Letter to USA Today (corrected)

Dear Editor:

Jerry Coyne's recent editorial bashing religion and claiming it is incompatible with science was a plethora of baseless assertions and misrepresentations of both science and Christianity. Faith in the Bible involves believing in the invisible, but not in believing the impossible. The Apostle Paul gave historical evidence for the resurrection of Christ and debated the philosophers of his age, even in Athens itself. Moreover, the leading scientists of the Scientific Revolution in Europe--such as Kepler, Farrady, and Galileo--were Christians or at least theists who believed that God created an orderly world worthy of study. Why a godless world of brute facts, chance, and fortuitous nature laws would be knowable at all is something that atheism cannot explain. Lastly, the areas of biology and physics have provided evidence for a Creator. The universe as a whole is fine-tuned for life, thus requiring a designer. Aspects of biology, such as the information in DNA, cannot be rationally explained by nonpersonal, purely material, and undirected processes. On this, see Stephen Meyer, The Signature in the Cell. Coyne is very good at caricature and ridicule, but quite bad at persuasive argument.

Douglas Groothuis

Jerry Coyne Attacks Religion Again

Dr. Jerry Coyne, arch-Darwinist and anti-religionist, has written a flaming editorial in USA Today against religion and for the objectivity and rationality of science. I posted a response on his web page to one particularly odd claim he made. Here is my post to his Why Evolution is True Web Page:

Dr. Coyne:

I could not find anywhere else to post this response to your editorial in USA Today. So, I am doing it here. I hope you do not mind.

You say you have never met a Christian who could specify a fact that would make him or her give up their faith. Really? The Apostle Paul says that if Christ is not raised from the death, the Christian faith is false and contemptible (See 1 Corinthians 15:17). I agree. If conclusive arguments could be shown that Christ is dead and buried and that the beliefs of the apostles and the rest of the early church were false, I would give up Christianity. But after studying Christianity in relation to challenges from atheists and other religions, I remain convinced that it is both true and reasonable.

I could say much more about your editorial, but now you have met (at least on line) one Christian who has stipulated a fact, that if shown to be true, would refute his religious convictions.

Sincerely,

Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D.

Professor of Philosophy

Denver Seminary

Human Ape and BCStractor are now on the spam list. They will be automatically excluded from publication unread. This is because of belligerence, not disagreement. Disagree all you like with me, but be civil, please.

I sent this to our two Colorado Senators

Dear Senator:

I read that 100 watt incandescent bulbs will be illegal to produce after 2012 and the same goes for 40 watts after 2014. If this is the law, it is a terrible imposition on the choices of American citizens.

My wife has chemical and environmental sensitiveness, and cannot stand fluorescent lights. They literally make her sick. This is true for millions of Americans as well.

Is there any provision for these environmentally sensitive people under this new oppressive legislation. If not, there should be.

Best,

Doug Groothuis

Apologetics in Church!

I will be speaking at both morning services at New Life Evangelical Free Church on "A Short Course in Defending Christianity" as well as giving an evening question and answer session for those with questions and doubts.

Service for Dr. Vernon Grounds

Please consider attending the memorial service for Dr. Vernon Grounds on Saturday, October 9, at 10:00 at Cherry Hills Community Church in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. Dr. Grounds was a remarkable and unforgettable figure in twentieth-century Christianity. Even if you did not know him, you should attend to learn something of what a Christ-centered life might be.

Letters to the Editor

Here is an interview with me on apologetics and writing letters to the editor.

The University Today

The contemporary university, awash in relativism, multiculturalism, and political correctness (meaning: many important truths must not be named as such), suffers from a kind of "intellectual polytheism," as Arnold Nash put it. There is no quest for a unity of truth; each discipline separates from the others; and each voice speaks louder and louder to fewer people. The godlets (Arthur Leff) are many, noisy, and too often pathetic--despite their degrees, titles, and endowments.

Isms and You

I will be speaking on mysticism at this series on nonChristian worldviews at Cherry Hills Community Church. Come with your nonChristian friends.

Dan Barker Reviewed

Deborah Basehore reviews an evening with atheist Dan Barker; Barker responds; and I respond to Barker.

Prayer

Prayer: May our courage in witness be consonant with our character and knowledge; and may the scope of our influence never race ahead of the depth of our godliness.

Last night I heard Dan Barker, formerly a Christian minister and musician, give his testimony of losing faith because he grew up intellectually. I was not impressed by his arguments. He was an anti-intellectual, emotional Christian who lived on goose bumps. When he started to think, he has nothing to rely on--and became an atheist.

2 minutes ago · Comment ·

• Kurt Johanson and Nicholas Kersten like this.
• • 

    Douglas Groothuis I started my Christian life with no great conversion experience and was miserable for the first six months. Then, thank God, I began to study out Christianity and compare it to all other pertinent worldviews--and have done so for the past 34 years. I know Darwnism, pantheism, Islam, and more. I am not naive. I remain an intellectually convinced Christian.

    2 minutes ago · · 2 people
  • 

    Douglas Groothuis Most of this journey of discovery, discourse, and debate will be presented in my apologetics book, Christian Apologetics--700 pages and 28 chapters.

    about a minute ago ·

Godless

I saw Dan Barker give his deconverstion lecture tonight. For an excellent critique of his book, Godless, see Paul Hovey's review at Denver Journal.

Policy

There is some dirt out there (written by people banned from my blog) that I do not post things with which I disagree. This is a lie. Just look at the recent post by "Atheist Missionary," for example. Some times I post things that criticize what I have written and never even respond to them. This is usually because I do not have the time to do so.

The issue of whether someone gets rejected or banned is the tone and tenor of the pieces. If someone merely hurls insults and invective, they don't get posted. If they do it long enough, I enforce an a priori ban, which means that posts from X go to spam automatically or I reject them unread. There are probably a total of five people on this list. (However, I just offered a banned person the chance to reinstate him or herself if the posts are not in the objectionable category. I also happen to know this person outside of the blog "world," although not well.)

And who thought the Internet would improve social discourse?

Yoga Discussion

Here is the transcript of Albert Mohler's program on yoga in which he interviews me, Stephanie Syman (author of The Subtle Body), and gives a wrap up.

Six Enemies of Apologetics Refuted

Six Enemies of Apologetics by Doug Groothuis

Albert Mohler interviews a pro-yoga author of "The Subtle Body," and myself on his podcast, to be releasted on Monday, September 20, 2010: www.albertmohler.com

The Constitution and Islamic Law

The author thoroughly refutes the claim that Islamic law is compatible with the United States Constitution. Ignorance of the law today leads to tyranny of one form or another.

Honoring Dr. Grounds

Here is an obituary for Dr. Vernon Grounds from the Denver Seminary web page.

Vernon Grounds

Dr. Vernon Grounds, Professor, President, and Chancellor of Denver Seminary, has died at the age of 96. He was a remarkable scholar, leader, and friend to scores of people, and one of the most loving Christians imaginable. He now takes his grace-given place in the presence of the Trinity, the holy angles, and all the saints, awaiting the resurrection of the body.