Saturday, May 18, 2013

Mind and Cosmos: Why the Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature is Almost Surely False by Thomas Nagel

The central argument of Mind and Cosmos: Why the Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature is Almost Surely False by Thomas Nagel seems[1] to be as follows.
  1. There are three possible and mutually exclusive explanations for the world and its contents: materialistic naturalism[2], theism[3], or teleological naturalism[4].
  2. The correct explanation of the world and its contents is not materialistic naturalism.
  3. The correct explanation of the world and its contents is not theism.
  4. Therefore, the correct explanation is teleological naturalism.
Now, already a possible terminological confusion looms: isn’t it the case that teleological arguments are inevitably arguments for theism? Well, no, as it turns out. It becomes apparent as the book progresses that what Nagel is arguing for is an Aristotelian type of natural teleology: an immanent, this-worldly type of tendency or bias on the part of nature to produce certain ends. Such teleology does not posit any transcendent Mind in which intentions or goals reside.

The argument seems valid, and perhaps the first premise is relatively inoffensive to naturalist and theist alike. Argument will thus center on premises 2 and 3.

Friday, May 17, 2013

Weekly Apologetics Bonus Links (05/10 - 05/17)

Here are this week's recommended apologetics links. Enjoy.
• Shopping via Amazon? If you use this link, a bit of your purchase goes to fund Apologetics 315. Thanks for those of you using the link, as it helps Ap315.
Canada here. UK here.

• Would you like to help with interview transcriptionIf so, contact Ap315 here.

Get these sorts of links and more by following on Twitter.
For daily post links, please follow on Facebook.

Read Along: Chapter 6—How Did Life Begin?

Today we continue with Chapter Six in the Read Along with Apologetics 315 project. This is a chapter-by-chapter study through the book Is God Just a Human Invention? And Seventeen Other Questions Raised by the New Atheists by Sean McDowell and Jonathan Morrow. (Hear an interview about the book here.) Below you will find an audio intro for Chapter Six, a brief summary of the chapter, a PDF workbook with questions for the chapter, and some notable quotes. You're also encouraged to share your comments and feedback for each chapter in the comment section below. Feel free to interact!

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Free: Essential Apologetics PowerPoint Series

In partnership with The PowerPoint Apologist, Apologetics 315 is offering a series of 12 Free PowerPoint presentations, released monthly. These cover 12 essential topics in apologetics. These are free to download, modify, and use for your own apologetics presentations. (However, please retain the final two slides featuring the PowerPoint Apologist and Apologetics 315 resources.)

The third in the series is "Why God?"
Download it here.
Enjoy.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

John Dickson Interview Transcript

The following transcript is from an Apologetics 315 interview with John Dickson. Original audio here. Transcript index here. If you enjoy transcripts, please consider supporting, which makes this possible.


BA: Hello, this is Brian Auten of Apologetics 315. Today, I’m speaking with John Dickson, director of the Centre for Public Christianity in Australia. He is also Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Ancient History in Macquarie University and Senior Minister at Saint Andrews, Roseville.

John is also author of a number of books including The Christ Files: How Historians Know What They Know About Jesus. That was also made into a major television documentary. In this interview I'll be asking John questions about historical Jesus Studies as well about his work with the Centre for Public Christianity and his advice for Christian apologists.

Alright well thanks for joining me from Australia today, John.

JD: Fantastic to be with you!

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Terminology Tuesday: Empiricism

Empiricism: A philosophical theory that assumes that all knowledge is gained through either internal experience (thoughts, emotions, etc.) or external experience (sight, smell, touch, hearing and taste). Empiricism is most closely associated with individuals such as Francis Bacon and John Locke, but the purest form of empiricism is found in the thought of David Hume. Hume took empiricism to its extreme, stating that a person can not really know if external things (objects) exist because all one can know for certain is one's own experience of those things.1

1. Stanley J. Grenz, David Guretzki & Cherith Fee Nordling, Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999), p. 44.

What was last year's post? It was a great free ebook.

Monday, May 13, 2013

Unbelievable? The Conference 2013

Premier Christian Radio presents an apologetics day conference on Sat, 25 May 2013 in London. This year's conference will be marking 50 years of CS Lewis' legacy as well as training Christians to engage with today's ethical and scientific issues in a variety of seminars. Guest speakers include: Alister McGrath, Amy Orr-Ewing, Fazale Rana, Peter S. Williams, and more. Winner's of last week's FREE TICKETS were David and Hannah. Enjoy!

