Posted by: gcarkner | August 26, 2012

Paul Davies on Faith & Science

Reprint from PAUL DAVIES (thought provocative article on the nature of science and the laws of physics)

The New York Times, 
November 24, 2007

Tempe, Arizona.

SCIENCE, we are repeatedly told, is the most reliable form of knowledge about the world because it is based on testable hypotheses. Religion, by contrast, is based on faith. The term “doubting Thomas” well illustrates the difference. In science, a healthy skepticism is a professional necessity, whereas in religion, having belief without evidence is regarded as a virtue. 
 
The problem with this neat separation into “non-overlapping magisteria,” as Stephen Jay Gould described science and religion, is that science has its own faith-based belief system. All science proceeds on the assumption that nature is ordered in a rational and intelligible way. You couldn’t be a scientist if you thought the universe was a meaningless jumble of odds and ends haphazardly juxtaposed. Read More…

Leave a Comment

Posted in Science Reflections, Seeker Corner

Posted by: gcarkner | August 25, 2012

Promising New Book Release

Promising New Book Release from IVP Academic

Incarnational Humanism: a philosophy of culture for the church in the world. IVP Academic, 2012. by Jens Zimmerman, Canada Research Chair of Interpretation, Religion and Culture in Dept. of English, Trinity Western University

Caption: Having left its Christian roots behind, the West faces a moral, spiritual and intellectual crisis. It has little left to maintain its legacy of reason, freedom, human dignity and democracy. Far from capitulating, Jens Zimmerman believes the church has a new opportunity to speak a surprising word into the postmodern situation–a word grounded in the incarnation itself. Retrieving  an ancient Christian humanism for our time, he draws on the rich resources found in Scripture and its theological interpreters ranging from Irenaeus and Augustine to de Lubac and Bonhoeffer.

Dr Zimmerman is an upcoming UBC  GFCF speaker in February 2013  http://ubcgfcf.com

Leave a Comment

Posted in Apologetics, Faith & Culture

Posted by: gcarkner | August 25, 2012

Scholarships & Fellowships

On this post, I would like to build a resource of available scholarships or fellowships available to graduate students. The hope is that it will help complement the grants that the university now offers. We can all participate in adding information here. My GCU focus will be help for projects that encourage integration of faith & scholarship. Faculty can help us with this as well. I am thinking that this will  give you time out to write that extra paper or book or develop a pilot project during your grad program that has implications for an NGO or church health or Christian political ideas. You can find the website for these organizations and search out their parameters. Feeling creative yet?

Mustard Seed Foundation Harvey Fellows Program

Stanford Reid Foundation (Guelph, Ont.)

Lilly Foundation

Templeton Foundation of Science & Religion (USA)

Commonwealth Scholarships

more to come…

Leave a Comment

Posted in Grad Student Strategies

Posted by: gcarkner | August 24, 2012

The Leverage of Virtue

The Virtuous Community

What kind of people form a virtuous community? How do we locate ourselves with respect to the good? What do wisdom, courage and hope, benevolence and love have to do with scholarship? What do moderation, self-restraint and frugality, patience and gratitude have to do with academic excellence, business acumen or scientific brilliance? Can we truly flourish if we live, work and love virtuously? Can virtue inform our academic vision? Our vision shapes our goals and actions day to day. Many of us will know of philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre’s landmark book After Virtue which decried the cultural loss of this ancient language of virtue; in its place late modernity have substituted the Nietzschean/Weberian language of posited values. Is this wise and fruitful? Read More…

Leave a Comment

Posted in Faith & Culture, GCU Personality, Grad Student Strategies

Posted by: gcarkner | August 23, 2012

Portrait of a Christian Philosopher

Leave a Comment

Posted in Faith & Culture, Grad Student Strategies

Posted by: gcarkner | August 23, 2012

Faith Results from Social Conditioning?

Conversion and religious experience are the result of social conditioning?

There is much truth to this statement. No one decides or acts in total isolation. We are all influenced by our parenting and our various academic and personal mentors. In fact, without social conditioning, we would not be healthy humans. Culture is already happening as we are born and nurture is necessary. We have to join a conversation that is ongoing. It is our ground zero, so to speak. Many social factors influence our choices and our practice of religion, secular or nihilist belief. We are continually affected by both our past upbringing and our present environment; this is inescapable. We all need good mentors, family and friends. Yet this sort of social conditioning does not preclude genuine freedom of choice in religion, philosophical stance or in anything else. We are never simply bound by influences: we live in dynamic interaction, sometimes substantial tension, with them. These things are mulled over in the mind on those long walks on the beach or drives in the countryside, or reflections on top of a mountain. This is how we get to know who we are.

