Professor John Lennox: Will Science Ever Find God's Fingerprints?

Professor John Lennox speaks on the topic of Science and Religion at The University of Adelaide, hosted by Evangelical Students (ES)
Q&A: • Professor John Lennox:...
For more information:
northterrace.es.org.au/
Recorded on the 13th August, 2014 at The University of Adelaide.

[@kaiyuren4136]

I have listened to so many Dr Lennox’s talk that I almost know all the arguments and lines. But I am still mesmerized to listen to everything he says to the end 🤣. You can’t resist his warm charm and sharp wit, let alone the amiable and humble manner of him. Love this man. May God bless him and use him to save more souls

[@johnrichardson6296]

What a very interesting and intelligent talk. John Lennox is always worth listening to - even if one is not a Christian. And what a delightfully buoyant, benevolent and pleasant host Shane Martin is. Wonderful!

[@Redheadedlady55]

~Simply love to hear the wisdom of this young man...Dr. John Lennox.....just cannot get enough of his speeches 😊😊❤😊

[@ClusterVisionMach2]

Thanks to our brothers in Christ, Prof. Lennox and the Evangelical Students ! May our LORD God Almighty bless you all!

[@michaelgreen7941]

I was there for this lecture and what a great lecture it was.

[@peteswan465]

Mr Lennox is such a gentleman. Kind and loving to all people. Great respect sir. You have helped me greatly. Thanks you

[@splitpcomedy]

We love our dear brother in Christ John Lennox!!!!! This was awesome!!! Thank you for sharing. Love your brother in Christ Jason Weeks Revelation 4:11 King James Version Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created ALL things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

[@MrChrispy777]

*****, if only you could discern the vast difference between religion and a relationship with the Son of God. I agree with you that everything can be questioned, including the diabolical belief system, devoid of actual proof, called Darwinian Evolution. Who is your authority for your belief system?

[@thomastheeencourager5235]

Jesus saves- what website is this?

[@PaulPetersen2014]

Thank you professor John

[@robertmccully2792]

One of his best talks.

[@somerando280]

This is so nice, thank you.

[@droinfante2682]

Upon completing his doctorate, Lennox moved to Cardiff, Wales, becoming a reader in Mathematics at the University of Wales, Cardiff. During his 29 years in Cardiff he spent a year at each of the universities of Würzburg, Freiburg (as an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow), and Vienna, and has lectured extensively in both Eastern and Western Europe, Russia and North America on mathematics, apologetics, and the exposition of Scripture. He has published over 70 peer-reviewed articles on mathematics and co-authored two Oxford Mathematical Monographs and has worked as a translator of Russian mathematics. Lennox also teaches science and religion in the University of Oxford. He is the author of a number of books on the relations of science, religion, and ethics, the most recent of which are: Informetika (2001),[5] Hat die Wissenschaft Gott begraben? (Has Science Buried God?) (2002),[6] Worldview (2004) with D. W. Gooding (3 volumes in Russian and Ukrainian). His most recent book is God and Stephen Hawking: Whose Design Is It Anyway? (2011). He has spoken in many different countries, in conferences, and as an academic fellow, including numerous trips to the former Soviet Union. On 14 March 2012 he presented an edition of the Lent Talks for BBC Radio Four. Lennox has also given lectures at the Veritas forum on topics such as the relationship between science and religion, the existence of God, doubt, and the problems of evil and suffering.[7] Additionally, he is a Senior Fellow of The Trinity Forum, a Christian nonprofit that develops leaders so as to contribute to cultural renewal. Debates Edit Lennox (left) debating religion with Christopher Hitchens in Alabama, March 2009 Lennox has been part of numerous public debates defending the Christian faith, including debates with Christopher Hitchens, Michael Shermer, Richard Dawkins, Lawrence Krauss, Victor Stenger, Michael Tooley, Stephen Law, and Peter Singer. On 3 October 2007, Lennox debated with Richard Dawkins at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in Birmingham, Alabama on Dawkins's views expressed in his book, The God Delusion.[8][9][10] The debate was broadcast to millions worldwide and was described by the Wall Street Journal as "a revelation: in Alabama, a civil debate over God's existence". Professors Lennox and Dawkins had a discussion in April 2008 at Trinity College, Oxford to expand upon topics left undeveloped during The God Delusion Debate.[11][12] On 9 August 2008, Lennox debated with Christopher Hitchens at the Edinburgh International Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland on the question of whether or not Europe should jettison its religious past and welcome the "New Atheism."[13][14] On 23 August 2008, Lennox debated with Michael Shermer at the Wesley Conference Centre in Sydney, Australia on the existence of God.[15][16] On 21 October 2008, Lennox debated again with Richard Dawkins at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, the site of the 1860 Oxford evolution debate between Thomas Henry Huxley and Samuel Wilberforce. The debate was titled "Has Science Buried God?" and centred on that question.[17][18][19] The Spectator called the event "Huxley-Wilberforce, Round Two."[20] On 3 March 2009, Lennox debated with Christopher Hitchens for the second time at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama on the question "Is God Great?" The debate addressed the validity of some of Hitchens' claims in his book God is Not Great.[21][22][23] On 20 July 2011, Lennox debated Peter Singer at the Melbourne Town Hall in Melbourne, Australia on the topic “Is There a God?”[24][25] Is funny how athiests in the comment sector are trying to say that John Lennox is dumb lol

