Sorry I haven't posted anything in over a month. I've been working, writing sermons, preaching, and trying to come up with a plan for the near future for us. Blogging has been pushed to the side.
Yesterday and this evening, I have had the pleasure of listening to some lectures I downloaded. I have listened to 2 out of 3 so far. The lecturer is Dr. John Mark Reynolds of Biola University in southern California. He is a Philosophy professor, and the lectures are right up my alley, since they deal with epistemology.
The first lecture (We Beheld His Glory: How A Christian Worldview Produced Science) sets the stage, arguing that science is only possible because of the incarnation. If God can work in the world, and if God became part of his creation, science can be done. Without God, science cannot be done. Therefore scientists today who deny God, still work under the framework that Christian faith built. I have to listen to it again to really summarize it well. As it is, I may not have done it justice.
The second lecture (Full of Grace and Truth: An Epistemology of Belief in a Skeptical Age) deals with our commitment to a view of the world. Dr. Reynolds argues that a pessimistic view of the world has become the norm, but as Christians we should go against the flow. He makes the point that in apologetics, it is not enough to poke holes into an opponent's argument, but we must have something to put in its place that works as well, and that is beautiful. We should build up, not just tear down. If we believe that God is all powerful and all good, then we should have a hopeful, optimistic outlook on life, even in the midst of suffering, because we trust that all is for our good.
I haven't listened to the third lecture yet (The Glory of Jesus Christ: The Way Forward in the Dialogue Between Religion and Science), but I am looking forward to it.
Dr. Reynolds is an entertaining speaker. I was listening to this lecture in the living room, and Sherri was laughing at times as well...before she tuned me out to do her stuff.
Don't let the lecture titles put you off, these are good talks, worth a listen if you have a spare hour here and there. They can be found at the Between Two Worlds blog (a good blog for finding these kinds of things), at this post here: Reynolds on Faith and Science.
While downloading that one, also download Jeff Temple's lecture at the Theological College on Calvin's view of preaching and preachers. Good stuff. It can be found here: Calvin and Pastors.
8 comments:
Those sound really interesting. If only we had high speed internet...
Barbara
Who needs high-speed internet when I have them downloaded already?! I can pop them onto my USB key and give them to you that way.
I'll try to remember to do it soon.
What happened to your fancy template?
That fancy template took too long to load up. So I went simpler.
Some of us sure appreciate the simpler look.
Thanks for the lectures. Since I can only play them on the computer I now have a good excuse for sitting in the library for a few hours organizing books and listening to the words of wisdom of those more learned than I.
(Just practicing my sentence writing...)
Barbara
I listened to the first lecture while cataloguing my books too!
It seems that the writing course is pretty good! I may have to borrow it when you are done with it. Brian wants me to write shorter sermons...
I found you as I hit "Next Blog". What a delight to read your entries. And then to discover you have found JMR. He is not only a friend but was my older daughter's teacher at Biola in the Torrey Honors Institute. Do you know of the blog site he shares with other Torrey profs? http://www.scriptoriumdaily.com/author/john-mark-reynolds/
He has many other lectures available on disc. I have most of them and listen to them when I have a long drive. The miles fly!! You can request a list of lectures from 562 903-4868 or apologetics@biola.edu My next purchase will be Cultural Apologetics: Goodness, Truth and Beauty - the 14 disc set.
If you could arrange for a weekend for him to come to your seminary or church, you would NOT be disappointed!!
Hi Marci,
Thanks for the encouragement. I have thoroughly enjoyed JMR's book When Athens Met Jerusalem, but as for getting copies of lectures and such, it is probably out of our budget right now. Thanks for the information, though...I will definitely keep it in mind for later.
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