Dawkins debates...
24 October 2008
Many of you may know I've talked about Richard Dawkins before on my blog. In fact if I remember a couple of anonymous commenters took me to task. I've since bought a copy of the God Delusion and it sits partially read along side an ever increasing stack of other partially read books.
Anyway Dawkins recently debated The Existence of God and that God is a delusion with Dr John Lennox in Alabama. Most interstingly in the debate he apparently admitted that
"A serious case could be made for a deistic God."You can view the debate streamed over here or see a report/blog in the Spectator in the UK.
(ht Craig)
tags linkage, ministry, thinking
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Is much accomplished by engaging with Dawkins.
One part of me reckons that we should. It's great to engage with him and others like him, despite the fact that it probably doesn't change the minds of many people. He has been very popular and such engagement with his ideas would be topical and relevant. If only we could do it without seeming so defensive. The trouble with this approach is that it looks like we take his views seriously.
Another part of me reckons that it would be cool just to ignore him. If we dismissed him as another philosopher who observes science and then makes guesses based on his preconceived ideas (as he argues that Christians do), he could be made to look like some wacky dude whose views we don't take seriously, because they're not very relevant.
Maybe we need some form of both. Acknowledge that he is another guy bringing across another point of view, but here is our view and then present the gospel to the listeners. Maybe we could thank Dawkins for giving us the opportunity to talk seriously with our friends about God and present the gospel to them.