[@droinfante2682]

lol this man made Richard Dawkins admit that jesus was real! Dear athiests... just stop máking a fool of your selves, I will respect your desition, but it is just nonesence, I was an athiest for 21 years, I can say with conffidence that god exists...

[@thisnameisalreadytaken9026]

+Emiliano Lopez I am a christian myself but will admit that trying to explain god(disclaimer:I do believe in god)will never be easy as a lot of people are adamant he doesn't exist, But jesus is another story all together most historians agree that he most definitely existed

[@clarekuehn4372]

Starts at 6:40

[@jasonh.8754]

The answer to this question is 'no', unless you can open up the brain and find the part that believes in God.

[@garrethoien6666]

well at 16:55 into this dribble i cant handle it anymore.

[@candeffect]

You believe in ensuring your trashed eternity to prove God doesn't exist? Why do you believe God has to be contained in His creation to exist? Are the creators of your house contained in the house?

[@garrethoien6666]

fine tuning agreement is just stating that we exist. can be reduced an infinitely low probability however its 100% true that we exist

[@droinfante2682]

This man made Richard Dawkins admit Jesús existed, This man made a whole audience laugh at PETER SINGER, A BRILLANT MAN!! this man has debunked so many athiest arguments... Dear athiests, you are máking such a fool of yourselves, you just say John Lennox is dum... Upon completing his doctorate, Lennox moved to Cardiff, Wales, becoming a reader in Mathematics at the University of Wales, Cardiff. During his 29 years in Cardiff he spent a year at each of the universities of Würzburg, Freiburg (as an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow), and Vienna, and has lectured extensively in both Eastern and Western Europe, Russia and North America on mathematics, apologetics, and the exposition of Scripture. He has published over 70 peer-reviewed articles on mathematics and co-authored two Oxford Mathematical Monographs and has worked as a translator of Russian mathematics. Lennox also teaches science and religion in the University of Oxford. He is the author of a number of books on the relations of science, religion, and ethics, the most recent of which are: Informetika (2001),[5] Hat die Wissenschaft Gott begraben? (Has Science Buried God?) (2002),[6] Worldview (2004) with D. W. Gooding (3 volumes in Russian and Ukrainian). His most recent book is God and Stephen Hawking: Whose Design Is It Anyway? (2011). He has spoken in many different countries, in conferences, and as an academic fellow, including numerous trips to the former Soviet Union. On 14 March 2012 he presented an edition of the Lent Talks for BBC Radio Four. Lennox has also given lectures at the Veritas forum on topics such as the relationship between science and religion, the existence of God, doubt, and the problems of evil and suffering.[7] Additionally, he is a Senior Fellow of The Trinity Forum, a Christian nonprofit that develops leaders so as to contribute to cultural renewal. Debates Edit Lennox (left) debating religion with Christopher Hitchens in Alabama, March 2009 Lennox has been part of numerous public debates defending the Christian faith, including debates with Christopher Hitchens, Michael Shermer, Richard Dawkins, Lawrence Krauss, Victor Stenger, Michael Tooley, Stephen Law, and Peter Singer. On 3 October 2007, Lennox debated with Richard Dawkins at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in Birmingham, Alabama on Dawkins's views expressed in his book, The God Delusion.