What Would Jesus Say to Richard Dawkins

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What Would Jesus Say toRichard Dawkins

• Genesis 11

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Background

• Born in Nairobi, Kenya in 1941.
• Moved back to England in 1949.
• Raised as an Anglican.
• Eventually became an atheist.

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Background

• Studies zoology.
• First degree in 1962.
• Completed MA and PhD degrees at Oxford in 1966.

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Background

• Taught in United States from 1967-69.
• Returned to be a lecturer at Oxford.
• 1995 appointed first one to hold the Charles
  Simonyi Professor of Public Understanding of
  Science at Oxford.

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The God Delusion

• Has become antagonistic to any form of religion.
• He says he wrote the book to persuade people to
  become atheists and for atheists to find the
  nerve to come out of the closet.

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You Are Not Honest aboutScience

• He seeks to pit science against religion.
• He says people who believe in the supernatural
  are deluded.
• He believes Darwinism has given us a
  comprehensive explanation for the origin and
  development of everything.

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1. You Are Not Honest aboutScience

• While the world may appear designed, it is not.
• Natural selection explains the growth, diversity,
  and complexity of life.
• There is no mystery in the universe or any need
  for God to explain anything.

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1. You Are Not Honest aboutScience

• How do we analyze a book or argument?
• What is the argument?
• What is the method?
• Is the method sound?
• Did the writer defend his argument well?
• What are the strengths/weaknesses?
• How would you rate the book/argument?

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1. You Are Not Honest aboutScience

• a. He denies to others what he finally admits.
• Most scientists know and admit the limits of
  science - even atheistic scientists.
• Stephen J. Gould.

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1. You Are Not Honest aboutScience

• a. He denies others
• He questions Goulds integrity.
• I simply do not believe that Gould could
  possibly have meant what he wrote in Rocks of
  Ages

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1. You Are Not Honest aboutScience

• a. He denies to others what he finally admits.
• Perhaps there are some genuinely profound and
  meaningful questions that are forever beyond the
  reach of science.

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1. You Are Not Honest aboutScience

• b. He does not follow his own suggested method.
• His book is short on science.
• Alvin Plantinga.
• Dawkins makes many unsubstantiated statements.

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1. You Are Not Honest aboutScience

• c. He doesnt acknowledge that his science
  rests on faith.
• Dawkins tells us the only way to have true
  knowledge is through a rational approach that
  uses the scientific method.
• You cant use the scientific method to verify his
  contention.

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1. You Are Not Honest aboutScience

• c. He doesnt acknowledge
• Throughout the book he relates how much we have
  been fooled over time in what we perceive.
• How can we be sure he is not fooled?

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1. You Are Not Honest aboutScience

• Foundationally, he operates by faith.

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2. You Are Not Informed aboutReligion

• He interacts with philosophy, religion,
  psychology and other areas in this work.
• His two big targets in religion are Islam and
  Christianity.

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2. You Are Not Informed aboutReligion

• He presents God in the OT as evil.
• He questions Jesus existence.
• He argues the gospels came late and are
  unreliable.
• He argues Jesus would not have wanted Paul to
  take the message to Gentiles.
• Calls the cross a repellant doctrine.

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2. You Are Not Informed aboutReligion

• Plantinga on his foray into philosophy.
• at best sophomoric, but that would be unfair to
  sophomores.
• When it comes to religion that would be too kind.

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2. You Are Not Informed aboutReligion

• Much of his critique is based on 19th and 20th
  century works that are dismissed today.
• Any one who is informed is embarrassed for him in
  the ignorance he displays.

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2. You Are Not Informed aboutReligion

• Two Things
• He fails to acknowledge much good that is done in
  and through religion.
• He fails to understand that God is Spirit and
  that classical theology argues for His simplicity.

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3. You Are Not Honest aboutAtheism

• He is antagonistic regarding religion.
• He is optimistic regarding atheism.
• He argues that if his view held the day the world
  would be a better and safer place.

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3. You Are Not Honest aboutAtheism

• The biggest atrocities of the 20th century were
  committed by atheists.
• For evil to be objectively real, God must exist.

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Closing Thoughts

• 1. The movement in the world, even in academia is
  toward God.
• Atheism is a philosophy in retreat.
• Anthony Flew.

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Closing Thoughts

• 2. The persistence of belief even in highly
  educated societies is a big problem for atheists.
• 3. Christians are found across the scientific
  spectrum. We are not bound by one view. We can be
  open to the evidence.