BirkeyBlog

Last night at 7 PM Chicago time, a debate was broadcast on Moody Radio Network between Richard Dawkins, author of “The God Delusion,” and John Lennox, professor of Mathematics and Philosophy of Science, both at Oxford University, England. Dawkins is considered one of the leading intellectuals in science today, and a spokesman for the “New Atheism.”

The debate was held at The Alys Stephens Center at the University of Alabama, and was sponsored by a group called Fixed Point Foundation. I heard about the debate from my brother Barry, and also saw it advertised in Christianity Today magazine.

The debate was positioned to center on Dawkins’ views as expressed in his book, and their validity over and against the Christian faith. Lennox is a well-know Christian apologist, and has written a rebuttal to Dawkins’ book entitled: “God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God?” Dawkins was given the first and last words for the evening debate out of “Christian charity” as the host humorously noted.

I was able to listen to the first 30 minutes before attending a previous commitment. In that time I heard introductions of the speakers by the moderator, and a 5 minute biography introduction by each debater.

I plan to purchase the DVD of the event through the Fixed Point website as soon as it is available. I’ll do a more detailed analysis after viewing that.

What I found personally interesting is that when I was in Oxford in 2006 for the RZIM Summer School (see my 2006 Summer School Posts), John Lennox was one of the lecturers that I heard on a daily basis. We also heard our evening lectures from Ravi Zacharias and other RZIM speakers, in the British Museum of Natural History, where Richard Dawkins has his office.

Kind of ironic!

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