[8][9][10] The debate was broadcast to millions worldwide and was described by the Wall Street Journal as "a revelation: in Alabama, a civil debate over God's existence". Professors Lennox and Dawkins had a discussion in April 2008 at Trinity College, Oxford to expand upon topics left undeveloped during The God Delusion Debate.[11][12] On 9 August 2008, Lennox debated with Christopher Hitchens at the Edinburgh International Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland on the question of whether or not Europe should jettison its religious past and welcome the "New Atheism."[13][14] On 23 August 2008, Lennox debated with Michael Shermer at the Wesley Conference Centre in Sydney, Australia on the existence of God.[15][16] On 21 October 2008, Lennox debated again with Richard Dawkins at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, the site of the 1860 Oxford evolution debate between Thomas Henry Huxley and Samuel Wilberforce. The debate was titled "Has Science Buried God?" and centred on that question.[17][18][19] The Spectator called the event "Huxley-Wilberforce, Round Two."[20] On 3 March 2009, Lennox debated with Christopher Hitchens for the second time at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama on the question "Is God Great?" The debate addressed the validity of some of Hitchens' claims in his book God is Not Great.[21][22][23] On 20 July 2011, Lennox debated Peter Singer at the Melbourne Town Hall in Melbourne, Australia on the topic “Is There a God?”[24][25] Athiests, stop trying to make this man look dumb lol, I bet non of you are no one to try to make this man look bad, I study biólogy and theology at the University of Stamford, it is just so brilliant how the world is made, how god made it, I will not get a PHD, but I will finish this 2 years of study, the fine tuning of the world for an average man that doesnt know much of biology is not impressive, but there are some things that are so complex, that it demands intelligence.. want to try to tell me am wrong, go ahead, but give a reason, dont just call thiesm stupid, give a reason of why you are an athiest... you cant.. but you can try, while I have 4 arguments undefeatable for defense of god... Athiest, just stop trying...

[@thatonegamer9547]

GeoCoppens no evidence of this. Even Christopher Hitchens had to admit to a loss to him. Lennox won that debate.

[@candeffect]

God, not god.

[@shreddedhominid1629]

I know you think this post is an own but it's just cringe. just stop.

[@garrethoien6666]

because we can think rationally there must be a supernatural?????

[@candeffect]

Because massive abundant complex creation consisting of intelligent design is proof God far more than not Atheism is a religion of believing God can't exist because God is not contained in His creation. Are the creators of your house contained in the house, car, computer, etc.?

[@garrethoien6666]

yes you would trust it if it continued to produce repeatable results

[@remieres]

science already has found his finger print, the Chromosome or the DNA of all living creatures. It has a language with a very strict pattern of 4 letters that constructs you like 1 and 0 constructs a computer program. the Genome is another word.

[@remieres]

God gene? you don't have a clue. Lennox even talks about the genome information TGCA in all human DNA not a gene to be a god. it all lines up in each of your blood cells and encodes the information for your bodies structure and chemicals. I don't know where you came up with a god gene.

