Atheist Conference Audio Now Posted
Audio from last week's Theist/Atheist Open Forum at the Midwest Freethought Conference has now been posted. You can head over to the Media Page to listen, or just stream it below.This audio was recorded live in the room rather than from the professional A/V feed, so you audiophiles will need to lower your expectations. We'll upload a higher-quality source audio whenever the conference organizers get it to us.Session Notes:
- Audio begins with Sarah Morehead, Fred Heeren, and myself introducing ourselves briefly. Then the floor is open for questions from the audience. Panelists were myself and Fred Heeren (representing Christian theism) and Jerry DeWitt and Sarah Morehead (representing atheism).
- Here are timecodes for particular questions of interest... 5:50 - Are Atheists Dangerous? / 11:00 - With so many religions and branches of Christianity, how do you know which is true? / 16:35 - What is unique about a "Christian worldview?" / 21:52 - Why does unmerited favor (grace) matter? / 33:40 - Why does God seem absent from the world? / 48:00 - Why would a loving God create a world with freedom and evil? / 50:25 - What would it take for you to change your view?
[audio:http://bobthune.com/audio/mwft2012whole.mp3|titles=Theist/Atheist Open Forum|artists=Bob Thune]
The Toughest Question from Yesterday's Atheist Conference
Yesterday I spent the afternoon at the Midwest Freethought Conference, which is a sort of regional “New Atheist” convention. As one of only 3 theists in a room of over 200 people, I was delightfully outnumbered. I was also intellectually outgunned, sharing the podium with the likes of Dr. PZ Myers, Brian Dunning, and a host of other leading atheist thinkers... Many friends have asked me what the toughest question of the day was.
Four Reasons I Like Atheists
Today I enjoy the Daniel-in-the-lions-den privilege of being a guest panelist at the Midwest Freethought Conference, which is sort of a regional "New Atheist" convention. Anytime I get an opportunity like this, I like to celebrate the common ground I share with my atheist friends as fellow humans made in God's image. I find that affirming God's common grace in those who don't share my worldview goes a long way in defusing the often-hostile "us vs. them" rhetoric that both sides are prone to fall into. So here's what I was thinking about this morning... four things I really appreciate about atheists.
Liberal Shrinkage
Ross Douthat observes in a New York Times editorial (provocatively titled "Can Liberal Christianity Be Saved?"):
[The Episcopal Church] has spent the last several decades changing and then changing some more, from a sedate pillar of the WASP establishment into one of the most self-consciously progressive Christian bodies in the United States... Yet instead of attracting a younger, more open-minded demographic with these changes, the Episcopal Church’s dying has proceeded apace... in the last decade, average Sunday attendance dropped 23 percent, and not a single Episcopal diocese in the country saw churchgoing increase.
Saint Patrick
Sadly, St. Patrick's Day has become a convenient excuse for drunkenness and debauchery instead of a day to celebrate a heroic leader. So this St. Patty's Day, drink a Guinness... but do it while prayerfully honoring one of the greatest Christian missionaries in history.
UNO Debate Audio
Last week I was invited to participate in a debate/Q&A Forum at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO), co-hosted by Cru and the Secular Student Alliance. I greatly enjoyed the dialogue and the opportunity. For the many skeptics and atheists who were in attendance - thank you for treating me kindly, asking thoughtful questions, and engaging me in many enjoyable conversations after the event. For the Christians who were present (and those who will listen in), I trust that I represented historic, orthodox Christianity both accurately and winsomely. If I did, chalk it up to God and his grace; on the other hand, please ascribe to me the fault for any errors in argumentation or demeanor.[audio:http://bobthune.com/audio/SkepticsNight.mp3|titles=Cru/SSA Skeptic's Debate|artists=Bob Thune]
The Changing Face of Family
Unless you were paying attention, you might have missed the New York Times report on a new social "milestone" last week: more than half of births to American women under 30 now occur outside of marriage.
The Sacrament of Communion
One of the important debates during the Reformation centered around the sacrament of communion (also called the Eucharist or the Lord’s Supper). The Roman Catholic Church had come to teach the doctrine of transubstantiation: that when the priest blessed the bread and wine, they were converted into the actual body and blood of Christ. The Reformers argued that the Roman church had departed from historic practice and from biblical orthodoxy. Calvin asserts: “Transubstantiation was devised not so long ago; it was unknown to those better ages when the purer doctrine of religion still flourished” (Institutes, IV.XVII.14). He painstakingly documents the fact that his own view is in line with the great church father Augustine, and charges Rome with veering from ancient practice: “If the power of the mystery as it is taught by us, and was known to the ancient church, had been esteemed as it deserves for the past four hundred years… the gate would have been closed to many foul errors” (Institutes, IV.XVII.33).
Tip #6: Seek Out A Good Debate
The word “debate” likely causes you to think of presidential debates, which are not debates at all. They are more like playground fights for big boys. Don’t seek out a debate like that. In fact, avoid them. “Keeping away from strife is an honor for a man, but any fool will quarrel” (Proverbs 20:3). I’m talking about debate in the classic, liberal-arts tradition: a robust, thoughtful clash of ideas. It’s a skill that’s been all but lost in our postmodern world, where nobody is right but nobody is wrong either. It’s part of your calling to keep the discipline alive for the next generation.
Population Control?
Robust debate about population growth – like robust debate about anything – is good and healthy and welcome. But what’s increasingly disturbing about these sorts of debates is the absence of any coherent anthropology. A debate about population is, after all, a debate about human persons. So before we decide that we should limit the existence of human persons, it seems like we should back up and have some robust debate about what a human person is.