Category Archives: Events

Events

Calgary readers: apologetics conference and debate starts Friday!

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Here’s the schedule from the Faith Beyond Belief web site. This conference was organized by Jose Ruba, the same pro-life debater who has been shouted down at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec and St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia!

The debate is on Saturday at 7 PM at the University of Calgary, against a University of Calgary philosophy professor, who has 3 degrees, including a PhD, from Oxford University. The topic is “Do Objective Moral Truths Exist?”.

Friday, October 23rd, 2009
“Ambassadors for Christ: Why Christians Need to have a Faith Beyond Belief”
Clergy and Ministry Workers’ Lunch
(12 pm – 2:30 pm)
Greg Koukl will speak to clergy and ministry workers about the unique challenges and opportunities in reaching our postmodern generation. As a former pastor, Greg will delve into what church workers in particular need to do to equip their congregations to be good ambassadors for the kingdom of God.

Friday, October 23rd, 2009
“Ice Cream is not Insulin”
A Youth Event
(7 pm – 10 pm)
This event is geared towards, youth, youth pastors and parents to help them understand what kind of culture youth are dealing with. Greg will examine how we can help young people embrace the truth of the gospel.

Saturday, October 24th, 2009
Ambassador Training Sessions
(9 am – 2:30 pm)
A detailed and informative way to learn about the Christian worldview and how to defend that view in our culture. Christians will be trained to be good ambassadors for Christ: equipped with the right knowledge, trained to share that knowledge wisely and challenged to embody the right character.

Saturday, October 24th, 2009
“Do moral truths exist?”
Rm. ICT 102 , University of Calgary
(7 pm – 10 pm)
Join Greg as he debates Prof. John Baker, a philosophy professor from U of Calgary. This event is co-sponsored by the U of Calgary Freethinkers.
For more details check out: www.calgarydebate.ca

Sunday, October 25th, 2009
Full Gospel Tabernacle Sunday AM service
(10 am – 12 pm)
Join our host church’s Sunday morning service. Greg Koukl’s talk will be part of a series at the church on how Christians can defend and articulate their faith.

Sunday, October 25th, 2009
“Where do we go from here?”
Sunday Volunteer Lunch
(12:30 pm – 3 pm)
After hearing Greg Koukl speak during the weekend, we’ll challenge volunteers and others about what we should do locally to help create Christian ambassadors.

Hosted by Faith Builder International Church
Calgary Saddle Ridge Community Hall 7614 – 42nd Street NE.

*Note: All events will be held at the Full Gospel Tabernacle, unless otherwise indicated.
Events are free but a free-will offering will be taken.

Full Gospel Tabernacle
155 Falconridge Cres NE, Calgary, Alberta T3J 1Z9
fullgospeltabernacle.org

Does this schedule give you any ideas for your own church and local university? He’s really done a good job on this conference, hasn’t he? You can still send him a donation if you want!

Events

Mike Licona will face Richard Carrier and Stephen Patterson in upcoming debates

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From Mike Licona’s Risen Jesus web site.

UPDATED: SEPTEMBER 15, 2009

I’m now scheduled to participate in two debates to be held next Spring:

1) with Richard Carrier on Jesus’ resurrection; Feb 11 @ Washburn University in Topeka, KS

2) with Stephen Patterson of the Jesus Seminar on Jesus’ resurrection; Wednesday, March 31 @ 6:00 pm, at FSU in Tallahassee, FL

UPDATE: Mike Licona replied to an e-mail I sent him with this:

My debate with Carrier will differ somewhat from Bill’s. Richard and I have agreed to a different format that we hope will bring greater audience enjoyment and help us to stay on a few important matters longer. After each of us give 15-minute opening statements, we’ll engage in 6 period of questioning (10-minutes each). Each of us will have 3 periods. We’ll then have 5-minute closing statements then open up for audience Q&A.

