[5]By Oregon State University Socratic Club [6]
The Oregon State University Socratic Club will sponsor a debate between an atheist and a Christian on the topic, “Is Christian Belief Conducive to Doing Good Science?” on Tuesday, February 24, in the Construction and Engineering Auditorium of LaSalles Stewart Center on the OSU campus at 7 p.m. The speakers are Edward Davis and Bernie Dehler.
Does Christianity strengthen or weaken the scientific enterprise? Historian of science Edward Davis will argue that Christian faith often complements the picture of the world coming from the sciences. It helps us to achieve a deeper understanding of the way the world is and how we should go about understanding it, while providing a powerful motive for investigating nature. Bernie Dehler will argue that the various Christian theologies hurt the cause of science because they are nothing more than superstition. Modern science and philosophy have falsified the existence of the Christian God. The best arguments for the existence of God still rely on incorrect scientific information and logical fallacies.
Edward B. (“Ted”) Davis is Professor of the History of Science at Messiah College, Mechanicsburg, PA. Best known for studies of Robert Boyle, Dr. Davis edited (with Michael Hunter) The Works of Robert Boyle in 14 vols. (Pickering & Chatto, 1999-2000), and a separate edition of Boyle’s treatise on God and the mechanical philosophy, A Free Enquiry into the Vulgarly Received Notion of Nature (Cambridge University Press, 1996). Author of dozens of articles about the history of science and religion, his study of modern Jonah stories was featured on two BBC radio programs. His current project, supported by the National Science Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation, examines the religious activities and beliefs of prominent American scientists from the period between the two world wars. He also writes bi-weekly columns about science and religion for The BioLogos Forum (https://biologos.org/blog/author/davis-ted).
Bernie Dehler has worked in the computer industry since 1984, currently as a microprocessor designer. He has participated in about 15 Portland-area Christian/atheist debates held in various churches and at Portland State University, which are available for free online viewing:https://tinyurl.com/pcz2ak5 [7] . He is the President of “The Center for Philosophical Naturalism,” which promotes a naturalistic worldview. He has a Bachelor’s degree in electronics engineering and a Master in Ministry degree. He is the author of the booklet “Modern Science and Philosophy Destroy Christian Theology.”
The debate is free and open to the public. It will be live-streamed on YouTube. The link is httpss://plus.google.com/u/1/events/cg80cbsf2mivm1ftgign4sve5kc [8] . For more information on the OSU Socratic Club visit https://oregonstate.edu/groups/socratic/ [6]
The OSU Socratic Club is in its fourteenth year as a student organization at Oregon State. It sponsors 5-6 debates each year on subjects at the intersection of Christianity and contemporary culture. Previous debates may be seen on the Socratic Club channel of YouTube.