In The Grand Design, Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow present religion and science as rivals and give the impression that they are irreconcilable. The following quotes present such an opposition, and they reveal an antagonism toward religion in the authors:
Ignorance of nature’s ways led people in ancient times to invent gods to lord it over every aspect of human life. 1
In their new book, The Grand Design, Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow defend scientific determinism, which they define as follows:
“To believe in sola scriptura [‘Scripture alone’] is to allow God to speak without interruption. It is to trust His self-revelation, refusing to mix man’s words with God’s, man’s thoughts with His thoughts. It is to be quiet and to let God speak.” 1
Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms
Is apologetics all about saying you’re sorry about something? Of course not; it is derived from the Greek word apologia, which refers to giving a reason. Christian apologetics includes both 1) defending the Christian faith when speaking with non-Christians and 2) encouraging and strengthening the faith of believers. Christians are encouraged, actually commanded, in the scriptures to be able to give the reasons for why they believe and have the hope in them.
Dr. Henry Middleton presented talks for the youth group meetings at Englewood Baptist Church in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. 1
Dr. Cornelius Van Til
“I propose to argue that unless God is back of everything you cannot find meaning in anything…” 1
The doctrine of creation is often de-emphasized among Christians today as holding secondary importance. After all, isn’t Christianity about salvation through Jesus? While it is true that the Christian message centers on the atoning work of Jesus that is not a reason to neglect creation.
Genesis 1:26-27 says “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” This passage shows that man reflects God in some way and represents him. 1
Theology can be defined as “intellectual or rational (‘reasoned’) discourse about God or things divine.” 1 It is an expression of beliefs regarding God, man, the meaning of life, the origin and fate of the world, and the afterlife.