There are many people, however, who hold to their religion (or irreligion) simply because they were brought up in it, or because they have succumbed to the pressure of a peer group or the academic discipline in which they find themself. Cool is powerful. Fitting in makes us feel good. Others come to a specific faith through manipulative, “mind-bending” techniques that violate personal integrity and choice–cultic isolation. There are bullies and propagandists out there who want us to join their tribe. We sympathize with the pain that this causes and the scars it can leave. But these factors do not account for all cases of conversion or religious experience. Not at all. Some people make radical changes in their convictions after much experience, thought and deliberation. It takes time to think through your worldview.

Examine Your Position: There are also authentic religious choices. People often consciously and intelligently choose to go with or against their upbringing or peer group out of courage and a growing, deep conviction, within the context of a deeper reflection on life. Critical thinking is necessary to our maturity. Many, employing a robust combination of critical faith, critical realism and critical reason, are personally convinced of the truth of their own religion. They have committed themselves wholeheartedly to it, because it animates their life, makes sense of key phenomena and answers some of the big life questions. In university, it is time to examine and decide the parameters of one’s existence, especially one’s calling, purpose and passion. What we believe and the heroes we follow matter immensely and have a huge impact on us. We should choose wisely and carefully when it comes to such a vital question or set of questions.

Genuine, open-minded Christian conversion often happens during one’s university years of growing individuation, whether we have been brought up as a believer or unbeliever. It is possible to move beyond the naive faith of childhood to a more informed and reasoned faith of adulthood that is in critical dialogue and dialectic with the larger world. One hopes this happens in the midst of a thousand discussions with peers and professors–discernment is absolutely key. It depends neither on the suddenness of the commitment nor on the intensity of accompanying emotion. Authentic faith is as distinct from the passive acceptance of tradition as it is from the eager grasping at passing fads. While it is often initially hesitant and accompanied by doubts, eventually it grows and matures into a sustained, reasoned trust in God, with positive, empowering, life-changing results. The worst thing one can do is check their mind at the door no matter who the presenter or where the presentation.  Healthy skepticism is an asset to discernment; it should be celebrated as Flannery O’Connor writes. A holistic, deep-structure worldview outlook gives meaning and parameters for a life of growth and discovery–an adventure which opens up the horizons of meaning and the vision for one’s calling and life expectations. One should feel more enchanted, more free  and imaginative as a result of a good conversion.

This last point is crucial! Without a transformed life and a new vision, faith is pointless. These are the real spiritual drivers. Religious experience without a growing change in behaviour and growth in character is simply not Christian experience. “By their fruits you shall know them.” said Jesus (Matt. 7:16). He emphasized repentance,  turning from evil to good, a full re-posturing of the self, issuing in a new life trajectory. A new identity emerges from immersion in his teaching. This involves renunciation of narcissism, rejection of a false self to embrace new truth and take the moral high road of integrity and compassion for others (Jim Wallis, The (Un)Common Good).

This is not a lazy person’s faith; it entails a stringent demand to think differently, think freshly about everything that really matters. By this criterion, many who call themselves Christian would be excluded; they are asleep spiritually, living on the brain candy of pop religion. Socialization and conditioning are simply not enough. In fact, this complacency can produce even a dangerous religion (as we have witnessed in aspects of the religious right). Commitment to a life-giving journey is required–the way of grace, forgiveness, healing of broken relationships, hope. These are goals that make a difference and contribute value to society–take responsibility for the common good. It can lead to unstoppable, constructive good if properly negotiated and mentored. New research on well-being (what makes us  fulfilled human beings) affirms this.

But commitment cannot stand alone. In the final analysis, Christianity is concerned with the issue of truth. Wait, can we use this language in late modernity for fear we are pushing a power interest? Yes I think we can (explained in a coming post). This is at bottom the test for every commitment, every conviction; it separates good faith from fantasy, superstition and violent religion. And there is violent, eco-cidal and racist religion. Here are some pressing questions: Is God there or is he not? Is it a God-shaped, God-blessed universe that we inhabit? Does he have a demand on our lives? Who is Jesus Christ and why did he claim to reveal God to us? What is the significance of his death? Did he rise from the dead? Does the Christian answer to the big questions of life’s meaning really make the best sense of our experience? And there are many other important questions that invite serious investigation. Does it resonate with a robust, mature existence? Will God be there at the bedside of my dying wife or child? Is it relevant: does it have cash out value in the marketplace of life? Will it give me strength of character?

