our beliefs to be true if they have been produced by minds that are themselves the products of unguided evolution - a process that is geared towards producing beliefs for survival, not necessarily for truth?

He explains the force of the argument and debates its implications with Stephen Law, atheist and Senior lecturer in philosophy at Heythrop college, University of London. Stephen is also Provost of the Centre for Inquiry UK.

Plantinga also states where he stands on Intelligent Design, the problem of evil and a few other things besides.

For Alvin Plantinga see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_Plantinga for more links to Plantinga's work see http://philofreligion.homestead.com/plantingapage.html

For Stephen Law see http://stephenlaw.blogspot.com/ or http://www.cfilondon.org/

For more discussions visit http://www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable or get the podcast or Via Itunes

If you enjoyed this discussion you may also want to hear:

Unbelievable? 1 May 2010  Test of Faith: Do we need God, now that we have science? Christian Denis Alexander vs Atheist Stephen Law

Unbelievable? 26 Jul 2008  American Masters of Apologetics Pt 3: Alvin Plantinga

Join the debate at the "Unbelievable?" group of the Premier Community http://www.premiercommunity.org.uk/group/unbelievable

Both guests on today's show are Christians, both are gay, and both run ministries supporting Christians of homosexual orientation.

However a very different ethos underpins each.  The True Freedom Trust, run by Jonathan Berry believes that Christians with homosexual orientation should abstain from sexual practise.  Courage, run by Jeremy Marks accepts committed same-sex relationships between Christians.

Courage adopted its new position in 2001.  Jeremy explains why, and Jonathan responds.  Sharing their own stories, they debate the best way of supporting gay Christians and why they differ on Biblical teachings about homosexuality

For True Freedom Trust http://www.truefreedomtrust.co.uk/

For Courage http://www.courage.org.uk/

For more discussions visit http://www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable or get the podcast or Via Itunes

If you enjoyed this discussion you may also want to hear:

Unbelievable? 29 May 2010 - This first show addresses the main scriptural passages that relate to homosexuality.

Unbelievable? 5 Jun 2010 - Homosexuality and the Church - This second show addresses whether the church is homophobic in its attitude towards gay people

Join the debate at the "Unbelievable?" group of the Premier Community http://www.premiercommunity.org.uk/group/unbelievable

Michael Behe is professor of biochemistry at Lehigh University, Pennsylvania and the founder of the modern Intelligent Design movement.  His book "Darwin's Black Box" ignited the controversy 14 years ago when it claimed that certain molecular machines and biological processes are "irreducibly complex" and cannot be explained by Darwinian evolution.

His new book "The Edge of Evolution" takes his conclusions further, arguing that the Darwinian processes of random mutation and natural selection are incapable of producing the variation and complexity we see in most of life.

So can we conclude that life was intelligently designed by a creator?

Keith Fox is Professor of biochemistry at the University of Southampton and chairman of Christians in Science.  As a theistic evolutionist he believes that Evolution is the best explanation going for the complexity we see and that ID is a blind scientific alley and theologically unappealing to boot.

They debate whether micromachines in the cell such as the "bacterial flagellum" could have evolved by a Darwinian process of evolution. When inference to design is and isn't acceptable in science.  Whether random mutation can mathematically stack up to complex life, and whether God is reduced to a divine "tinkerer" by ID.

For Michael Behe see http://www.lehigh.edu/~inbios/faculty/behe.html or http://www.darwinordesign.org.uk/

For Keith Fox see http://www.cis.org.uk/resources/interviews/keith-fox and for the CIS conference 2010 http://www.cis.org.uk/

For more debate visit http://www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable or get the podcast http://ondemand.premier.org.uk/unbelievable/AudioFeed.aspx or via Itunes

If you enjoyed this programme you may also enjoy

Unbelievable? 20 Mar 2010 - Expelled" live audience debate at Imperial College London - Susan Blackmore, Steve Fuller, Keith Fox & Alastair Noble

Unbelievable? 16 Jan 2010 - "Expelled" the Movie - Intelligent Design theorist Stephen Meyer vs. Atheist scientist Peter Atkins debate Intelligent Design

Unbelievable? 2 Jan 2010 - Is there design in biology? Intelligent Design proponent William Dembski vs. Biology Professor Lewis Wolpert

Join in the discussion at the Premier Community http://www.premiercommunity.org.uk/group/unbelievable

C.S. Lewis was one of the most influential Christian writers of the 20th Century and remains so today.  Many are familiar with his Narnia stories, but he was also a populariser of Christian apologetics, and continues to be the first place that many encounter the key arguments for Christian faith.

60 years on from when they were written, are his arguments for God and Christ still compelling?  We look at Lewis' Natural Law argument for God in "Mere Christianity", his Argument from Reason in "Miracles" and his classic 'Trilemma' - Jesus is either a liar, lunatic, or Lord.

