Session 7 - The Rock of Ages and the Age of Rocks Stephen Meyer
The New Atheism has declared that science reduces the belief of God as untenable. Life only gives the appearance of design, and to believe in a Designer is delusional. But we believe Ps. 19:1-4 and Rom. 1:20. Science reveals a Creator. Historically scientists like Boyle, Kepler, Newton, and Gallileo believed science was a high calling to think God's thoughts after Him. But how did we get from Newton to Richard Dawkins?
Pierre LaPlace, author of Celestial Mechanics, the first attempt to explain natural phenomena without a hypothesis of God.
Charles Darwin - not just science but a worldview and philosophy that views the theological and spiritual as superfluous.
To attempt a coherent answer to the essential questions of life, the prime reality formerly was metaphysical. But scientific materialism renders God as an idea in the mind of man. Therefore the prime reality is matter and energy. By the end of the 19th century, the materialistic worldview had the support of science itself, which brings us to the new atheism. A view that has implications on ethics and the sanctity of life.
However, the testimony of science has shifted. There are recent discoveries which have challenged the materialistic worldview:
1. Cosmology - Edwin Hubble's discovery of the expanding universe. If the universe is expanding, this implies a finite universe and a point of origin. Einstein developed his cosmological constant (fudge factor) to counter the expansion because he believed the universe was static, basically adjusting his science to fit his theory. But when faced with the evidence, he had to retract. In short, the heavens talked back.
2. Stephen Hawking and Roger Penrose - singularity theory of infinitely curved space which indicates a zero point for time. Therefore, the universe had to emerge from nothing physically. So if everything has a 1st cause, there had to have been causal start for space, time, and energy, which sounds like Gen. 1:1.
3. Fine tuning of the universe. The expansion rate of the universe is such that life is possible has a tolerance for error of 1:10 to the 60th power. This is also true for the speed of light, the gravitational constant, and the cosmological constant,among others.
4. Origin of information within DNA (Dr. Meyer's area of research) - DNA is digital code, but the information is not contained within the molecular structure of the 4 building blocks of DNA. It's not found in what the molecule does, so the question is where did the code originate? If you have information, it infers there had to have been intelligent cause.
Session 8 - Q&A 2
Q. How can we help Christian youth prepare themselves when they go to college?
A. Del Tackett - College is an environment where we remove all authority, hormones are raging, and kids find themselves in a hostile environment. We need to equip young people for the battle. Not just answering life's questions as though it were just a test, but to believe it and defend it in the environment where they find themselves. Rebellion is a declaration of independence against a holy God. Whether its the indiscretion at a party or doubt in the classroom, these feed on themselves in an attempt to get rid of God.
Q. State of biblical education has deteriorated. What is the remedy?
A. R.C. Sproul, Jr.: In the home and in the church, we need the power of the Word of God, and we need to give our children the Word. The Bible is the foundation and the anchor, which is very different from the father being the anchor. The answer is to believe the Gospel, believe the word, and declare it.
A. Michael Horton: Be trained in the same worldview at home, at school, and in the church. Because churches are dumbing down the message to our children, they are unprepared. They need to know what they believe and why.
Q. Is "doctrine divides" a form of anti-intelletualism?
A. R.C. Sproul: People think that if you want to keep the peace, you can't talk about doctrine. Not that we want to create hostility, but truth will divide. "Doctrine divides" is a thinly veiled disguise to tolerate the intolerable. Liberals get only so well, because they don't believe anything.
Q. Young earth or old earth?
The panel was divided 2 YE and 2 OE with R.C. Sproul abstaining, but the discussion was very gracious although each man was firm in his stand. (There is a post on the Ligonier blog where R.C. Sproul states his shift to YE.) Dr. Meyer commented that he felt this was even a tertiary issue, because the main battle is over the existence of God. Often there's so much infighting among Christians over this issue, that it gives the atheists a field day.
Session 9 - The Fear Factor Michael Horton
We live in a day of secularism which leads to relativism, pluralization, and assimilation. Naturalism is not just atheism but pantheistic. There is no distinction between Creator and creature. We have become biblically illiterate and moralistic therapeutic deists, not Christians. We are selling our souls to popular culture in the name of being relevant and missional, reaching for the hem of Caesar's garment, longing for cultural legitimacy. But in the face of these things, we do not need to be afraid.
This is our Father's world - We know because He has revealed Himself.
This is our Father's story - Creation, redemption, incarnation, and consummation. There is no other God than Who was revealed in Jesus Christ.
The Gospel of God is concerning His Son - The Gospel is what God has done for us. It saves precisely because it's not about us. It's a historical fact. It's not true because of what has happened inside of me, but because of what happened outside of Jerusalem.