The challenge to each of us, then, is not to passively acquiesce in our own social conditioning, nor our academic cheer leading of one cool philosophy professor. Remember that hegemonic cultural atheism is a form of social conditioning as well, riddled with all sorts of unprovable assumptions (David Bentley Hart, The Experience of God; Alvin Plantinga, Where the Conflict Really Lies)). We all have our doubts as well. Charles Taylor (A Secular Age) shows that atheism or other forms of scepticism are not a logical projection from science; they entail a meaningful religious stance with respect to the world.  Atheism is a religious claim and a form of worship. One must take the honest journey forward and examine the evidence and the plausibility of one’s commitments. This is sometimes painful but ultimately quite rewarding. Some of us will change worldviews and change heroes. See Manhattan’s Tim Keller, The Reason for God and Philip Yancey, Reaching for the Invisible God for a positive, sensitive and respectful discussion that examines evidence and arguments. Recently I have enjoyed Cultural Apologetics by philosopher Paul M. Gould.

~Dr. Gordon Carkner, Meta-Educator with UBC Postgrad Students, Author, YouTube Webinar Producer (appreciation to R. Middleton, B. Toombs and H. Gruning and the Ten Myths about Christianity Project birthed at University of Guelph IVCF Chapter)

Related Book about an Oxford Grad Student Conversion Narrative:   Surprised by Oxford: A Memoir by Carolyn Weber. From Cambridge University, Rebecca McLaughlin’s Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion. (Crossway, 2019).

A deeper analysis and critical reflection is available in Gordon Carkner’s recent publication, The Great Escape from Nihilism: rediscovering our passion in late modernity. (2016) See also resources at Apologetics Creativity Centre on this Blog: https://ubcgcu.org/apologetics-resources/

Leave a Comment

Posted in Apologetics, GCU Personality, Seeker Corner, Stewardship | Tags:

Posted by: gcarkner | August 23, 2012

Brain Foods by Andrea

Brain Foods for Grad Student Health

beyond coffee

The brain is important for cognitive function and mental health. When compared to the rest of the body, the brain consumes an immense amount of energy. It is the body’s first organ to absorb nutrients from the food we eat. Dietary factors can affect multiple brain processes by regulating neurotransmitter pathways, synaptic transmission, membrane fluidity and signal transduction pathways.1 The following nutrients are important for brain health.2 

Dr. Andrea Goldson, PhD graduate of UBC in Food Science 2012 Read More…

Leave a Comment

Posted in Grad Student Strategies, Science Reflections

Posted by: gcarkner | August 21, 2012

Appreciating the Six Great Traditions

Richard Foster has done us a great service in his classic 1998 book Streams of Living Water. I heard about it at a spring conference and have not stopped talking about it since. So often we grow up in one kind of Christian spirituality and look at others with suspicion; let’s face it, we can be quite narrow and judgemental at times. This book speaks to the variety of ways in which God works to draw people to himself, the various ways that he seeks to call them into full discipleship: Contemplative, Holiness, Charismatic, Social Justice, Evangelical, Incarnational. Believe me, there is lots to surprise you in this read. Read More…

Leave a Comment

Posted in Prayer & Spirituality

Posted by: gcarkner | August 21, 2012

Negotiating Postmodern Thought

Why is postmodernism a good thing for Christian graduate students? Cornel West writes that “truth-claims about descriptions in science and religion are contextual, and for Christians, ‘Truth-talk’ precludes disinterest, detachment, and distance because Jesus Christ is the Truth, the Truth which cannot be theoretically reified into a property of an abstract description, but only existentially appropriated by concrete human beings in need.” Rather than having to shoehorn Christianity into our academic work in a way that presents some parochial Christian idea as The Right Way to Think About X, we have the freedom to approach our work joyfully as an outgrowth of our position as followers of Christ.

The applied linguist Suresh Canagarajah notes that postmodernism or post-positivism in the social sciences is hospitable to those with strong political or religious commitments because it unsettles the “old platform” of scientific inquiry, calling into question constructs of rationalism, objectivity, empiricism, disinterested knowledge, and so on. On the other hand, Canagarajah also writes: “postmodernism has only limited uses for me as a philosophical paradigm. I am prepared to abandon postmodernist discourses when my spiritual walk reveals richer orientations that illuminate faith and life better.”

The Christian faith may not be, strictly speaking, a “theoretical framework “ of the type we expect to use in our research. Yet I suspect the further we drill down into the practice of our faith and its relevance in the postmodern moment, the better chance we may have of seeing its relevance in our work. I think it’s clear that we have a deep well of resources in our Christian faith; we find values and motivations to align ourselves with truth, justice, kindness, mercy, love, forgiveness, reconciliation; postmodern thought opens a door, allowing many of these rather radical values to permeate our scholarship if we desire.