[@remieres]

***** mentioned above in response. thanks.

[@remieres]

***** it's not what Lennox was talking about so you're out of order and your reference is irrelevant.

[@edichong1]

ProfJ Lennox did not talk about Science and RELIGION as the Evangelical Students. What he did was talk about Science and GOD. Its the words. Lennox cautioned about ''Reductionalism" . Hear him. Here God.

[@mc_pyro5269]

32:19 sums up my thoughts on this speech

[@walterdaems57]

Bit difficult to find fingerprints of a non existing entity :)

[@candeffect]

The creators of your house are not contained in the house. The house's intelligent design is proof of one or more creators. Same with God and the universe.

[@walterdaems57]

@@candeffect a house needs creators, the universe(s) don’t

[@andrewhill5579]

@@walterdaems57 Really? A collection of bricks made from earth and its contents made from other materials by human designers and builders requires a designer, but the world that contains the materials and the humans with their abilities to design and build doesn't? Really? A house is just a tiny example of the role of intelligent design when compared with the universe and the existence of life.

[@walterdaems57]

@@andrewhill5579 correct me if I’m wrong but that what we see today is the result of the fact (no longer the theory for some time now) of evolution and unimaginable stretches of time. I could go all Lawrence Krauss on your ass but very personally for me it stands to logic and reason that some-thing could only have come out of a state of no-thing. If a state of no-thing wouldn't have existed, some-thing could only have been every-thing. The state of no-thing on the other hand has the potential to become every-thing. That's the philosophical approach. Mathematically something and nothing are of equal value by the way. That said, if you desperately want to serve your imagination by believing that quantum fluctuations, borrowing energy are somehow this all powerful entity caring about your every thought or action, be my guest. There’s no law against imaginary BFF’s in adulthood :)

[@shreddedhominid1629]

@@andrewhill5579 We know from experience that houses are made by humans, intelligent beings. We have no experience of the universe being made by a God, or a God doing anything for that matter. You regurgitate one of the most basic easily debunked theist arguments.

[@louischen2109]

God release wisdom and with that they have knowledge. The more man have wisdom and knowledge, the more they feel they do not need God. God is wise and therefore He knows when, how, what, why where to stop releasing them before man behave like that. Mercy is the key word.

[@qwecyb]

gOD DOESNT PLAY BALL WITH HIS CREATION. HE ONLY CAME TO OUR LEVEL TO SAVE US THROUGH CHRIST JESUS. EVEN AT THE REBELLION IN HEAVEN. HE LEFT IT TO MICHAEL TO HANDLE HIM. HE IS WAY WAY TOO MUCH

[@lahoucine66]