Sign up here.

Sunday, May 12, 2013

J.P. Moreland on Intellectual Virtue

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with admitting you don't know something or that you're currently inadequately equipped to think a topic through. What is unacceptable, however, is running from this fact and thereby giving up on intellectual and spiritual growth in the interest of avoiding embarrassment or possible rejection. We all need help in this area, and we should care enough about truth and reason to give that help. Even if we agree with one another's conclusions, we need to dedicate ourselves for Christ's sake to refusing to allow each other to reach those conclusions with poor argumentation and sloppy treatment of data."

—J. P. Moreland

Love Your God with All Your Mind: The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul (p. 97). Kindle Edition.

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Review: Mind, Brain and Free Will by Richard Swinburne

Theologians and scientists seem blissfully unaware that that the soul is alive and well in contemporary philosophy of religion. JP Moreland, Dean Zimmerman, William Hasker, Charles Taliaferro, Stuart Goetz, Robin Collins and Alvin Plantinga have all produced novel and rigorous arguments in defence of dualism – that you are an immaterial self and not identical to your body. This must be gratifying for Richard Swinburne, who swam against the tides of philosophical fashion in 1986 with The Evolution of the Soul. Mind, Brain and Free Will updates his arguments for dualism. The book is refreshingly clear, rigorously argued and a joy to read.

Swinburne argues that physical events and conscious events – beliefs, desires, thoughts, purposes and sensations – are not identical. To put that another way, the terms we use to pick out physical events, and the terms we use to pick out mental events, never refer to the same thing. We need to think a little about words and concepts here – after all, we cannot say much about the world without them! Anyone who knows what terms like “red” or “pain” mean knows how to use them. They know exactly what it is to have a sensation of red or a pain. They know how when and how to apply the terms, and can make simple inferences using the terms. (For example we can infer “it is a sensation” and “it is unpleasant” from “it is a pain.”)

Friday, May 10, 2013

Weekly Apologetics Bonus Links (05/03 - 05/10)

Here are this week's recommended apologetics links. Enjoy.
• Shopping via Amazon? If you use this link, a bit of your purchase goes to fund Apologetics 315. Thanks for those of you using the link, as it helps Ap315.
Canada here. UK here.

• Would you like to help with interview transcriptionIf so, contact Ap315 here.

Get these sorts of links and more by following on Twitter.
For daily post links, please follow on Facebook.

Read Along: Chapter 5—How Did the Universe Begin?

Today we continue with Chapter Five in the Read Along with Apologetics 315 project. This is a chapter-by-chapter study through the book Is God Just a Human Invention? And Seventeen Other Questions Raised by the New Atheists by Sean McDowell and Jonathan Morrow. (Hear an interview about the book here.) Below you will find an audio intro for Chapter Five, a brief summary of the chapter, a PDF workbook with questions for the chapter, and some notable quotes. You're also encouraged to share your comments and feedback for each chapter in the comment section below. Feel free to interact!

Thursday, May 09, 2013

How to Be a Morally Responsible Skeptic MP3 Audio by Dallas Willard

Philosopher Dallas Willard makes the case that disbelief is not a stance to be taken lightly. Individuals have a responsibility to assume the burden of proof for their disbelief. Dallas Willard died on May 8, 2013 and will be missed by many. Find his books here.

Full MP3 Audio here. (from Veritas)

Enjoy.

Wednesday, May 08, 2013

The Origin of Life Debate: May 16 in Riverside, CA

On May 16, 2013, Dr. Michael Ruse and Dr. Fazale Rana will debate the question: "Are natural processes sufficient to explain the origin and the complexity of the cell?" Sponsored by The Well Christian Club at UCR, this debate will be held at the UCR Gymnasium in Riverside, CA. Overflow crowds are expected, so get your tickets early.

Check it out here.

Tuesday, May 07, 2013

Terminology Tuesday: Gnosticism

Gnosticism: An early Greek religious movement of broad proportions that was particularly influential in the second-century church. Many biblical interpreters see in certain NT documents (such as 1 John) the attempt to answer or refute Gnostic teaching. The word gnosticism comes from the Greek term gnosis, meaning "knowledge." Gnostics believed that devotees had gained a special kind of spiritual enlightenment, through which they had attained a secret or higher level of knowledge not accessible to the uninitiated. Gnostics also tended to emphasize the spiritual realm over the material, often claiming that the material realm is evil and hence to be escaped.1

You may also be interested in this lecture: Gnosticism Past & Present

1. Stanley J. Grenz, David Guretzki & Cherith Fee Nordling, Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999), p. 56.