Discourses of postmodernity seem to have the deconstruction and dismantling of ideologies, religious and secular alike, as their ultimate goals. This used to bother me, but it doesn’t much any more; after all, what is the purpose of tearing down, if not to build?

The quotes by West and Canagarajah come from: West’s essay “A Philosophical View of Easter” in his book Prophetic Fragments; and Canagarah’s chapters in the book Christian and Critical English Langauge Educators in Dialogue (link to my review)

Joel Heng Hartse

PhD Candidate/Graduate Teaching Assistant

Department of Language and Literacy Education, University of British Columbia

http://www.lled.educ.ubc.ca/

See also  Crystlal L. Downing, How Postmodernism Serves (My) Faith: questioning truth in language, philosophy and art. (IVP, )

_____________________________________

Related Books: Crystal Downing, How Postmodenism Serves (My) Faith: Questioning Truth in Language, Philosophy and Art; Norman Klassen and Jens Zimmerman, The Passionate Intellect: Incarnational Humanism and the Future of University Education.

Leave a Comment

Posted in Apologetics, Faith & Culture, Grad Student Strategies

Posted by: gcarkner | August 21, 2012

Apologetics Resources

Gord Carkner’s Apologia Resource Index

Apologetic Workshop

“Apologetics: Empowering Christian Witness in Late Modernity”
-text available upon request from:gcarkner@shaw.ca
______________________
Next Public Workshop with Dr. Gordon Carkner

Workshop to come at Apologetics Canada Conference: 12 noon, March 8 Willingdon Church, Burnaby 

Title: Monopolizing Knowledge: Scientism and the Search for Reality

Speaker: Gordon Carkner

 Science is a vital part of our modern culture in the West.  However the contemporary belief that science is the only way to  truth (scientism) is a perversion of science and a major barrier to exploring the benefits of Christiaity. Rooted in the worldview of materialistic naturalism, it  promotes a conflict between science and faith (believed by 70%  of university students). This workshop provides critical  perspective on the character of scientism, as compared to  legitimate scientific work, offering excellent resources to grapple  with this vital apologetic question. SCIENTISM@Missfst

__________________

Toward Stronger Discipleship, Dialogue Skill Growth and Stable Commitment to Christ

Apologetics is a highly effective and necessary resource for today’s students, Christian leaders and church community members. There are some very effective, proven approaches and resources available. These are relevant for both the early and late modern worlds. We must be multi-lingual in our approach depending on the area of study or the individual questioner. The field has grown much in quantity and sophistication in the past decade. 

Students and friends need answers, plus fresh ways of articulating what they believe and why. They need resources that can help them reason well and engage the hard questions; it often is a matter of spiritual life and death. The bibliography below is an attempt to show that there exists a very robust resource base in speakers, books, websites and articles. We do not want students or community members to get caught in the cultural rip tide of skepticism and scientific naturalistic materialism, or the malaise/nihilism within the humanities.

Gord has consulted with apologists internationally to bring to the surface some of the best available material and speakers so that our ministries, our dialogue can be robustly empowered. Our campus and church communities need to be challenged to rethink the stereotypes of naïve or blind irrational faith. Quality and creativity are top priorities in what is offered below, vital to build strength into people’s minds and hearts. It is encouraging to see believers grow in confidence and discover creativity in their witness as they begin to read and think through good questions and realize that Christian faith is compatible with good reason and non-hostile discussion  or dialogue.

This vital resource directory is oriented to promote energy, hope and a non-defensive stance on the part of Christians. It also offers much material with integrity for seekers looking into the Christian faith for the first time. Tim Keller’s book The Reason for God is a great example of the spirit of thoughtful and open dialogue. Regent Bookstore on the UBC campus has an excellent selection of this kind of book and even a special section denoted Apologetics.

1. Methodology & Perspective

Newbigin, Lesslie, The Gospel in a Pluaristic Society. Eerdmans, 1989.

McGrath, Alister, Intellectuals Don’t Need God? Zondervan

Stackhouse, John G., Jr.  Humble Apologetics: Defending the Faith Today.

New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.

Clark, David K. Dialogical Apologetics: A Person-Centered Approach to

Christian Defense.  Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1993.

Edgar, William.  Reasons of the Heart: Recovering Christian Persuasion.

Grand Rapids: Baker, 1996.

Craig, William Lane, Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics. Crossway Books.

