RS Blog

The Problem of Suffering

Dr Alan Billings comments on the sheer precariousness of human life. He argues that to put your trust in God is to abandon all hope that life will go well simply because you are a person of faith. Drawing upon the experiences of those in Italy Dr Billings links the problem of suffering with the experience of Christ on the cross.

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More on Darwin

This is an interesting look at some of the experiments Darwin created when investigating his theory of evolution.
click here for the iplayer link

Darwin and Religion

Darwins Dangerous Ideas.
Thurs 9pm. BBC2
Andrew Marr

I can’t recommend watching this enough. This is an excellent account of the origins of the science vs religion debate.

Click here for the iplayer link

Russells Celestial Teapot

Russells Celestial teapot analogy was designed to refute the argument that the burden of proof lies with the non-believer to disprove the claims of religions. It has been used more recently by Richard Dawkins in his book “A Devils Chaplain”. Dawkins has also reformulated the argument to be an Invisible Pink Unicorn in The God Delusion (2006).

For an interesting discussion of the flaws in Russells Celestial Teapot argument click here.

 

Darwin and Religion

This BBC Thought for the Day is a useful introduction to the issues.
Rev David Wilkinson 12th Feb
Click here for the link

Do you know your Biblical references?

Poet Laureate Andrew Motion has raised concerns that many students are coming unstuck because they do not understand their bible references. Test your knowledge with this quiz from the Bible Society. Click here

 

Moral Monkeys and Kant

In todays ‘Thought for the Day” Akhandadhi Das spoke about research presented last week to show that Monkeys express empathy and offer help when a fellow animal is in trouble. These findings seem to suggest that animals have a moral sense, thus calling into question the idea that humans are unique. Does this have implications for the Moral Argument as a proof for the existence of God?

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Philosophers Football Match

Strange but true -
A board game simulating a football match between French and German Philosophers.
If you fancy a go then click here for the link. It contains all of the rules and everything you’ll need to play!

More for the Science and Religion Debate

The Richard Dawkins Debate - article from the Times Monday 16th Feb
click here for the link
Loads of links to watch/read/listen to.

 

How people view the theory of evolution

An article from The Economist containing some interesting facts and figures.

Click here for the link