Facing the Canon with Alister McGrath
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- čas přidán 27. 11. 2014
- Dr Alister McGrath, a former atheist who is now one of Christianity’s foremost scholars, is currently Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at the University of Oxford.
After initial academic work in the natural sciences, McGrath turned to the study of theology and intellectual history, while occasionally becoming engaged in broader cultural debates about the rationality and relevance of the Christian faith. As a former atheist, McGrath is respectful, yet critical of the movement. In recent years, he has been especially interested in the emergence of ‘scientific atheism’, and has researched the distinctive approach to atheist apologetics found in the writings of the Oxford zoologist and scientific populariser Richard Dawkins.
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I am using Dr. McGrath's book on the history of Christianity to teach a course in a public university (Religious Studies department) that serves as the core required course for a certificate in Christian Studies. This is the first semester. Excellent book!!! thank you
One of the finest interviews that I have heard about God and Science, Creation and Evolution, Jesus and Satan, Theism and Atheism and more.
Alister McGrath has a great depth of knowledge and love of Christ and teaches with such humility, love and gentleness, just like jesus did. Thank you!
Absolutely excellent - bravo and thank God for your words Dr McGrath... I agree with all I hear - so, there's not much more to say than thanks so much! Great program.
Brilliant, articulate, and moving🙏
He's a brilliant thinker and speaker.
No ums or ahs.... Very fluent
Love to listen to Alister McGrath. He is so articulate and easy to understand not to mention interesting.
Thank you Alister.I am a nearly 63-year-old man from Belfast.Falls Road.This conversation has been extremely helpful. Times on my journey i have been in despair. I imagine that The New Atheists are smarter than i.But.The bleakness ,as i see it, of their position is something i naturally rebel against! Hopelessness! But ofcourse you and i well know that these individuals claim to be quite happy.I am sure many are.In fact i have to confess that i like them.The so called Four Horsemen.Hitchens,Dawkins,Harris and Dennet.Christopher has ofcouse passed on.What i recognise is laid out in Ecclesiastes and Proverbs. Vanity and Wisdom.Our condition. It's futility without God.So much frustration!Even for the most privileged here on earth.And ofcourse our need for Wisdom.So if the Four Horsemen can live in this World believing nothing is there beyond death. I am sorry.I simply can't go there.Why?It's the question of justice.Life being exactly like a Cosmic Lottery!May God bless you on your journey moving forward in faith and all your loved ones.Again thanks.Raymond.
What an enriching episode. Much to digest and very well spoken. To God be the glory.
Such a brilliant gentleman, wish more Christians were cut from his cloth; able to argue from evidence. He argues in the same spirit as CS Lewis.
the problems in Ulster had little to do with religion, it was a suppression of Native Gaelic Irish, who were ethnically cleansed in the millions, by the British crown, and an imported people from Britain and Holland were planted there to keep controll and governance of most of the Province, where Irish people were relegated to 3rd class subjects, no education, no ownership of lands, no practice of Religious freedom, no speaking our native language, no practise of our Culture, this trend was only broken in the 1990s, Being An ex Catholic ,I see the flaws in Roman Catholism, in its theology, it is anti Biblical, and a contradiction of Christianity, praying to Mary, saints, praying for dead relatives, the MASS ,where Jesus is constantly tortured , there is more focus on that ,than in the Resurection power,! it's a cult, like Islam and other false beliefs, a ploy by the enemy, I was saved Literally by Jesus Christ one night, 17 months ago, I was in the new age thinking and belief system, and thought I had it all worked out, little did I realise Jesus Christ had other plans for me, 2 weeks later I got Baptised in friends bath, and the spirit of depression was broken, along with beer and whisky drinking, cigarettes, sexual immorality, lies, and filthy language, ALL Prais and Glory to God, Amen.
Dear John, Thank you for sharing your conversion story here. I pray that Jesus our Lord, the author and finisher of our faith, will lead you and protect you in every step of the journey of your life.