Chapman, C., Eerdmans Handbook: The Case for Christianity. Eerdmans, 1981.

Sire, James, The Universe Next Door. IVP

Adler, M. J. Intellect: Mind Over Matter. Collier, 1990.

Keller, Tim. Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Scepticism. Dutton, 2008.

Plantinga, A. Warranted Christian Belief.

Zaccharias, R. Can Man Live Without God?

White, J.E., A Mind for God. Ivp, 2006.

Bush, L. Russ.  Classical Readings in Christian Apologetics: A.D.

100-1800.  Grand Rapids: Zondervan/Academie, 1983.

The Apologetics Study Bible

Campbell-Jack, W.C., McGrath, G.J., Evans, C. Stephen. Eds. The New Dictionary of Christian Apologetics

Evans, C. Stephen.  Pocket Dictionary of Apologetics and Philosophy of

Religion.  Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 2002.

Kreeft, P.  & Tacelli, R.K., Handbook of Christian Apologetics. IVP

Noll, Mark, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind. Eerdmans, 1994.

2. Feminism

Cochran, Pamela D. H. Evangelical Feminism: A History. New York and London: New York University Press, 2005.

Grenz, Stanley J., with Denise Muir Kjesbo. Women in the Church:  A Biblical Theology of Women in Ministry. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1995.

Hancock, Maxine, ed. Christian Perspectives on Gender, Sexuality, and Community. Vancouver, BC: Regent College Publishing, 2003.

Pierce, Ronald W. and Rebecca Merrill Groothuis, eds. Discovering Biblical Equality: Complementarity without Hierarchy. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2004.

Stackhouse, John G., Jr. “Women in Public Ministry: Five Models in Twentieth-Century North American Evangelicalism.” Chap. in Evangelical Landscapes: Facing Critical Issues of the Day. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002.

Storkey, Elaine. Origins of Difference: The Gender Debate Revisited. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2001.

Tucker, Ruth A. and Walter Liefeld. Daughters of the Church: Women and Ministry from New Testament Times to the Present. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1987.

Van Leeuwen, Mary Stewart. Gender & Grace: Love, Work  & Parenting in a Changing World. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1990.

Van Leeuwen, Mary Stewart, ed. After Eden: Facing the Challenge of Gender Reconciliation. Grand Rapids, MI / Carlisle: Eerdmans / Paternoster Press, 1993.

Stackhouse, John G. Jr. Finally Feminist: A Pragmatic Christian Understanding of Gender Baker Academic, 2005.

Charry, Ellen T., article in Cambridge Companion to Feminism, ed. Susan Frank Parsons. CUP, 2002.

Creegan, N.H., & Christine D. Pohl, Living on the Boundaries: evangelical women, feminism and the theological academy. IVP, 2005.

3. Science & Natural Theology

Polkinghorne, Sir John, One World: The Interaction of Science & Theology.

Princeton. (physicist/theologian—leading light)

Polkinghorne, Sir John, Exploring Reality: The Intertwining of Science: Religion, Science and Providence.

Gingerich, Owen, God’s Universe.

Collins, Francis, The Language of God. Free Press.

Pascal, Blaise.  Pensees.  Trans. A. J. Krailsheimer.  Harmondsworth,

U.K.: Penguin, 1966.

Capell & Cook eds., Not Just Science: Questions Where Christian Faith and Natural Science Intersect. Zondervan

Jaki, Stanley, The Road to Science and the Ways to God. Chicago (Gifford

Lectures on history of science)

Russell, Colin, Crosscurrents: Interactions Between Science & Faith. Eerdmans

Danielson, Dennis ed., The Book of the Cosmos. Perceus.

Lewis, C.S., Miracles. Macmillan

Waltke, Bruce, “Gift of the Cosmos”(article on Genesis 1:1-2:4) Chapter 8 in   An Old Testament Theology, Zondervan, 2007.

Alexander, Denis, Rebuilding the Matrix: Science & Faith in the 21st

Century. Zondervan (director of Faraday Institute in Cambridge, UK)

Burke, ed., Creation & Evolution: 7 Prominent Christians Debate. IVP UK.

Livingstone, D. N., Darwin’s Forgotten Defenders: The Encounter Between

Evangelical Theology and Evolutionary Thought.

Owens, V.S., Godspy: Faith, Perception, and the New Physics.

Gingerich, Owen, “Let There Be Light” article on natural theology by America’s top Christian physicist.

Theology of Creation:

Capon, R. F.,  “The Third Peacock” in The Romance of the Word. Eerdmans.

McGrath, Alister, A Fine-Tuned Universe. WJK, 2009.

