Category Archives: Podcasts

Podcasts

Sean McDowell debates James Corbett on whether morality is grounded by atheism

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Brian Auten posted the audio a few milliseconds after the debate concluded!

Here is the MP3 file.

Sean’s case is similar to the one I make, but he only has 3 minimal requirements for morality.

First, he explains the difference between objective and subjective truth claims, and points out that statements of a moral nature are meaningless unless morality is objective. Then he states 3 things that are needed in order to ground objective morality.

  1. an objective moral standard
  2. free will
  3. objective moral value of humans

The question of the foundations of morality is without a doubt the easiest issue for beginning apologists to discuss with their neighbor. If you’re new, then you need to at least listen to his opening speech. He’s an excellent speaker, and his rebuttals are very, very smooth. The citations of atheist philosophers like Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, e.g. – to show that “religious” wars had nothing to do with religion, really hurt his opponent. He seems to cite prominent atheists like Thomas Nagel, Richard Taylor, Michael Shermer, etc., constantly in order to get support for his assertions. That took preparation. I can’t believe that McDowell is this calm in a debate situation.

When I listen to Frank Turek, he seems to struggle in his rebuttals. McDowell sounds like he foreknew exactly what his opponent would say and pre-wrote responses. He even had powerpoint slides made in advance for his rebuttals! I am not making this up – Corbett even remarked on it.

For those of you who want to understand how these things work, listen to the debate. There is a period of cross-examination if you like that sort of thing. I do!

EXTRA:

Podcasts

Jennifer Roback Morse answers the best argument for same-sex marriage

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Cloning her would solve the marriage problem
She'll show you how to defend marriage

Jennifer Roback Morse likes to debate, and she’s very good at it. So good, that you can learn how to debate about marriage too, just by listening to her debates.

The audio of her recent debate in Manhattan just came out.

The MP3 file is here. (46 minutes lecture, 27 minutes of Q&A)

The main case that she makes is similar to the case she made in the debate she had at Columbia University, which I blogged about before. But the Q&A is new, and very interesting. It starts at 46:00 and goes until the end. But one of the difficult questions she was asked really stood out.

The argument

Opposition to same-sex marriage is the same as opposition to inter-racial marriage.

The answer

There are two ways to respond:

1) Race has nothing to do with the central purpose of marriage as being the natural way of binding children to parents, and parents to each other. Race doesn’t affect those goals. But gender is relevant to the the purpose of marriage, because if a baby is formed from opposite sex parents then both parents have a biological link to the child, which is a stronger bond than a non-biological link. This improves the chances that the child will be raised in a stable environment.

2) A better historical analogy to opposing same-sex marriage is opposition to no-fault divorce (unilateral divorce). No-fault marriage started in California. They also argued that only a few people would be affected, that the children would not be harmed, studies show that it will be OK, etc. But in hindsight, we now know that it was a disaster for the family, and especially for children.

You can visit Dr. J’s blog here.

Those of you who are into Christian apologetics need to understand that atheism is embraced for a whole host of non-rational causes. One of them is growing up in a fatherless household. It has a profound impact on a child’s worldview when the child’s father is defective or absent. That means that every Christian apologist who knows the standard arguments also needs to know how to defend marriage. Insofar as socialism attacks marriage, the Christian apologist needs to be able to defend marriage on fiscal grounds, as well.

I’ve written before about no-fault divorce, pre/extra-marital sex, single-mother parenting and same-sex marriage. Here is my post that cites research in order to explain why people oppose same-sex marriage.

Podcasts

Brian Auten interviews William Lane Craig

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The interview is here on Brian’s excellent site, Apologetics 315.

The MP3 file is here. (29 minutes)

Topics:

  • The Reasonable Faith Chapters program: why?
  • Brian’s new Reasonable Faith chapter in Belfast, Ireland
  • WLC’s new book “On Guard” for beginning Christians (coming out in March!)
  • WLC’s upcoming debate with physicist Victor Stenger on March 1, 2010
  • WLC’s upcoming debate with philosopher Michael Tooley, later on in March
  • How did WLC become a Christian?
  • Which books and scholars influenced WLC the most?
  • What is the focus of WLC’s current research
  • What books should a beginning Christian read to start defending their faith?
  • What books should an intermediate Christian read to start defending their faith?
  • What degrees can a Christian do to be accredited in apologetics?
  • The importance of having a mentor to help direct your studies
  • What dicipline is an essential jumping-off for Christian scholars?
  • Whice argument for Christianity is the most effective?
  • What should a person study to develop their personal character?
  • What skills are necessary for study, and how do you develop them?
  • Which scholars does WLC admire as role models?
  • How can a person develop to improve their public speaking skills?
  • What does WLC do to prepare for this debates?
  • How does apologetics connect with the concept of “spiritual warfare”?
  • How can you use apologetics to help the development of your children?
  • How important is your marriage compared to your studies?
  • What is the ultimate goal of the apologetic enterprise?
  • Does God have a specific or a general will for each individual?
  • What legacy does WLC hope to leave behind?

Brian did a good job on this interview. He’s a very nice person, too.

In fact, he’s so nice that he managed to persuade Biola University to offer a 10% discount on William Lane Craig’s Philosophy of Religion DVD set. It’s big and expensive ($135!), but you only need to buy it once, and Brian recommends it. I think that this set is a lot better than the Kalam Cosmological Argument set that is also available.

Here is Bill’s previous debate with Victor Stenger, and here is his previous debate with Michael Tooley.