Tag Archives: Debate

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.

Podcasts

Richard Bauckham defends the reliability of the gospels against James Crossley

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I just finished listening to all the new William Lane Craig and Saddleback Apologetics Conference lectures, and now I’ve found something a little more difficult. A debate between the brilliant Cambridge New Testament scholar Richard Bauckham, and another solid atheistic New Testament Scholar, James Crossley.

The debate links are here at Operation 513.

The leading New Testament scholar from Cambridge, Dr. Richard Bauckham, was recently on the radio program ‘Unbelievable?’ which is on the Premier Christian Radio network. Bauckham was arguing that the Gospels are based on eyewitness accounts and therefore should be regarded as fundamentally trustworthy.

Joining in on the discussion was also New Testament historian, Dr. James Crossley, discussing the implications of Bauckham’s work and whether the Gospel of John was written by the disciple John himself, as Bauckham claims.

It is well worth the listen.

Part 1 – (1 hr 20 mins)
Part 2 – (1 hr 20 mins)

This is a great debate between two great New Testament scholars.

Richard Bauckham

You can find out more about Bauckham in this Christianity Today profile.

Summary:

The author of CT’s 2007 Book Award winner in biblical studies, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, Richard Bauckham proposes a new (or, rather, an ancient) paradigm through which to view the Gospels: as the eyewitness testimony of trustworthy insiders. Wheaton professor Gary Burge asked the St. Andrews scholar how his approach diverges from mainstream New Testament scholarship—and what it means for our understanding of Jesus.

I’m really excited by the respect he is getting in the academy. This is a completely NEW perspective on the gospels that is getting a lot of attention.

James Crossley

Crossley specializes in Mark, the earliest and most reliable gospel. Mark’s source for the Passion narrative of Jesus is dated to the 40s, about 10-20 years after the death of Jesus. Mark’s gospel is based on the eyewitness testimony of his companion Peter. So it is fun to hear them debate Mark in the first show. And they get into 1 Corinthians 15 as well, which is dated to 1-3 years after Jesus died.

Crossley debated against William Lane Craig before here and he debated against Michael Bird here, (part 1, part 2).