Gunton, C., The Triune Creator: a historical and systematic study. Eerdmans (English theologian)

Walsh & Middleton, The Transforming Vision. IVP

Bouma-Prediger, S., For the Beauty of the Earth: a Christian vision of creation care.. Baker Academic, 2010.

Limits of Science:

Medawar, P., The Limits of Science.

Schumacher, E.F. A Guide for the Perplexed. Abacus. (challenge to reductionism)

Carkner, G., Under Investigation: Scientism (short unpublished paper on reductionism)

McGrath, A. & J., The Dawkins Delusion? IVP 2007.

Lennox, John. God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God? Lion

Jeeves & Berry,  Science, Life, and Christian Belief. Apollos Books.

Ward, Keith, Pascal’s Fire:  Scientific Faith and Religious Understanding.

Oneworld.

Harper, Charles Jr. ed., Spiritual Information: 100 Perspectives on Science and Religion. Templeton Foundation Press.

Spencer, N. & White, R. Christianity, Climate Change, and

Sustainable Living.  SPCK, 2007.

 

4. Scripture Authority and Authenticity

Barnett, Paul.  Is the New Testament Reliable? 2nd ed.  Downers Grove:

Intervarsity Press, 2005.

.Bock, Darrell, L.  The Missing Gospels: Unearthing the Truth Behind

Alternative Christianities.  Nashville: Nelson Books, 2006.

Bruce, F.F., New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?  Grand Rapids:

Eerdmans, 2003.

Blomberg, Craig, The Historical Reliability of the Gospels.  Downers

Grove: Intervarsity press, 1987.

Blomberg, Craig.  The Historical Reliability of John’s Gospel.  Downers

Grove: Intervarsity press, 2002.

Bock, Darrel, Can I Trust the Bible? Defending the Bible’s Reliability.

Atlanta: RZIM Critical Concerns Series, 2001.

 

5. Jesus: Life, Death & Ressurection

Wright, N.T.  The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and

Is.  Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 1999. (Wright is top scholar on Jesus and the New Testament)

Wright, N.T., The New Testament and the People of God.

Dunn, James D.G.  The Evidence for Jesus.  Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1986

Yancey, Philip. The Jesus I Never Knew.

Copan, Paul ed.  Will the Real Jesus please stand up: A Debate between

William Lane Craig and John Dominic Crossan.  Grand Rapids: Baker Book House,

1998.

Habermas, Gary and Antony Flewdebate.  Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?  Ed. by

Terry L. Miethe.  San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1987.

Swinburne, Richard, The Resurrection of God Incarnate.  Oxford:

Clarendon Press, 2003.

Two part video on Gospel of John (powerfully acted and close to the text)

6. Christianity & Other Religions & Ideologies

Taylor, Charles, A Secular Age. Harvard University Press, 2007

Anderson, Sir Norman. Christianity and World Religions: The Challenge of Pluralism [original title:  Christianity and Comparative Religions]. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1984 [1970].

Neil, Stephen, Christian Faith & Other Faiths. IVP

Baker, David W., ed. Biblical Faith and Other Religions:  An Evangelical Assessment. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2004.

Chesterton, G. K. The Everlasting Man. Reprint ed. New York: Image, 1955 [1925].

Edwards, James R. Is Jesus the Only Savior? Grand Rapids, MI and Cambridge, UK: Eerdmans, 2005.

Gardner, Howard. Changing Minds: The Art and Science of Changing Our Own and Other People’s Minds. New York: Harvard Business School Press, 2004.

Griffiths, Paul J. An Apology for Apologetics: A Study in the Logic of Interreligious Dialogue. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1991.

Griffiths, Paul J. Christianity through Non-Christian Eyes. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1998.

Karkkainen, Veli-Matti. An Introduction to the Theology of Religions: Biblical, Historical, and Contemporary Perspectives. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2003.

Ludwig, Theodore. The Sacred Paths:  Understanding the Religions of the World. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

McDermott, Gerald R. Can Evangelicals Learn from World Religions?  Jesus, Revelation & Religious Traditions. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000.

Pinnock, Clark H. A Wideness in God’s Mercy: The Finality of Jesus Christ in a World of Religions. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1992.

Sanders, John, ed. What About Those Who Have Never Heard?  Three Views on the Destiny of the Unevangelized. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1995.

Sanneh, Lamin. Whose Religion Is Christianity? The Gospel Beyond the West. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2003.

Stackhouse, John G., Jr., ed. No Other Gods before Me? Evangelicals Encounter the World’s Religions. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2001.

Tiessen, Terrance L. Who Can Be Saved? Reassessing Salvation in Christ and World Religions. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2004.

