Category Archives: Events

Events

Upcoming debate between William Dembski and Christopher Hitchens

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Upcoming debate between William Dembski and Christopher Hitchens. (H/T Apologetics 315)

Details:

William Dembski will be debating Christopher Hitchens at the Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, TX, Nov. 18th, on the question of God’s goodness.

“Does a Good God Exist?”

Debate between Dr. William Dembski and Christopher Hitchens

Two intellectual heavy weights will square off toe-to-toe on the existence and goodness of God.

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, where Dr. Dembski is a research professor, has an article on the debate.

Dembski and Hitchens will debate the existence of a good God during a conference for the Biblical Worldview Institute at Prestonwood Christian Academy in Plano, Texas. The debate will be hosted in the worship center at Prestonwood Baptist Church from 8:40 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. It will also be webcast on http://www.pcawebcast.com.

Dembski, a champion of the Intelligent Design movement, is also a senior fellow with the Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture and an author of numerous books, including The Design of Life: Discovering Signs of Intelligence in Biological Systems and The End of Christianity: Finding a Good God in an Evil World. He was also featured in the 2008 documentary on Intelligent Design, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.

Hitchens has authored, along with other controversial books, God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, and he edited The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Non-Believer. Alongside Sam Harris, Daniel C. Dennett and Richard Dawkins, Hitchens has been called one of “The Four Horsemen” of the atheism. A former atheist, Hitchens’ brother, Peter, renounced his disbelief and recently wrote the 2010 publication, The Rage against God: How Atheism Led me to Faith.

Prestonwood Christian Academy is a ministry of Prestonwood Baptist Church, the location of one of Southwestern Seminary’s seven extension centers. The College at Southwestern is also a sponsor for the debate. For more information on the conference or to register, visit www.prestonwoodchristian.org.

I am a big fan of William Dembski. He will crush Hitchens, just like Craig did at Biola in 2009.

Dallas/Fort-Worth apologetics conference TODAY

Here’s a quick reminder about the upcoming conference in Dallas, TX.

When:

  • November 5th and 6th, 2010
  • Friday: 7:00 PM to 9:30 PM
  • Saturday: 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM

Where:

Speakers and topics:

  • Tag-team of all speakers on apologetics
  • Dr. Paul Nelson, “The Power and Promise of Intelligent Design in Biology”
  • Dr. Craig Hazen, “Did Jesus Really Rise from the Dead?”
  • Sean McDowell, “Equipping Young People with a Biblical Worldview”
  • Dr. J.P. Moreland, “The War of Worldviews”
  • Dr. Mike Licona, “Can We Really Trust the Gospels”
  • Dr. William Lane Craig, “The Case for the Existence of God”

The main page is here.

The thing I like about this conference is that all of the speakers have participated in lectures and debates. Paul Nelson has debated on intelligent design, JP Moreland has debated on the existence of God, Craig debates regularly on the existence of God, Licona has debated Ehrman and others on the resurrection, and Sean McDowell kicked butt in his debate on morality and atheism. Craig Hazen hasn’t debated to my knowledge, but he does tons of lecturing, and people tend to really like his lectures. I once gave an entire set of lectures to my friends Andrew and Jen and they liked Craig Hazen the best.

So the point is that these guys are all really really good speakers! This conference should be a very lively affair.

Events

Debate on the origin of life featuring Stephen C. Meyer and Doug Axe

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Wow, this should be the most exciting debate of the year:

The conversation about God and Darwin is heating up. After several months of back-and-forth, the theistic evolutionists at BioLogos (notably attacking Stephen Meyer’s Signature in the Cell, in some cases without reading it) will meet and finally face intelligent design proponents, who are coming fresh off their successful salvo of essays and arguments in God and Evolution, which premiered with a conference at Biola University last week.

Next week the Vibrant Dance of Faith and Science becomes the God and evolution showdown in Austin, as the question of whether faith in God can co-exist with Darwinian evolution will be discussed and debated with people of faith on all different points of the spectrum. CSC Director Stephen Meyer will be presenting, as will CSC fellows Bill Dembski, Doug Axe, Richard Sternberg, Paul Nelson, Jack Collins, Walter Bradley, Bruce Gordon, and Ray Bohlin.

The Vibrant Dance of Faith and Science is unique for bringing together key leaders on both sides of the debate. Attendees have three days of speakers and sessions but should prepare for a rumble on Thursday, October 28, when Stephen Meyer and Doug Axe will go up against Darrel Falk and Randy Isaac in a debate on the origin of life, moderated by Walter Bradley. (If you haven’t been following it, there’s no small measure of disagreement between these thinkers).

For more on the conference, which runs from October 26-28 at Grace Covenant Church, and to register, visit vibrantdance.org.

I found this on Evolution News. It’s good to see one of my favorite Christians (Walter Bradley) still in the mix on science and religion.

Events

Michael Behe will be lecturing in the UK this November

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Story from Evolution News.

Excerpt:

Controversial ID Scientist tours UK
Professor Michael Behe, a key figure in the Intelligent Design (ID) movement, will challenge his critics in a lecture tour of the UK in November.

Prof. Behe is one of an increasing number of scientists who believe that modern biochemical evidence undermines the basis of Darwinian evolution. The author of two ground-breaking books on ID – ‘Darwin’s Black Box‘ (1996) and ‘The Edge of Evolution‘ (2007) – Behe’s theory of irreducible complexity has drawn attacks from many neo-Darwinists, but not one of them has been able to refute it.

As Behe himself writes, in the years since the publication of ‘Darwin’s Black Box’, “the scientific argument for design is stronger than ever. Despite the enormous progress of biochemistry in the intervening years… despite implacable opposition from some scientists at the highest levels, the book’s argument for design stands… there is very little of the original text I would change if I wrote it today.

“In short, as science advances relentlessly, the molecular foundation of life… is getting exponentially more complex. As it does, the case for the intelligent design of life becomes exponentially stronger.”

Behe’s ‘Darwin or Design? What Does the Science Really Say?’ tour runs from 20-27 November and will comprise evening lectures at the Babbage Lecture Theatre in Cambridge and the Caledonian University in Glasgow, plus events in London, Belfast and Leamington/Warwick. He will also be the main speaker at a day conference (27 November) at Oxford Brookes University.

The tour is organised by the UK-based Centre for Intelligent Design, which exists to promote the public understanding of ID.

For more details of the tour and booking information see: www.darwinordesign.org.uk

Michael Behe is one of my favorite intelligent design speakers.