In the final class of the course on Reason & Revelation, we considered a number of related topics briefly. These included liberal Protestantism—-with emphasis on liberal Presbyterianism—-as well as New Age philosophies such as that espoused by Eckhart Tolle with backing from Oprah Winfrey. We also attempted to answer several questions raised earlier in the course about Immanuel Kant’s philosophy and about answers to prayer. Finally, in the ever-changing world of biological discovery, we reviewed recent data on the field of epigenetics in which it is shown that there is another layer of staggering complexity beyond that of the genome in every cell of our body. A complexity that the proponents of Story 1 say happened strictly by chance, and that the proponents of Story 2 say shows the incredible creative power of the Intelligent Designer. To conclude we noted that ultimately, in pursuit of the Truth, we need to turn to that One who claimed to be: “the Way, the Truth and the Life.” Here are the slides: Class 13: Wrap-up

In Class 12 we finished up our consideration of the mind and the brain. In addition we looked at limits to reason, and considered reason run amok in the so-called “new atheism” movement. Here are the slides: Class 12: The Mind & the Brain: Part 2

Here are the slides from Class 11 on the relationship between the mind & the brain as seen from the Two Stories that we have been considering during the course: Class 11: The Mind & the Brain - Part 1

Class 9 overlapped in real time into Class 10. Likewise Class 10 on Hell, as an objection to Christianity, overlapped into Class 11. For simplicity’s sake, I have kept the slides separated by subject matter rather than by the actual slides presented during the class period. Here are all the slides on the subject of hell: Class 10: Hell

Here are the slides from Class 9 presented by Wayne on evil & suffering: Class 9: Evil & Suffering

Here are the slides from the last class: Class 8: Origin of Man

For the next two classes, Wayne Bowman will be presenting material on classic objections to the Christian faith. He will first address: “If God is all good and all powerful, why does suffering & evil continue?” As time permits, he will address another objection: Hell. I will return on the following week to address the continuation of the “two stories” theme, this time looking at the mind and the brain: the same or different?

John Dishman

The slides from Class 7 are here: Class 7: Intelligent Design

This week’s class slides are here: Class 6: Origin of Life

18 minutes of the class consisted of a video excerpt from Unlocking the Mystery of Life. The entire video is availalbe for viewing (free) as a Google video file at this link.

Earlier in the decade I had the privilege of serving on the Creation Study Committee of the Presbyterian Church in America. One of my assignments, along with Dr. Jack Collins (Covenant Seminary), was to write an appendix to the report on General Revelation. Since that was a topic we discussed in Class 5 (see previous post), some class members may be interested in reading the full text of that appendix. It is posted here: General Revelation - Appendix to the Creation Study Committee Report

Last Sunday’s class slides can be found here: Class 5: Objections to the Bible - Responses

Thanks to Andy Winters for pointing out a timely article from the Wall Street Journal regarding atheism and superstition. If you are a subscriber to the WSJ, you can find the article here
Entitled “Look Who’s Irrational Now?” the article reports on a survey by Baylor University in conjunction with Gallup. The surprising results from the study show that conservative Christians are much less likely than so-called rational atheists to believe in the “paranormal” which include such things as Big Foot, astrology, Atlantis, haunted houses and so forth. Here’s how the article puts it: “While 31% of people who never worship expressed strong belief in these things, only 8% of people who attend a house of worship more than once a week did.” The author Mollie Ziegler Hemingway goes on to say:

We can’t even count on self-described atheists to be strict rationalists. According to the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life’s monumental “U.S. Religious Landscape Survey” that was issued in June, 21% of self-proclaimed atheists believe in either a personal God or an impersonal force. Ten percent of atheists pray at least weekly and 12% believe in heaven.

And they accuse Christians of being irrational!

If you would like a link to the article that expires after 7 days, send me an email at john@dishmans.net