 

7. History

Evans, C. Stephen. The Historical Christ and the Jesus of Faith: The Incarnational Narrative as History. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996.

McIntire, C. T. and Ronald A. Wells, eds. History and Historical Understanding. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1984.

Marsden, George & Frank Roberts, ed. A Christian View of History? Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1975.

Marsden, George, The Soul of the University.

Bebbington, David. Patterns in History: A Christian Perspective on Historical Thought. Reprint Ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1990 [1979].

Wells, Ronald A., ed. History and the Christian Historian. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1998.

8.Epistemology: making sense, evidences, coherence, comprehensiveness, sources, method of analysis, what constitutes good argument or warrant.

Schumacher, E.F. A Guide for the Perplexed. Abacus

Mavrodes, George, Belief in God.

Sire, James, The Universe Next Door: a worldview catalogue. IVP.

Swinburne, Richard, The Coherence of Theism. Oxford University Press

Wolfe, D.L.  Epistemology: The Justification of Belief. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1982

Plantinga, Alvin & Nicholas Wolterstorff, ed. Faith and Rationality: Reason and Belief in God. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1983.

Wolterstorff, Nicholas. Reason within the Bounds of Religion. 2nd ed., Grand Rapids, MI. Eerdmans, 1984 [1976].

Moreland, J.P. and William Lane Craig.  Philosophical Foundations for a

Christian Worldview.  Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 2003.

Wood, W. Jay, Epistemology: Becoming Intellectually Virtuous (Contours of Christian Philosophy), IVP.

Beckwith,F.G. & Koukl, G., Relativism: Feet Firmly Planted in Mid-Air.

Schlossberg, H.,  Idols for Destruction.

Carkner, G.E. Unpublished essays in ‘Under Investigation Series’ on Scientism, Relativism and Nihilism.

Thisleton, A., New Horizons in Hermeneutics. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992.

9. Use of Literature in Apologetics

Craig, William Lane (use of Dostoyevski) in Apologetics: an Introduction.

Lewis, C.S., Narnia Chronicles and Space Trilogy

Bowen, John, new book on Narnia, Dare Booklets on Tolkein, etc.

Eagleton, Terry, The Ideology of the Aesthetic.

Dostoyevski, Brothers Karamozov, Crime and Punishment and The Idiot.

Percy, Walker, Lost in the Cosmos.

Capon, Robert Farrar, Romancing the Word.

Lewis, C.S., God in the Dock.

Chapman, J.D., Faith in Words: a poet’s creed. (a Canadian bio-physicist’s poetic reflections). Durango, 2006.

10. Suffering, Evil, & Injustice

Kreeft, P. Making Sense Out of Suffering. Servant Books, 1989.

Lewis, C.S. The Problem of Pain & A Grief Observed. Macmillan.

Lewis, C.S. The Great Divorce.

Girard, René. I Saw Satan Fall Like Lightning.

Geivett, Douglas, Evil and the Evidence for God: The Challenge of John Hick’s Theodicy.” Temple University Press, 1993.

Geisler, N. The Roots of Evil.

Howard-Snyder, Daniel ed., The Evidential Argument from Evil.

Peck, Scott, People of the Lie.

Stackhouse, John G. Jr. Can God Be Trusted? OUP.

Wolterstorff, N., Until Justice & Peace Embrace. Eerdmans, 1983.

11. Quest for Meaning, Identity, and Parameters of the Self

Taylor, Charles. Sources of the Self: the Making of the Modern Identity.

Taylor, Charles. A Secular Age. Harvard University Press.

Morris, Tomas V., Making Sense of It All.

Kreeft, Peter.  The Best Things in Life: A Twentieth-Century Socrates

Looks at Power, Pleasure, Truth, and the Good Life.  Downers Grove: Intervarsity

Press, 1984.

Lewis, C.S., Mere Christianity.

Gay, Craig, The Way of the (Modern) World.

Kreeft, P. Heaven: the Heart’s Deepest Longing. Ignatius Press

Zacharias, R. Cries of the Heart.

Lewis, C.S., The Weight of Glory

Packer, J.I. & Thomas Howard, Christianity: the True Humanism.

Barrs, J. & Macauley, R.  Being Human: the nature of spiritual experience. IVP

Moltmann, Wolterstorff, & Charry, A Passion for God’s Reign: Theology, Christian Learning and the Christian Self.

 

 

12. The Postmodern Condition

Ward, Graham ed., The Postmodern God: a theological reader. Blackwell, 1997.

Anderson, W.T., The Future of the Self: Exploring the Post-Identity Society. Tarcher, 1997.

