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What Would Jesus Say to Richard Dawkins

What Would Jesus Say to Richard Dawkins. Genesis 1:1. Background. Born in Nairobi, Kenya in 1941. Moved back to England in 1949. Raised as an Anglican. Eventually became an atheist. Background. Studies zoology. First degree in 1962. Completed MA and PhD degrees at Oxford in 1966.

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What Would Jesus Say to Richard Dawkins

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  1. What Would Jesus Say toRichard Dawkins Genesis 1:1

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

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

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

  7. 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.

  8. 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?

  9. 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.

  10. 1. You Are Not Honest aboutScience a. He denies others… • He questions Gould’s integrity. • “I simply do not believe that Gould could possibly have meant what he wrote in Rocks of Ages”

  11. 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.”

  12. 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.

  13. 1. You Are Not Honest aboutScience c. He doesn’t 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 can’t use the scientific method to verify his contention.

  14. 1. You Are Not Honest aboutScience c. He doesn’t 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?

  15. 1. You Are Not Honest aboutScience “Foundationally, he operates by faith.”

  16. 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.

  17. 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”.

  18. 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.

  19. 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.

  20. 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.

  21. 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.

  22. 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.

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

  24. 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.

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