Oxford Mathematician and Christian Apologist, John Lennox, Visits New Mexico
By Brian Nixon, Special to ASSIST News Service
ALBUQUERUQUE, NEW MEXICO (ANS – Feb. 23, 2016)
-- The first time I heard the name John Lennox was through books. As
director of the Calvary Chapel Bible College extension campus at Costa
Mesa, part of my responsibility was to review books for the Chapel
bookstore and distribution center.Three books came across my desk with the name John Lennox attached to it. One, in particular, caught my attention: Christianity: Opium or Truth. As I flipped through its pages, I soon realized that it was an apologetics book, touching on topics such as the reliability of the Bible, science, the problem of evil, and religious pluralism.
I
turned the book over to read about the authors (the co-author was David
Gooding). Here I learned that Dr. Lennox was a research Fellow at
Oxford University, specializing in pure mathematics. I was impressed.
Thus began my interest in the work and thought of Dr. John Lennox, one
of the world’s leading Christian spokesmen and apologists.
Born
on November 7, 1943 in Armagh, Northern Ireland, Dr. Lennox attended
college at Cambridge, earning M.A and PhD degrees. The website Science and Ethics summarizes Dr. Lennox’s career as follows:
Dr.
Lennox “studied at the Royal School Armagh, Northern Ireland and was
Exhibitioner and Senior Scholar at Emmanuel College, Cambridge
University from which he took his MA, MMath and PhD. He worked for many
years in the Mathematics Institute at the University of Wales in Cardiff
which awarded him a DSc for his research. He also holds an MA and DPhil
from Oxford University and an MA in Bioethics from the University of
Surrey. He was a Senior Alexander Von Humboldt Fellow at the
Universities of Würzburg and Freiburg in Germany. He has lectured
extensively in North America, Eastern and Western Europe and Australasia
on mathematics, the philosophy of science and the intellectual defense
of Christianity.
“He has written a number of books on the interface between science, philosophy and theology. These include God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God? (2009), God and Stephen Hawking, a response to The Grand Design (2011), Gunning for God, on the new atheism (2011), and Seven Days that Divide the World, on the early chapters of Genesis (2011). His latest book, Against the Flow
(2015), looks at the lessons for today’s society that one can draw from
the life of the biblical figure, Daniel. Furthermore, in addition to
over seventy published mathematical papers, he is the co-author of two
research level texts in algebra in the Oxford Mathematical Monographs
series [1].”
Additionally,
Dr. Lennox was able to attend the final lectures C.S Lewis gave on the
poet, John Donne, while at Cambridge [2], a sort of passing the torch
from one Irish apologist to the next.
Lennox’s
intellectual insight, compassionate approach, and deep love of God has
acted as model for a very humane and honorable methodology of conducting
apologetics (as opposed to crushing or belittling the opponent),
influencing many across the globe, myself included. I was honored to
interview Dr. Lennox last year with the release of his book, Against the Flow, where his wisdom, wit, and witness were on full display [3].
Dr.
Lennox was in New Mexico as part of the Veritas Forum’s ongoing quest
to “engage students and faculty in discussions about life’s hardest
questions and the modern relevance of Jesus Christ” [4].
Meeting
in Woodward Hall on the campus of the University of New Mexico, the
topic of the evening was “Does God Care About the World.” Hosted by
psychologist, Dr. Delaney, Dr. Lennox’s discussion partner was
physicist, Dr. Mark Boslough [5].
After
a short introduction by Dr. Delaney, both Mark and John shared with the
audience highlights of their upbringing and worldview. We learned from
Dr. Lennox that he came from a family of Christians that put a strong
emphasis on truth—wherever it may be found. Lennox said that he was
taught to “think hard about differing worldviews,” and encouraged to
read widely. As an example, at age thirteen he was handed the Communist
Manifesto by his father and told to read it. Lennox said he was taught
to be skeptical (in the Latin sense of the word): to check things out
from a distance, a keen observer of people, ideas, and facts. His family
taught him to pursue ultimate reality, finding answers to the key
questions of life.
Mark
said he grew up in a home that practiced religion, but didn’t talk
about it. For him, Christianity was about behavior, not a relationship
with God. Overall, he felt that religion was used in a positive way in
his household; he was taught two overarching behavioral truths: the
Golden Rule and to love other people. Since then, Mark has taken a
materialist worldview, saying, “We must take God out of the equation
when conducting science.” For Mark, the supernatural must be absent if
scientists are to find naturalistic means to how the world works.
After
the introduction, the discussion revolved around three major questions:
evidences for intelligence in the world, does God care about the Earth,
and can science show us how people are to live. Because the event was
not a debate, but a discussion, each guest was able to present thoughts
on each topic. Without delving into the details (I hope the Veritas
Forum makes the discussion available soon), it was an engaging
discussion.
In
answering the first question, John made the point that the universe is
mathematically comprehensible; that there is a Mind behind the cosmos.
John pointed out that “nothing can’t create something;” there must be a
first Cause. John stated that there is an overlap between science and
faith, between intelligence and the natural world. For Mark, God is not
needed to understand the world.
Concerning
the second question: does God care about the Earth, both John and Mark
were on the same page: religion should care about the world. Mark
stressed that one does not need the Bible to tell us to care for the
world, but that if you do believe in God it should be evident that one
must care for what God created. Lennox went a little further: it was a
mandate by God for people to care for creation, as stewards. God called
creation “good,” and people should honor what God said, abiding by His
command to care for it.
The
final question dealt with the question of the morality and science: can
science teach us how to live? For Mark science can’t tell us what is
moral, but can give clues to how people can live. In a way, science
informs morality. Mark used the Cooperation Theory as an example. For
Lennox, science should be careful in talking about morality because
science does not have a transcendence reference point. In order to
understand morals, we must understand that there is a Mind that made
morality. Lennox made reference to C.S Lewis’ Abolition of Man, stating, “We have trouble bringing a moral imperative out of atheism.”
In
between the three questions there was a host of sub-themes:
multi-universe (Lennox pointed out the both John Polkinhorne and Roger
Penrose question multi-verses’ existence), the reality of the
resurrection of Christ, and more. Lennox was clear to insert truths
concerning the Christian faith throughout his discussion.
Because
the event wasn’t a debate there was no “winner,” which made the evening
pleasant and conversational. However, it was very clear that John
Lennox was well prepared to address any topic thrown his way.
Conversely, Mark Boslough was clear in his point: people—all people—need
to do something about the devastation happening upon Earth; factors
(global warming, etc.) facing humanity need to be dealt with clearly and
quickly.
In
a world where there is so much division—particularly in the science vs.
religion debate—it was a refreshing to hear two people discuss topics
intelligently and passionately, even if they did disagree on
foundational points (aka God’s existence and interaction in the world).
I
can only hope more discussion like this will continue and people will
be challenged and confronted by truth. For as Augustine reminds us, “let
every good and true Christian understand that wherever truth may be
found, it belongs to his Master.” And when truth is released, Augustine
states that it is “like a lion; you don’t have to defend it. Let it
loose; it will defend itself.”
3. http://star88.fm/media_theologythursday.asp on 4/2/15
Photo captions: 1) Dr. Lennox at UNM. 2) Against the Flow by John Lennox. 3) UNM Library. 4) Brian Nixon.
About
the writer: Brian Nixon is a writer, musician, and minister. He's a
graduate of California State University, Stanislaus (BA) and is a Fellow
at Oxford Graduate School (D.Phil.). To learn more, click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Nixon.
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