Michael Ward is Chaplain of St. Peter's College, Oxford and a research fellow at the Independent Institute. He is a leading authority on CS Lewis.  His books "Planet Narnia" and "The Narnia Code" unearthed a hidden dimension to the Narnia chronicles.  He also lectures on the apologetics of C.S. Lewis.

Dan Barker is a US atheist and heads up the Freedom From Religion Foundation.   As a Christian he read "Mere Christianity" but on re-reading it as an atheist found it unconvincing.

They debate the faith, philosophy and apologeics of CS Lewis.

For Michael Ward see http://www.planetnarnia.com/ or http://www.independent.org/aboutus/person_detail.asp?id=1333

For the new book "The Narnia Code" http://www.amazon.com/Narnia-Code-Lewis-Secret-Heavens/dp/1414339658/ref=pd_sim_b_3

For Dan Barker and his book "Godless" see http://www.ffrf.org/

For more Christian/non Christian discussions visit www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable or get the podcast or via itunes

If you enjoyed this discussion try these:

Unbelievable? 6 Jun 2009  Narnia & CS Lewis - a skeptic and Christian discuss - Michael Ward & Laura Miller

Unbelievable? 5 Dec 2009 - Are we better off free from religion? Atheist Dan Barker vs. Christian Charles Foster

Unbelievable? 10 Oct 2009 - Is the divinity of Jesus at odds with Jewish Monotheism? Richard Bauckham & James Crossley.

Join the discussion at the "Unbelievable?" group of The Premier Community http://www.premiercommunity.org.uk/group/unbelievable

Torturing children for fun - is that absolutely wrong?

The Moral Argument for God states that there are such things as objective moral facts, and that objective moral facts must have an immaterial source - namely God.  Therefore God Exists... Simple right?

However, atheist Cambridge Philosopher Arif Ahmed disagrees with the first two premises.  He debates with New Zealand's Christian philosopher Glenn People's on whether the argument proves the existence of God.

So, are moral beliefs nothing more than our "preferences"? What do we do with the intuition that certain things are absolutely wrong?  Are atheists who affirm moral facts but deny God, being inconsistent?

For Glenn People's blog visit http://www.beretta-online.com/wordpress/

For Arif Ahmed see http://www.phil.cam.ac.uk/teaching_staff/ahmed/ahmed_index.html

For more Christian/non Christian debates and discussions visit http://www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable or get the podcast http://ondemand.premier.org.uk/unbelievable/AudioFeed.aspx or via Itunes

If you enjoyed this programme you may also enjoy:

Unbelievable? 13 Jun 2009 The Moral Argument For God - Atheist Paul Orton & Christian David Robertson

Unbelievable? 7 Mar 2009 "The Reason for God" - Pastor Timothy Keller & Atheist Norman Bacrac

To join the discussion at the Premier Community visit http://www.premiercommunity.org.uk/group/unbelievable

Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett & Sam Harris are all figures at the vanguard of the "New Atheism".  The books have sold well, but where does this form of confrontational and outspoken atheism have to go next?

Alister McGrath is Theology professor at Kings College London and regularly speaks and writes against Atheism.  He says that there's nothing "new" about New Atheism and that it exhibits all the signs of being a religious form of belief itself.

Caspar Melville is editor of the UK's New Humanist magazine.  He says that "New Atheism" has been good for business and is provoking a debate that needs to be had.

They debate whether there is a historical naivety to the movement, Dawkins' claim that "I just believe in one less god than you" and much more besides.

For Alister McGrath see http://users.ox.ac.uk/~mcgrath/

For Caspar Melville see http://www.newhumanist.org.uk/

For more Christian/non-Christian debate visit http://www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable or get the podcast at http://ondemand.premier.org.uk/unbelievable/AudioFeed.aspx or via Itunes

If you enjoyed this programme you may also enjoy:

Unbelievable? 14 Nov 2009 - Alister McGrath on Atheism, theology and defending the faith

Unbelievable? 12 Dec 2009 Richard Dawkins debate on "Atheism is the New Fundamentalism" - review with interviews

Join the discussion at the Unbelievable? group of the Premier Community. http://www.premiercommunity.org.uk/group/unbelievable

We return to listener questions on whether Hawking was right or wrong to dismiss God as a cause of the universe in his new book "The Grand Design".

John Polkinghorne is a theoretical physicist and Anglican Priest in Cambridge.  Hugh Ross is a Christian physicist and founder of "Reasons to Believe".

They tackle questions on whether the multiverse is really an alternative to God in explaining our fine-tuned universe. What physicists really mean when they say the universe came into being "out of nothing", and whether the massive size of the universe makes our existence insignificant.

For Hugh Ross see http://www.reasons.org/resources

For John Polkinghorne see http://www.polkinghorne.net/

For more debates and discussions visit http://www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable or get the podcast http://ondemand.premier.org.uk/unbelievable/AudioFeed.aspx or via Itunes

Join the discussion at the "Unbelievable?" group of the Premier Community http://www.premiercommunity.org.uk/group/unbelievable