Even the demons believe—and shudder!

James 2:19

I just noticed that Antony Flew died.

Professor Antony Flew was one of the most prominent atheist philosophers of the twentieth century. He had little in common with the so-called “New Atheists” like Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and others; Professor Flew was an intelligent and amiable fellow who simply disagreed with theists on the facts. He even struck up a rich friendship with Dr. Gary Habermas, Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Philosophy and Theology Department of Liberty University.

Then, in 2003, a funny thing happened. Antony Flew, atheist extraordinaire, changed his mind at the age of 80. He decided there is a God after all.

What changed his mind? Two things: first, the idea …

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From Edgar Andrews’ Who Made God?: Searching for a Theory of Everything. Andrews is Emeritus Professor of Materials at the University of London and an international expert on large molecules. His book is insightful, engaging, and light-hearted for a deep subject. It’s scientifically and philosophically astute. Andrews’ has no fear of the atheists, such as Richard Dawkins, who attempt to wield science as a weapon against theism.

…There is one answer to the question that atheists are happy to accept – the answer “We made God.”

…For the moment let me point out three small problems with the “We made God” hypothesis.

First, it falls into the very

…

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Christopher Hitchens says religion is absurd:

“If Moses and Jesus and Mohammed had never existed — let alone Joseph Smith or Mary Baker Eddy or Kim Jong Il or any of the other man-made prophets or idols — we would still be faced with precisely the same questions about how to explain ourselves and our lives, how to think about the just city, and how to comport ourselves with our fellow-creatures. The small progress we have made so far, from the basic realization that diseases are not punishments to the noble idea that as humans we may even have “rights”, is due to the exercise of skepticism and doubt, and to the objective scrutiny of hard evidence, and not at all …

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The documentary COLLISION pits leading atheist, political journalist and author Christopher Hitchens (“God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything”) against fellow author and evangelical theologian Pastor Douglas Wilson on a debate tour arguing the topic “Is Religion Good For The World?”. Lives and worldviews collide as Hitchens and Wilson wittily and passionately argue the timeless question, proving to be perfectly matched intellectual, philosophical, and cinematic rivals.

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COLLISION – 13 min VIMEO Exclusive Sneak Peak from Collision Movie on Vimeo.

HT

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C.A. sent me a link to a story about the American Humanist Association spending $40,000 on an ad campaign asking: “Why believe in a god?” I was especially intrigued by this because our Gospel Conversations class is paying a lot of attention to the sort of questions people ask, and here’s a big one gift-wrapped and served up on a plate.

Rather than serve up some pat answers here, I’d rather hear from you, Grace Fellowship (especially you Gospel Conversationalists out there)… Why believe in a god?

(P.S. Please do a better job than the American Family Association’s representative, who said, “It’s a stupid ad.” He said some other things after that, but by then I wasn’t

…

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Friday night, Taylor and I went to see Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, the new film by actor Ben Stein (you might remember him as the devastatingly boring teacher in Ferris Beuller’s Day Off). Here’s a synopsis from CNS News:

“Expelled” calls attention to the plight of highly credentialed scholars who have been forced out of prestigious academic positions because they proposed Intelligent Design as a possible alternative to Charles Darwin’s 150-year-old theories about the origins of life. Instead of entertaining a debate on the merits of competing theories, the scientific establishment has moved to suppress the ID movement in a “systematic and ruthless” way at odds with America’s founding principles, the film asserts.

This film employs humor and artistic filmmaking techniques …

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The blogs are abuzz with perspectives on The Golden Compass. Some of these were referenced in Dan’s earlier post about The Golden Compass, but I thought I’d compile a bunch of them here in one place.

Amy Hall of Stand to Reason writes:

And so we come to the one, core argument about the real world made by Pullman through these novels: the God of the Bible is not good. …In the midst of all the sensational plot details that could easily sidetrack our objections, this is the point we need to respond to as Christians. And this won’t be accomplished by picketing

…

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If you have read my previous blog entry regarding the upcoming release of The Golden Compass, that is based on the award-winning writer Philip Pullman, you may wonder what you might say to combat the ideology of Pullman when he asserts: “When you look at organized religion of whatever sort – whether it’s Christianity in all its variants, or whether it’s Islam or some forms of extreme Hinduism – wherever you see organized religion and priesthoods and power, you see cruelty and tyranny and repression…” “It’s almost a universal law.”

Is that true? Is Christianity to be accurately viewed as a wrecking ball on humanity? Is that then why Pullman views religion and a belief in …

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