Click title to see sermon video, quotes, and transcript.
Education: Has Science Buried God? by John Lennox [VIDEO]
About
Eric Metaxas interviews (mainly at minute 6 on the video) John Lennox at the Colson Center in Washingon D.C. in summary form regarding the topic question, “Has Science Buried God?” The interview might just be best for a helpful introduction to Lennox and to discover more of what he has authored and argued, especially in debates with high profile atheist (20th-21st century version) professors and scientists. Dr. Lennox provides a lot of helpful statements and introductory level direction in how to think and find more answers. Many of the statements are also challenging modern day assumptions, decades old under-toe current, and now seemingly tsunami wave of people’s ‘anti-belief’ in God. Below the video are quotes/statements written out from the interview for reference also.
Metaxas allow 3 questions from the audience at the end, which starts about 1 hour 5 minutes that addresses: 1) Mathematical proofs; 2) Abortion; and 3) What would Lennox say before God in heaven upon death?
From Socrates in the City youtube video (1 hour 19 minutes) description:
“Host Eric Metaxas and Oxford professor John Lennox explore the question, "Has science buried God?" -- discussing the fine-tuned universe, evolution, logic, history, and more! "It's like we're an old Vaudeville team" says Metaxas, who eggs the legendary Lennox into retelling his equally legendary roast chicken anecdote. The interview was hosted by the Colson Center and took place in Washington D.C., in May 2019.“
Video
Dr. Lennox provides statements like:
“There are a myth in our culture: 1) Science is the only way to truth. 2) The position is logically incoherent … That statement (science is the only way to truth) cannot be true since it does not come from science.”
“Science can bury atheism.“
“It was the belief in God that drove science.”
“They got the wrong concept of God.”
“The more he understood of how it worked, the more he admired the genius of the God [of the Bible] who did it that way.”
“There’s a mind behind what’s up there … not mindless, unguided processes.“
“Our faith increases [in God when learning the world and science].“
“Kids can understand but professors cannot. The scientific explanation tells you how it works. The personal explanation works also … the two explanations do not compete but compliments.”
“[The why question] is an important question.”
“Something came from something, not nothing.”
“Science can bury atheism.“
“We have been miseducated by atheists that there’s science there and there’s faith here.”
“Atheism followed to its logical conclusion destroys rationality.”
“The Bible is putting the finger on what is really profound.“
“The universe is word based … not that the universe came from nothing and created itself.”
“And God said … The idea of God speaking is such a powerful one. The Bible has been talking about it for a millennia.”
“Nobody can get rid of the idea of creation. So reject God and end up with a self-creating universal and that’s a contradiction in terms … leads to nonsense.“
“It is a mistake to think that only Christians are a people of faith.”
“Every school in our country is a faith school.”
“They don’t realize that their atheism is a belief system [don’t you believe in your atheistic beliefs].
“We are people who believe in Christ, and provide why we believe what we believe.“
“[Put Christianity and truth in the public space] We need a lot of courage to do that, otherwise we all will be silenced.“
“Evolution only addresses when there is life and not how life came about.”
“Our culture is faced of a raw choice between God and nothing.”
Topics (mentioned or addressed):
Literature
Theology
Languages
Classics
God
Word
Universe
Life
Creation
History
Science
Evolution
Atheism (20th/21st century version)
Galileo
Kepler
Christopher Hitchens
Richard Dawkins
Stephen Hawking
Carl Sagan
Peter Singer
Reductionism
Ontological Reductionists
DNA
Fine-tuning
Chance, necessity, and laws of nature
Abiogenesis
Philosophy
Physics
Mathematics
The Bible
Biblical Revelation
John’s Gospel
Living Word, Jesus
Isaac Newton
C.S. Lewis
Logic
Rationale
Gravity
Energy
Education
Schools
What to say at death and before the Lord Jesus Christ?
Life: "We Need to Value Truth" - John Cooper Interview with CBN News [VIDEO]
Thank you John Cooper for sharing your Facebook post posing and answering the question, “What is happening in Christianity?” The above interview is also helpful and inspiring as you advocate merely what is Christian — God, the gospel, his word, etc. John Cooper even shares how he’s involved in a church, listening to pastors, reading God’s word, etc. What an encouragement to hear, especially from a musician.
