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September 20, 2005

Critics react with horror over ruling to allow embryo with two mothers

Critics have expressed horror about research to create a human embryo with genetic material from three parents, branding it “Frankenstein science”, and insisting that it is “unethical, abhorrent and contrary to public opinion”.
Church of England Newspaper: http://tinyurl.com/csse4

Posted by latimer at 12:40 PM | Comments (0)

May 27, 2005

Engineering Disabled Embryos: The Race to be First

Scientists in Korea and Newcastle have, they proudly tell us, engineered disabled cloned embryos for stem cell research.
http://tinyurl.com/b6zun

Posted by latimer at 01:40 PM | Comments (0)

December 12, 2004

Sorry, says atheist-in-chief, I do believe in God after all

A lost sheep has returned to the fold. One of the most renowned atheists of the past half century has changed his mind and decided that there is a God after all.

INTERVIEW By Stuart Wavell and Will Iredale The Sunday Times

LONDON (12/12/2004)--A LOST sheep has returned to the fold. One of the
most renowned atheists of the past half century has changed his mind and decided that there is a God after all.

Antony Flew, 81, emeritus professor of philosophy at Reading University, whose arguments for atheism have influenced scholars around the world, has been converted to the view that some sort of deity created the universe.

Flew, the son of a Methodist minister, is keen to repent. "As people
have certainly been influenced by me, I want to try and correct the
enormous damage I may have done," he said yesterday.

But he is unlikely to proclaim his faith from a pulpit. He is still not a Christian and dismisses the conventional forms of divinity as "the monstrous oriental despots of the religions of Christianity and Islam". He also stands by his rejection of an afterlife.

Instead, he believes that new scientific discoveries have revealed the existence of an organising intelligence. Investigation of DNA, he said, "has shown, by the almost unbelievable complexity of the arrangements which are needed to produce life, that intelligence must have been involved".

Darwin's theory of evolution does not explain the origin and development of life to Flew's satisfaction. "I have been persuaded that it is simply out of the question that the first living matter evolved out of dead matter and then developed into an extraordinarily complicated creature," he said.

Flew finds the conventional explanation that life arose out of a complex chemical brew or primordial soup "improbable". So he is emulating Socrates and "following the argument wherever it leads. The conclusion is - there must have been some intelligence". His volte face is all the more remarkable given his vehement denial of internet rumours in 2001 that he had renounced his atheism. His response was entitled: "Sorry To Disappoint, but I'm Still an Atheist!"

He has always described himself as a "negative atheist", asserting the impossibility of either verifying or disproving the existence of God, a position he explained in his 1950 paper Theology and Falsification, reprinted 40 times in many languages.

His revised views are likely to cause as big a commotion as the astronomer royal's recent speculation that the universe could be no more than a omputer simulation, with humans reduced to bits of software.

Sir Martin Rees, Royal Society professor of astronomy at Cambridge University, said in a Channel 4 television documentary that on current trends that computers would be able to simulate worlds as complicated as the one we inhabit - or think we do.

"This raises the philosophical question: could we ourselves be in such a simulation and could what we think is the universe be some sort of vault of heaven rather than the real thing?" he asked.

Flew became an atheist at 15 and went on to proclaim his non-credo while teaching at Oxford, Aberdeen, Keele and Reading universities. The professor is now revising the introduction to one of his 23 books, God and Philosophy, incorporating his revised ideas.

"I am certain I shall surprise a lot of people," he said.

Peter Atkins, an atheist and professor of chemistry at Oxford University, is not impressed by Flew's reasoning. "It's absurd to think that because something is improbable it's impossible," he said. As for evidence of divine design, he observed: "There are several faults in nature's design. If I were God I would expect the current design to be sent back to me for improvement."

Atheist Becomes Theist Exclusive Interview with Former Atheist Antony
Flew

The following is an exclusive interview that will be published in the Winter 2004 issue of "Philosophia Christi" the journal of the Evangelical Philosophical Society (www.biola.edu/philchristi). "Philosophia Christi" is one of the top circulating philosophy of religion journals in the world and we are pleased to offer up the definitive interview on this breaking story of global interest.

Prof. Antony Flew, 81 years old, is a legendary British philosopher and atheist and has been an icon and champion for unbelievers for decades.

His change of mind is significant news, not only about his personal journey, but also about the persuasive power of the arguments modern theists have been using to challenge atheistic naturalism.

The interviewer is Dr. Gary Habermas, a prolific philosopher and historian from Liberty University who has debated Flew several times. They have maintained a friendship despite their years of disagreement on
the existence of God.

Sincerely, Craig J. Hazen, Ph.D. Professor of Comparative Religion, Biola University Editor, "Philosophia Christi"

DR. ANTONY FLEW Professor of Philosophy Former atheist, author, and debater

DR. GARY R. HABERMAS Professor Philosophy and Theology Editorial Board
for "Philosophia Christi"

Antony Flew and Gary Habermas met in February 1985 in Dallas, Texas.

The occasion was a series of debates between atheists and theists, featuring many influential philosophers, scientists, and other scholars. (1)

A short time later, in May 1985, Flew and Habermas debated at Liberty University before a large audience. The topic that night was the resurrection of Jesus. (2) Although Flew was arguably the world's foremost philosophical atheist, he had intriguingly also earned the distinction of being one of the chief philosophical commentators on the topic of miracles. (3) Habermas specialized on the subject of Jesus' resurrection. (4) Thus, the ensuing dialogue on the historical evidence for the central Christian claim was a natural outgrowth of their research. Over the next twenty years, Flew and Habermas developed a friendship, writing dozens of letters, talking often, and dialoguing twice more on the resurrection. In April 2000 they participated in a
live debate on the Inspiration Television Network, moderated by John Ankerberg. (5) In January 2003 they again dialogued on the resurrection at California Polytechnic State University=96San Luis Obispo. (6)

During a couple telephone discussions shortly after their last dialogue, Flew explained to Habermas that he was considering becoming a theist. While Flew did not change his position at that time, he concluded that certain philosophical and scientific considerations were causing him to do some serious rethinking. He characterized his position as that of atheism standing in tension with several huge question marks.

Then, a year later, in January 2004, Flew informed Habermas that he had indeed become a theist. While still rejecting the concept of special revelation, whether Christian, Jewish or Islamic, nonetheless he had concluded that theism was true. In Flew's words, he simply "had to go where the evidence leads." (7)

The following interview took place in early 2004 and was subsequently modified by both participants throughout the year. This nontechnical discussion sought to engage Flew over the course of several topics that reflect his move from atheism to theism. (8) The chief purpose was not to pursue the details of any particular issue, so we bypassed many avenues that would have presented a plethora of other intriguing questions and responses. These were often tantalizingly ignored, left to ripen for another discussion. Neither did we try to persuade each another of alternate positions.

Our singular purpose was simply to explore and report Flew's new position, allowing him to explain various aspects of his pilgrimage. We thought that this in itself was a worthy goal. Along the way, an additional benefit emerged, as Flew reminisced about various moments from his childhood, graduate studies, and career.

NOTE: For the complete interview, read the story from VirtueOnline's
website:=20

http://www. virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=3D1785

Posted by latimer at 09:31 AM | Comments (0)

November 11, 2004

Human Genetics Consultation

The Church of England has warned that human genetics should be developed for the purpose of therapy only, and not for the enhancement of the foetus, in a submission by the Church’s Mission and Public Affairs Council to the consultation Choosing the Future, run by the Human Genetics Commission. Go to the website:
www.cofe.anglican.org/news/pr4904.html

Posted by latimer at 09:43 AM | Comments (0)