The New Atheism has declared that science reduces the belief of God as untenable. Life only gives the appearance of design, and to believe in a Designer is delusional. But we believe Ps. 19:1-4 and Rom. 1:20. Science reveals a Creator. Historically scientists like Boyle, Kepler, Newton, and Gallileo believed science was a high calling to think God's thoughts after Him. But how did we get from Newton to Richard Dawkins?
Pierre LaPlace, author of Celestial Mechanics, the first attempt to explain natural phenomena without a hypothesis of God.
Charles Darwin - not just science but a worldview and philosophy that views the theological and spiritual as superfluous.
To attempt a coherent answer to the essential questions of life, the prime reality formerly was metaphysical. But scientific materialism renders God as an idea in the mind of man. Therefore the prime reality is matter and energy. By the end of the 19th century, the materialistic worldview had the support of science itself, which brings us to the new atheism. A view that has implications on ethics and the sanctity of life.
However, the testimony of science has shifted. There are recent discoveries which have challenged the materialistic worldview:
1. Cosmology - Edwin Hubble's discovery of the expanding universe. If the universe is expanding, this implies a finite universe and a point of origin. Einstein developed his cosmological constant (fudge factor) to counter the expansion because he believed the universe was static, basically adjusting his science to fit his theory. But when faced with the evidence, he had to retract. In short, the heavens talked back.
2. Stephen Hawking and Roger Penrose - singularity theory of infinitely curved space which indicates a zero point for time. Therefore, the universe had to emerge from nothing physically. So if everything has a 1st cause, there had to have been causal start for space, time, and energy, which sounds like Gen. 1:1.
3. Fine tuning of the universe. The expansion rate of the universe is such that life is possible has a tolerance for error of 1:10 to the 60th power. This is also true for the speed of light, the gravitational constant, and the cosmological constant,among others.
4. Origin of information within DNA (Dr. Meyer's area of research) - DNA is digital code, but the information is not contained within the molecular structure of the 4 building blocks of DNA. It's not found in what the molecule does, so the question is where did the code originate? If you have information, it infers there had to have been intelligent cause.
Session 8 - Q&A 2
Q. How can we help Christian youth prepare themselves when they go to college?
A. Del Tackett - College is an environment where we remove all authority, hormones are raging, and kids find themselves in a hostile environment. We need to equip young people for the battle. Not just answering life's questions as though it were just a test, but to believe it and defend it in the environment where they find themselves. Rebellion is a declaration of independence against a holy God. Whether its the indiscretion at a party or doubt in the classroom, these feed on themselves in an attempt to get rid of God.
Q. State of biblical education has deteriorated. What is the remedy?
A. R.C. Sproul, Jr.: In the home and in the church, we need the power of the Word of God, and we need to give our children the Word. The Bible is the foundation and the anchor, which is very different from the father being the anchor. The answer is to believe the Gospel, believe the word, and declare it.
A. Michael Horton: Be trained in the same worldview at home, at school, and in the church. Because churches are dumbing down the message to our children, they are unprepared. They need to know what they believe and why.
Q. Is "doctrine divides" a form of anti-intelletualism?
A. R.C. Sproul: People think that if you want to keep the peace, you can't talk about doctrine. Not that we want to create hostility, but truth will divide. "Doctrine divides" is a thinly veiled disguise to tolerate the intolerable. Liberals get only so well, because they don't believe anything.
Q. Young earth or old earth?
The panel was divided 2 YE and 2 OE with R.C. Sproul abstaining, but the discussion was very gracious although each man was firm in his stand. (There is a post on the Ligonier blog where R.C. Sproul states his shift to YE.) Dr. Meyer commented that he felt this was even a tertiary issue, because the main battle is over the existence of God. Often there's so much infighting among Christians over this issue, that it gives the atheists a field day.
Session 9 - The Fear Factor Michael Horton
We live in a day of secularism which leads to relativism, pluralization, and assimilation. Naturalism is not just atheism but pantheistic. There is no distinction between Creator and creature. We have become biblically illiterate and moralistic therapeutic deists, not Christians. We are selling our souls to popular culture in the name of being relevant and missional, reaching for the hem of Caesar's garment, longing for cultural legitimacy. But in the face of these things, we do not need to be afraid.
This is our Father's world - We know because He has revealed Himself.
This is our Father's story - Creation, redemption, incarnation, and consummation. There is no other God than Who was revealed in Jesus Christ.
The Gospel of God is concerning His Son - The Gospel is what God has done for us. It saves precisely because it's not about us. It's a historical fact. It's not true because of what has happened inside of me, but because of what happened outside of Jerusalem.
Thank you, Persis!
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