Life: Former BYU Professor Lynn Wilder's Story about Changing from Mormonism to Christianity
Lynn Wilder shares her life story about her, her husband, and their children turning from the religion of Mormonism to Christianity — making clear the distinctions between the two and the immense clarity that comes from learning to read the Bible’s Old and New Testament in context that reveals the truth and love of God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and life following him.
The below videos show Lynn’s (mom) and Matt’s (son) testimonies in various context, which includes an 8 minute interview with the 700 Club as well as her sharing with a church in a fuller version and more details. Lynn provides insights in several areas from spending 30 years in Mormonism, her husband’s high priest temple service, her tenured professorship at BYU (Brigham Young University), her son (Micah) learning about Jesus from the Bible’s New Testament during his two year Mormon mission that initiated the change, and authoring her book, Unveiling Grace, that provides more details.
"I Forgave My Rapist"
Watch and listen to Anchored North's video interview of the to the incredible life story of this young woman who was lured in through a stranger's social media message to later, on the second date, raper and impregnate her. Instead of aborting in the midst of recovering from this man's evil, she rested and became resolved the truth and love of Christ that changed her life. God's word is powerful and longer lasting than evil's impact on and in this world.
"Homosexuality Was My Identity"
Watch and listen to the Anchored North's video interview of the incredible life story change of one man's whole life identity of Homosexuality and all that was connected to it like being part of the LGBT community and the Hollywood scene. The change came from a different truth and love he had not heard growing up and didn't care to know, content and fighting to love his life. Starting from elementary school, becoming open to a friend as a high school junior, led to dating and in college his lifestyle of homosexuality became a his "core identity."
He testifies to the truth and love of Christ being what changed him from seeing the world in a different light, through the proverbial light of the gospel that shines brightly though sometimes appearing dimly in a dark world and dark hearts. God intervened, opened his eyes to see, his heart to trust, and surrender his life wholly to the Lord.
"I Had No Idea What Life Was All About"
Watch the incredible life story of this couple, testifying that Jesus is real, true, forgiving, and redemptive having revealed to them the brokenness of the world, the sin of being separated from him, the sinful choices they made like that of murdering their 3 unborn babies, onslaught of confusion about life, redefining truth and love, and discovering reconciliation.
The litany of questions create chaos in the mind like: How do you "atone" for this? Is this okay? What really is love? Fear and worry bring heaviness and conversations lead to redefining truth and love to get what we want like convenience, "If you love me enough, you will take me [relationship and abortion]. I will do this with or without you."
Jesus is Stronger by Scott Lehr
Pastor Scott Lehr teaches at Dallas Theological Seminary's annual week long Church Planter chapel series with a core topic of "Jesus is Stronger." Lehr provides the convictional core to any pastor servant-leading people in church planting, which is merely ensuring God's mission of making and training disciples of Christ in a local area to see people inspired by truth and love to make life, disciples, and churches all about Jesus." Typically pastoring to localize people around this mission involves difficulties common as well as uncommon to other work in life. We want pastors to be raised up and called to this heart and mission.
What Piper Said at Google About Jesus Christ
John Piper from DesiringGod.org answers the question at Google.com in Mountain View, CA, "Is Jesus Christ an Egomaniac?" Piper begins with:
My hope in these few minutes is to listen carefully to four people who have been troubled by the self-exaltation of Jesus and of God in the Christian Scriptures, and then to offer a serious answer to their objections that has not only been satisfying to my mind, but a great source of joy and worship of Jesus Christ.
The four people Piper quotes before sharing his answer are:
- Erik Reece (writer in residence at University of Kentucky, Lexington)
- Michael Prowse (article in London's Financial Times)
- Oprah Winfrey
- Brad Pitt
Piper ends the talk with this:
Conclusion: Therefore, when Jesus tells us that we must love him — treasure him, be satisfied in him — above all others, he is loving us. He is desiring and working and willing to suffer to enthrall us with the fullest and longest happiness, namely, himself.
Here is the end of the matter: God is the one being in the universe for whom self-exaltation is not the act of a needy ego, but an act of infinite giving. The reason God seeks our supreme praise, or that Jesus seeks our supreme love, is not because he’s needy and won’t be fully God until he gets it, but because we are needy and won’t be fully happy until we give it.
This is not arrogance. This is grace. This is not egomania. This is love.
And the very heart of the Christian gospel is that this is what Christ died to achieve — our full and everlasting enjoyment of the greatness of God.
Note: The audio breaks up a few times during the entirety of the talk and answer time.
