De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

Father Michael Halsall’s recent homily featured in my last post . His doctoral research was on Tolkein’s net-Platonic thought and he has published an excellent book. He recently gave a talk at the Christian Heritage Centre in Stoneyhurst which you can watch in the video below. Please do consider donating to the work of the centre. JRR Tolkien’s mythical world captured the hearts and minds of millions. His world is one that speaks to us because it is anchored in a profound truth: that of a cosmos brought into being and continually guided, whilst simultaneously respecting the free choices of its creatures. Rev. Dr Halsall will explore the beauty of Tolkien’s vision as a reflection of the Catholic understanding of the cosmos, as defined in its relationship to the Creator.

One of the clips I show the Confirmation group every year is the argument scenes from God is not Dead. The clip I use is longer than this; a compendium of all the argument scenes, but this gets the message across. The Atheist Professor in the scene quotes Stephen Hawking to debunk the theists position. In the argument scene after this one, the theist appeals to Oxford Mathematician Professor John Lennox to debunk Hawking. Following the passing of Stephen Hawking , Lennox spoke with Ben Halbrooks of the Fixed Point Foundation over Skype. Lennox notes an interesting irony in Stephen Hawking’s Atheism, which Hawking argued for at length in his book The Grand Design . The key argument Hawking used in The Grand Design , repeated by the Atheist in God is not Dead is this: "Because there is a law of gravity, the universe can and will create itself out of nothing." This, of course is classic circular reasoning and the Theist in God is not Dead quotes Lennox to debun...