DEBATES
On this page there are links to debates that are aired by Premier Christian radio on their Unbelievable program hosted Justin Brierley (picture right).
These debates do not necessarily give the views of this web-site on the one side, and opposing views on the other, but they are concerned with the Origins debate.
Links with permission of Justin Brierly.
Debates 2010
Darwin or design 23-10-10 Michael Behe and Kieth Fox. Michael Behe is professor of biochemistry at Lehigh University, Pennsylvania and the founder of the modern Intelligent Design movement. His book "Darwin's Black Box" ignited the controversy 14 years ago when it claimed that certain molecular machines and biological processes are "irreducibly complex" and cannot be explained by Darwinian evolution.
Keith Fox is Professor of biochemistry at the University of Southampton and chairman of Christians in Science. As a theistic evolutionist he believes that Evolution is the best explanation going for the complexity we see and that ID is a blind scientific alley and theologically unappealing to boot.
They debate whether micromachines in the cell such as the "bacterial flagellum" could have evolved by a Darwinian process of evolution. Listen here
Hawking, God & the Universe - Sir Roger Penrose and Alister McGrath. Stephen Hawking made headlines around the world when he announced that his M-Theory of cosmology has led him to conclude God did not create the universe and its "fine tuning" is the result of a multiverse.
Oxford mathematician and physicist Sir Roger Penrose worked alongside Hawking in developing gravitational singularity theorems. Roger is not himself a religious believer and is a member of the British Humanist Association. But he believes Hawking is wrong about M-theory, and that God's existence doesn't need to be dragged into things.
Three minute video of some of Penrose's criticisms.
Alister McGrath is professor of Theology at Kings College London. His 2008 book "A Fine Tuned Universe" claims that there is fruitful discourse between Christian faith in God and the evidence of the Universe's "fine tuning" for life we see from science.
They discuss where they disagree with Hawking's book "The Grand Design", whether God can be an explanation for our fine tuned universe and Roger's own CCC theory of the Universe published as "Cycles of Time: an Extraordinary new view of the Universe" - listen here
What does it take for life to get going in our universe? Is there intelligence in the stars or right under our nose? Renowned astrophysicist Paul Davies chats to Oxford Professor of Mathematics John Lennox. A popular science author, Davies is also the Chair of the SETI post detection task force. His latest book "The Eerie Silence" which marks SETI's 50th anniversary examines the likelihood of the universe producing life elsewhere. John Lennox is a Christian Mathematician and philosopher. He is the author of "God's Undertaker: has science buried God?" and has debated Richard Dawkins on several occasions. Davies' work on the fine tuning of the universe for life has been sympathetic to theism. In this programme Lennox challenges Davies to look to design not just in cosmology but in the cell. They also chat about what the discovery of ET would mean for Christian theology - listen here
Hear the debate that took place after the "Unbelievable?" screening of Intelligent Design Film "Expelled" at Imperial College London in Feb 2010.
Against the film: Atheist Prof Susan Blackmore (Psychology, Plymouth) & Theistic evolutionist Prof Keith Fox (Biology, Southampton).
For the film: Prof Steve Fuller (Sociology, Warwick) & Dr. Alastair Noble (Former Inspector of Schools).
Panelists on both sides of the ID debate give their reactions to the film's claims that scientists are not free to question Darwinian evolution and the link the film makes between Nazi Eugenics and evolutionary theory. Followed by Q&A from the audience - listen here.
Do we need God to Do Science? Steve Fuller and Thomas Dixon debate Intelligent Design and the Dover Trial. Steve Fuller is Professor of Sociology at Warwick University. He features as a pro ID advocate in the film "Expelled" and was an expert witness in the USA "Dover Trial" of 2005 when ID was judged non-scientific - listen here.
Bill Dembski debates complexity and design with atheist biologist Lewis Wolpert - listen here.
Bill Dembski debated his latest book "The end of Christianity - finding a good God in an evil world" with former Christian Norman Hansen - listen here.
Stephen C Meyer of the Discovery institute and Atheist scientist Peter Atkins debated the film "Expelled" and its ID claims - listen here
Debates 2009
"What does Science Tell us about God?" - Atheist scientist Lewis Wolpert debates believing scientist Russell Cowburn - listen here.