Reminder: Quran39 Say (O Muhammad) : (That , I , God revealed this:) O My servants/worshippers who have been prodigal to their own hurt (sins)! Despair not of the mercy of God/Allah/Yahweh, Who forgiveth all sins. Lo! He is the Forgiving, the Merciful. (53) Turn unto your Lord repentant, and surrender unto Him, before there come unto you the doom/suffering/punishment, when ye cannot be helped. (54) And follow the better (guidance) of that which is revealed unto you from your Lord, before the suffering/punishment/doom comes on you suddenly when ye know not, (55) Lest any soul should say: Alas, my grief that I was unmindful of God/Allah, and I was indeed among the scoffers! (56) Or should say: If Allah/God had but guided me I should have been among the dutiful! (57) Or should say, when it seeth the doom/suffering/punishement: Oh, that I had but a second chance that I might be among the righteous! (58) (But now the answer will be): Nay, for My revelations came unto thee, but thou didst deny them and wast scornful and wast among the disbelievers. (59) And on the Day of Resurrection thou (Muhammad) seest those who lied concerning God with their faces blackened. Is not the home of the scorners in hell? (60) And God delivereth those who ward off (evil) because of their deserts. Evil toucheth them not, nor do they grieve. (61) God is Creator of all things, and He is Guardian over all things. (62) His are the keys of the heavens and the earth, and they who disbelieve the revelations of God - such are they who are the losers. (63) Say (O Muhammad, to the disbelievers): Do ye bid me serve other than God? O ye fools! (64) And verily it hath been revealed unto thee as unto those before thee (saying): If thou ascribe a partner to God thy work will fail and thou indeed wilt be among the losers. (65) Nay, but God must thou serve, and be among the thankful! (66) And they esteem not God as He hath the right to be esteemed, when the whole earth is His handful on the Day of Resurrection, and the heavens are rolled in His right hand. Glorified is He and High Exalted from all that they ascribe as partner (unto Him). (67) And the trumpet is blown, and all who are in the heavens and all who are in the earth swoon away, save him whom God willeth. Then it is blown a second time, and behold them standing waiting! (68) And the earth shineth with the light of her Lord, and the Book is set up, and the prophets and the witnesses are brought, and it is judged between them with truth, and they are not wronged. (69) And each soul is paid in full for what it did. And He is best aware of what they do. (70) And those who disbelieve are driven unto hell in troops till, when they reach it and the gates thereof are opened, and the warders thereof say unto them: Came there not unto you messengers of your own, reciting unto you the revelations of your Lord and warning you of the meeting of this your Day? They say: Yea, verily. But the word of doom of disbelievers is fulfilled. (71) It is said (unto them): Enter ye the gates of hell to dwell therein. Thus hapless is the journey's end of the scorners. (72) And those who keep their duty to their Lord are driven unto the Garden in troops till, when they reach it, and the gates thereof are opened, and the warders thereof say unto them: Peace be unto you! Ye are good, so enter ye (the Garden of delight), to dwell therein; (73) They say: Praise be to God, Who hath fulfilled His promise unto us and hath made us inherit the land, sojourning in the Garden where we will! So bounteous is the wage of workers. (74) And thou (O Muhammad) seest the angels thronging round the Throne, hymning the praises of their Lord. And they are judged aright. And it is said: Praise be to Allah/God, the Lord of the Worlds! (75)

[@GODTHESOOTHSAYER1]

Humanities' need to seek out a supreme being/deity, is a necessary fact, and an instilled trait found within the psyche of mankind, since the fight/flight mechanism designed by nature had quantified his fearfulness of this world, and as well its pain, and suffering, that this life has to offer him. Man will forever seek out answers to questions which evade him. Religion affords mankind a false sense of hopefulness, which is better than no hope at all. To try to contradict, or question the believer of faith belief will only increase the hostility within him which is fear based. This in fact would only be counterproductive, since it would tend to increase the instability which resides within his/her mind. 

[@williammaddock9179]

Stick to what you know and stop spouting anti-religious, nonsensical garbage.

[@GODTHESOOTHSAYER1]

William Maddock "Nonsensical garbage", is a very good description for what religion offers the believer. It would be best that a simple-minded fool like you try to educate yourself of the true facts of reality, logic and reason, instead of dwelling on the delusions of your superstitions. Your anger is well understood. When religious illusions are contradicted, the confirmation bias and prejudice emerges from the fearful mind of the believer in retaliation.

[@carelcrafford]

+THE SOOTHSAYER trying to contradict or question an atheists non belief in God will certainly create instability. People prefer certainty, atheist or christian. You may find comfort in your finding that there is no God. The finding that there is a god will upset the atheist mind, and derail it. Pascal believed there are only two types of men: those who are afraid they will find God, and those who are afraid they will lose God.

[@GODTHESOOTHSAYER1]

carel crafford Let me clarify your statement Carel. Firstly, an atheist is a person that refutes false gods. Everyone of us that do not believe in even one of these false and fabricated man made gods must be labeled an atheist. Zeus, Horus, Isis, Thor, Allah, Jesus, Krishna, etc...etc... So, assuming you do not believe in one or a few of these gods, then you're an atheist. Just refute the one last god that you believe in now and you're there... a total atheist. Both the claims of atheism and theism are without validity. Both are untrue. Spiritualistic DEISM is the only truth. This is the belief that something greater than ourselves exists in the cosmos above that is unseen by mankind, but that this entity will forever be out of the reach of humanity to discern. NO MAN OF THIS EARTH KNOWS WHO OR WHAT GOD MAY BE. NO MAN EVER WILL BECAUSE IT ISN'T MEANT FOR US TO KNOW. The religious that demand to suggest that they know the mind and desires of god are liars. Man made books of immorality and unholiness isn't proof. Visions and delusional hallucinations in wish thinking isn't proof. All that exists for the believer of religiosity is faith itself without evidence.