I thought that Carrier beat Licona narrowly in their first debate. My friends thought it was a draw. But William Lane Craig crushed Carrier soundly in their debate. It will be interesting to see if Licona can do better against Carrier the second time around. Carrier has extreme positions typical of the village atheists in the “Internet Infidels” camp. If Licona could get Carrier to defend his weird ideas, then he will win the debate. I would place Carrier somewhere to the left of hard-core skeptics like Robert Funk or Burton Mack.

Here’s a sample of Mike Licona in action:

He’s much better at debating now that he’s got his Ph.D, and with the highest possible grade. Recently, he’s won two debates against Bart Ehrman. I evaluated Bart Ehrman’s case against the resurrection of Jesus here. Hint: it stinks!

Further study

Audio from the first debate between Richard Carrier and Michael Licona is here at Apologetics 315.

Audio of the William Lane Craig vs. Richard Carrier debate is here at Apologetics 315. Carrier’s admission of defeat is here, on his blog. Craig’s post-debate responses to Carrier is here and here.

Licona’s first debate with Ehrman, (audio, video), which Licona won easily.I enjoyed this debate a lot.

William Lane Craig’s debate with Ehrman, (video), which Craig won easily. This was also a fun debate.

Events

Has the world gone completely crazy? Are churches finally discovering apologetics?

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Well, I was floored by the Saddleback Church Apologetics conference speakers and topics. And I thought that the lectures from that conference were great.

But look!

Other churches are also having conferences!

Here is a conference in Alabama coming up in January 2010.

Speakers:

  • Ravi Zacharias
  • Prof. John Lennox
  • Alistair Begg ??? This guy is a PASTOR!!!
  • Larry Taunton
  • Stuart McAllister
  • Harry Reeder
  • Jay Smith
  • Bill Wortman

Alistair Begg??? Alistair Begg??? Pastors hate apologetics, except for Kreitsauce! This is unpossible! Unpossible, I say!

And here is another one in North Carolina in November 2009.

Speakers:

  • Michael Brown
  • William Lane Craig
  • Dinesh D’Souza (Catholic)
  • Gary R. Habermas
  • Christopher Hitchens (debating Dinesh D’souza) ??? Christians debate?
  • Johnny Hunt, President of Southern Baptist Convention ???
  • Greg Koukl
  • Peter Kreeft (Catholic)
  • Mike Licona
  • Frank Turek
  • Benjamin Wiker (Catholic)

Now I ask you. When did Christians suddenly start to value apologetics as part of the church experience? And DEBATES! In CHURCH! What is the world coming to when Christians let atheists debate Christian truth claims with reference to real facts and evidences, in the church? Churches are for singing and having fun! Right?

Even the Canadians are doing it!

Worser and worser

But it gets even WORSE. Look, 100 Huntley Street is hosting videos of William Lane Craig answering QUESTIONS! (H/T Apologetics 315)

Look:

• The Relationship Between Faith and Reason – Video / MP3
• The Best Argument for Belief in God – Video / MP3
• Can We Be Good Without God? – Video / MP3
• Is God a Logical Necessity – Video / MP3
• Can We Trust the Bible Written 2000 Years Ago – Video / MP3
• Why Is Richard Dawkins So Popular? – Video / MP3
• Who Designed the Designer? A Response to Dawkins – Video / MP3
• The Flying Spaghetti Monster & Evidence for God – Video / MP3
• Can We Trust Religious Experiences? – Video / MP3
• Can There Be Meaning Without God? – Video / MP3
• How Can Christianity Be the Only One True Religion? – Video / MP3

HE’S TALKING ABOUT THE BIG BANG! Appealing to the findings of mainstream science! That’s… blasphemy! Isn’t it?

(By the way, you should really listen to these, especially the ones in italics, where he is surprisingly snarky! These are just a few minutes long, each).

Disclaimer

Now whenever I am being silly, no one realizes it. So this is all just me being silly. I love Christian apologetics, and I am happy that churches are getting interested in training young people to think about their faith and then talk about it in public. Once in a while, I should be allowed to be silly.