Monday, May 06, 2013

Ticket Giveaway: Unbelievable? The Conference 2013

Premier Christian Radio presents an apologetics day conference on Sat, 25 May 2013 in London. This year's conference will be marking 50 years of CS Lewis' legacy as well as training Christians to engage with today's ethical and scientific issues in a variety of seminars. Guest speakers include: Alister McGrath, Amy Orr-Ewing, Fazale Rana, Peter S. Williams, and more. Apologetics 315 is giving away a number of FREE TICKETS.
ENTER THE DRAWING HERE.

Sign up here.

Sunday, May 05, 2013

John Stackhouse on the Centrality of Christ

“Since the heart of God’s revelation of himself is the figure of Jesus Christ, and since the heart of the Christian story of salvation is the career of Jesus Christ, Christian apologetics—like everything else in the Christian religion, from worship to mission, from prayer to almsgiving—rightly focuses on Jesus Christ.”

—John Stackhouse
Humble Apologetics, p. 189. [HT: Hope's Reason]

Saturday, May 04, 2013

Book Review: A Basic Guide to Interpreting the Bible by Robert H. Stein

A Basic Guide to Interpreting the Bible comes to this reviewer as a recommendation by a friend and member of his Sunday School class. There was no expectation of a review, but the opportunity could not be passed considering the focus of the book: hermeneutics. Theology is an important aspect of the apologist's endeavor. The apologist defends what is true- what scripture teaches about the world. However, the apologist needs to make sure that they understand what scripture actually does teach about reality; otherwise, they may be wasting time defending something that is false. When something false is believed and defended, it can be easy to defeat and made the object of ridicule among skeptics. Correctly understanding what scripture teaches about reality requires that the reader understand how to interpret what is written in scripture. Dr. Robert Stein offers a basic overview of proper ways to interpret scripture that will be vital to the apologist's efforts.

Part 1: The General Rules of Interpretation

Chapter 1:  Who Makes Up The Rules? An Introduction to Hermeneutics
In the first chapter, Stein sets the foundation for his overview. He explains that with any communication, there are three parts involved: the author, the message, and the reader. He explains the different views on where meaning is found. If meaning is determined by the reader, then any message (the biblical text, in our case) can mean anything- thus meaning nothing objectively. The text itself cannot convey meaning since mere symbols are inanimate objects incapable of intentionally communicating to the reader. Stein argues that only the author of the text determines what it means.

Friday, May 03, 2013

Weekly Apologetics Bonus Links (04/26 - 05/03)

Here are this week's recommended apologetics links. Enjoy.
• Shopping via Amazon? If you use this link, a bit of your purchase goes to fund Apologetics 315. Thanks for those of you using the link, as it helps Ap315.
Canada here. UK here.

• Would you like to help with interview transcriptionIf so, contact Ap315 here.

Get these sorts of links and more by following on Twitter.
For daily post links, please follow on Facebook.

Read Along: Chapter 4—Is Darwinian Evolution the Only Game in Town?

Today we continue with Chapter Four in the Read Along with Apologetics 315 project. This is a chapter-by-chapter study through the book Is God Just a Human Invention? And Seventeen Other Questions Raised by the New Atheists by Sean McDowell and Jonathan Morrow. (Hear an interview about the book here.) Below you will find an audio intro for Chapter Four, a brief summary of the chapter, a PDF workbook with questions for the chapter, and some notable quotes. You're also encouraged to share your comments and feedback for each chapter in the comment section below. Feel free to interact!

Thursday, May 02, 2013

Richard Dawkins Interviewed by Justin Brierley MP3 Audio

Atheist Richard Dawkins spoke to Premier’s Justin Brierley immediately after a debate he had with Christian Professor John Lennox on whether Science has disproved God.

The Oxford professor is most famous for his book The God Delusion. Surprisingly, Dawkins admits to Premier that there must have been some cause for the start of the universe.

Be sure to check out the upcoming Unbelievable Conference in May.
MP3 Audio here.

Found at Premier.org.

Wednesday, May 01, 2013

Keep Your Heart With All Diligence - MP3 Audio by Wayne Grudem

Wayne Grudem speaks on Keeping Your Heart with All Diligence. This is recommended listening for apologists and ministers as well as those who may be struggling with doubt or discouragement. Take some time and feed on some truth.

Full MP3 audio here.


Talk given at the European Leadership Forum.