Great conversation
I think part of the problem is that christianity has become moreike a casual rock fest on a Sunday. Being a christian is a big deal. People are killed for their christianity and the bible is to be taken seriously. Too much emphasis on making christianity something it isn't to appeal to atheists isn't good. Many christian circles are more aligned with a new age movement and it might be interesting and appeal to emotion but it is not christianity. Christianity means picking up your cross, repenting and turning away from sin. The world loves sin, thats the problem. Becoming a Christian is amazing, and its also serious and there is a cost..
I am a catholic but Mc. Satisfied me
His polemic obsession with Dawkins is pretty interesting. What's more interesting though, is the type of crowd he attracts - in response to previous responders regarding why non-believers find McGrath boring.
He is pretty good scholar though, fairly objective for a Christian in regards to historical accuracy - enjoyed his systematic theology textbook.
+Mixalis Konstantinidis Im a nonbeliver, (maybe more of an agnostic, the term "atheist" seems to harbour more definitions then i previously asumed)
and i enjoy his talks.
Ive been interested in religion since i was a kid, moreso then the validity and actuality of religion, and its very interesting to see the mechanic of belief from within, especially when dealing with eloquent scholars.
I wouldn't call it an obsession, but as he said, listening to Dawkins kindles his nostalgia. He's, in a sense, fond of Dawkins after a fashion. If you've sen his omitted interview that Dawkins did for an Atheist documentary, Dawkins seemed to plan his interview of McGrath as being a sort of pivotal piece int he film, but he couldn't get him into a rhetorical corner. He kept asking the same questions in different ways, and Alester was eternally gracious and would just keep reformulating very polite and rational answers and Dawkins, who was also very polite and professional, seemed to almost get a little frustrated that they weren't getting anything "juicy", so the whole thing was left on the cutting room floor.
But the phenomena might be an theistic one: unlike on the theistic or Christian side, the Atheist pop-culture phenomena has a much shorter list of famous, popular rock-stars. They get headlines, throw bombs and have very recognizable, quotable and rhetorically red-blooded invectives. So many a theist (of which there are SO many more than famous atheists) wants to "make their bones" so to speak by scoring points or even politely sparring with, these famous key Atheists. McGrath is on Dawkin's level, but is far more polite, reserved and has a broader perspective, as such it seems he WANTS to do gentle battle so as to be his friend and help him genuinely grow, as he did. The other is because, like every other apologist, he feels he has something to say, and unlike many others, he really DOES have something to say.
Disappointed in McGrath's admiration for Martin Luther. We must, as difficult as it may seem, take note of Luther's rabid antisemitism. For me, it severely undermines any spiritual greatness that is attributed to him. And I should say - it is an aspect of his life, that is tellingly ignored by many pious Christians.
If Jesus was a qualitatively different kind of being then how is it possible to think and talk about "it" with the resources and language of man?
I would change the word ''It'' by ''Him''. Sorry, I'm partially obsessed with proper grammar.
All jokes aside: why do you think it's not possible to ''think and talk about Jesus with the resources and language of man''?
@@oscarin13 To be fair, it's hard to talk about the Trinity without falling into heresy, unless you're very well educated in theological terms.
Watch Trey Smith Theory of Everything he explains the Theory of Evolution in a more Scientific Method about God.
McGrath straddles the fence, unable to make the leap of faith from atheism. A Christian-Darwinian is an oxymoron.
Not really.
He doesn't straddle the fence at all. He is devoted to God and Jesus Christ. He proclaims "Jesus is Lord". He made the leap of faith. Just because he may not subscribe to a literal interpretation of the Creation Story does not make him any less a Christian than you are. There are Church Fathers who did not subscribe to a literal interpretation of the Creation Story such as St. Augustine. The Creation Story is meant to impart important spiritual truths, not to be a scientific description of how things unfolded. Dr. McGrath does not have to be intellectually dishonest and deny the findings of science to be acceptable God. Who knows, he may even be more acceptable in the sight of God than you are.