Walsh & Middleton, Truth is Stranger than it Used to Be. IVP

Walsh, B. & Keesmaat, S., Colossians Remixed: Subverting the Empire. IVP, 2004.

Downing, C.L., How Postmodernism Serves (My) Faith: Questioning Truth in Language, Philosophy and Art. IVP. 2006.

Thiselton, A.C., Interpreting God and the Postmodern Self: on meaning, manipulation and promise. T. & T. Clark, 1995.

Carkner, Gordon, University of Wales PhD Dissertation: “A Critical Examination of the Constitution of the Moral Self in Michel Foucault in Dialogue with Charles Taylor” in the British Library.

Klassen, N. & Jens Zimmerman, The Passionate Intellect: incarnational humanism and the future of university education. IVP Academic,  2007.

Shrag, C.O., The Self After Postmodernity. Yale University Press, 1997.

Eagleton, Terry, The Illusions of Postmodernism. Blackwell, 1996.

Borgmann, A., Crossing the Postmodern Divide. University Books, 1993.

Cahoune, L. ed., From Modernism to Postmodernism: an Anthology. Blackwell, 1996.

 

12. Some Top Apologist Speakers:

William Lane Craig phiosopher @ Talbot Seminary; Paul Chamberlain philosopher @ ACTS/TWU Langley, BC, Ravi Zacharias in Orlando, Florida; Alister McGrath theologian/scientist in Oxford, UK;  Norman Geisler, Dean of Southern Evangelical Seminary, Charlotte, North Carolina; J.P. Moreland philosopher @ Talbot, Os Guinness @ The Trinity Forum in Northern Virginia, Kevin Van Hoozer @ TEDS in Deerfield, Illinois on Paul Ricoeur (good on postmodernity),  C. Stephen Evans philosophy @ Baylor, John Stackhouse theologian @ Regent College, John Bowen at Wycliffe in Toronto. Dr. John Patrick from Ottawa is a great speaker on medical ethics. Biola University in California is a major center of Christian philosophy and apologetics. Nicholas Wolterstorff (Yale) and Alvin Plantinga (Notre Dame) are the two greatest American philosophers. Charles Taylor at McGill is Canada’s greatest living philosopher, a world-class mind in social sciences and the self. IFES Apologists: Jurgen Speis in Germany (now Institut fur Glaube und Wissenschaft); Stefan Gustavsson former General Secretary in Sweden (now @ Credo Institute) s.g@mailbox.euromail.se; Spain: Dr. Pablo Martinez Vila (physician); Brazil: Dr. Altair de Souza Assis (physicist).

13. Key Websites:

Ravi Zacharias Ministries www.rzim.org/resources, Course in apologetics at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, UK

UCCF (IVCF) in UK www.bethinking.org/resources.php?ID=224

Christian Heritage Cambridge www.christianheritageuk.org.uk/  summer school in apologetics

William Lane Craig  www.reasonablefaith.org/site/PageServer

& Craig Scholarly Articles: www.reasonablefaith.org/site/PageServer?pagename=scholarly_articles_main

C.S. Lewis Foundation: Stan Mattson www.cslewis.org/ Conferences in Oxbridge

Faraday Institute on Science & Religion: www.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/faraday/

The Bibliography You Cannot Live Without: Resources on the Christian Worldview by Walsh, Middleton & Carkner: www3.sympatico.ca/ian.ritchie/BiblioWCLW.htm

Leadership University articles: www.leaderu.com

Mars Hill Audio Interviews with Great Christian Thinkers: www.marshillaudio.org

14. Apologetic Lecture Sampler

Veritas Forums @ Western and all across USA.

Pascal Lectures @ University of Waterloo, esp Chales Malik: “A Christian Critique of the University.”

Gifford Lectures in Edinburgh, Scotland

Grad & Faculty Christian Forum @ UBC, esp. Francis Collins “Are we more than our genes?”

Bampton Lectures in Natural Theology in UK

Cambridge University: the Faraday Institute

Various Debates with people such as Craig, Moreland, Geisler, Chamberlain, Redekop-Glass on Christianity & Marxism, Lennox & Dawkins on the God Delusion.

15. Series & Periodicals

Dare Booklets

First Things

Journal of American Scientific Affiliation

Christians in Science (UK)

Dr. Gordon Carkner

Outreach Canada Grad Student & Faculty Ministries, Lower Mainland, BC

gcarkner@outreach.ca

Leave a Comment

Posted in Apologetics, Faith & Culture, Grad Student Strategies, Seeker Corner

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »

Categories