Thursday, March 25, 2010

William Lane Craig Debates Michael Tooley on the Existence of God

William Lane Craig is considered by many to be the world's foremost Christian apologist alive today. That claim is quite understandable, once you have seen or heard him debate.

Some of my family members attended his debate last night against Michael Tooley at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte and I've gotten some good feedback so far.

For those of you interested in audio and video of Craig's debates, here is an extensive list with links to audio, video, and transcripts where available. It is grouped by topic rather than date, and I don't know if it's a comprehensive list, but there is enough here to keep anyone busy for quite a long time!

If you are interested in links to other debates and commentary, Wintery Knight has a great list here. His list includes debates between such notables as N.T. Wright and John Dominic Crossan, Michael Shermer and Jonathan Wells, Stephen Meyer and Michael Shermer, etc.

Friday, March 19, 2010

A Simple Case For Intelligent Design

Atom, commenting at William Dembski's blog uncommondescent, made the following case for Intelligent Design. I have paraphrased it slightly, but you can find the original in the comment section here.

1) It is a given that complex, integrated, functional machinery exists.

2) There are two logically possible causes for 1: A) intelligence, and B) non-intelligent forces of nature and chance.

3) Non-intelligent causes have not yet been empirically demonstrated to produce complex, integrated, functional machinery. This has only been assumed (see just-so stories).

4) Intelligent causes have been, and can be, empirically demonstrated to cause such machines. (Computers, cars, aircraft, etc.)

5) Therefore, intelligence is currently the best and only explanation for 1. Until another causal class can be empirically demonstrated as a viable cause, Intelligent Design is the default position.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Pi Day

If you have been to Google today, you know that today is Pi Day. Today is 3/14 and Pi, the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, starts with 3.14.

Pi is a special number in that it is irrational (it cannot be written as a ratio of whole numbers) and transcendental (it cannot be expressed as the result of any finite series of mathematical equations). Pi, written π, has been calculated to over a trillion digits, but if it could be written down, it would fill the entire universe.

To see one million digits of Pi, go here.

It's interesting to search for strings of digits in this list. So far, I've found the 6-digit birthdays of most of the people in my immediate family.

Thursday, March 04, 2010

God, If You're Real...



For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse. Romans 1:20

Courtesy of Dan Lietha