[@carelcrafford]

+THE SOOTHSAYER, thanks for the lecture but how do you know spiritualistic deism is true? I think it's a good start, but you would not know if it's a good or bad spirit. It seems close to what spinoza postulated

[@patriklindholm7576]

Either he's a sin eater (ie. an exploiter of irrational fears) or word has truly become quite the amount of flesh.

[@TimCrinion]

The big bang was very simple, and the end result (you and me) is very complicated. Evolution has done a marvelous job. However, if you take *all* the causes of the end result (you and me), then all those causes have to be as complicated as the end result, because (being *all* causes) they effectively contain a description of the end result. I'm not claiming this list of causes can be known or written down. I'm just saying that the sum of all the causes are effectively a definition of the thing they eventually produce. How can something be more complicated than its definition? That's like saying it's more complicated than itself. Hence you, me and life on earth, can't be more complicated or improbable than the big bang *along with* all the laws that govern the universe. There's still complexity that needs explaining.

[@darnright7415]

Science can never find anything that does not exist.

[@GeoCoppens]

"Religion is the biggest scam ever prepetrated on mankind." Vittoria Nazario

[@daves2520]

GeoCoppens, I disagree. I think evolution is the biggest scam ever perpetrated on mankind. If you examine Darwin's theory of evolution, you will discover that there is no evidence to support the idea that one species can evolve from another. It is all fantasy.

[@GeoCoppens]

"Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution" T. Dobzhansky Thinking otherwise make you a total ignoramus. Evolution is an established scientific fact!!!

[@daves2520]

I disagree; a close examination of the precepts of evolution will show that it is full of holes. For example, there is no evidence of the multitude of transitional forms that should exist between one species and another that supposedly developed from the first. Mainstream scientists know that the theory is weak but hope to bamboozle the naive layman. By the way, name calling does not help in persuading someone to accept your point of view.

[@GeoCoppens]

"Evolution is an established scientific fact!!!" is not a point of view. Your talk show an appalling ignorance of the scientific method and therefore you must be called an ignoramus, And that is fact! And by the way, all life forms from the earliest beginnings are transitional. Go and educate yourself.

[@stevedl3150]

GeoCoppens. So what ? What on earth has Religion to do with the question as to the existence of God, or none thereof ?

[@TheEvolvedprimate]

Poor Lennox,.. He's really delusional.

[@niklewis952]

Strong refutation.

[@TheEvolvedprimate]

Nik Lewis Just common sense.

[@niklewis952]

***** So he's delusional, like in the actual psychological sense?

[@TheEvolvedprimate]

Nik Lewis "So he's delusional, like in the actual psychological sense?" He believes in a magical sky wizard... Nuff said. Delusional.

[@niklewis952]

***** Correct if I'm wrong but that seems like an ad hominem in a sense-- which is a strong form of argument. So, If someone wins the Nobel Prize for physics, and they happen to be a Christian, would that person also be delusional? Could a Christian equally argue that an atheist is 'delusional' for literally believing that nothing created everything? Would that be a fair assumption?

[@shreddedhominid1629]

All John Lennox's arguments fall flat. Why would an all -powerful God require the universe to be finely tuned to create life? If consciousness or reality does not even NEED to be physical (ie a soul or heaven) then God didn't even need to bother with a physical universe at all. All religious apologetics is riddled with fallacies and contradictions, and John Lennox is a shining example of that.