Plantinga and the Debate Between Science and Religion

Date

December 11, 2011

author

This podcast is a recording that was made in August of 2007 at Rainier Beach Presbyterian Church in Seattle Washington. The speaker is Dr. Alvin Plantinga and the title of the talk is “Religion and Science: Why does the Debate Continue?” Dr. Plantinga taught at Calvin College in Grand Rapids Michigan and spent most of his long career at Notre Dame University. His most important work has been the Warrant series culminating with Warranted Christian Belief in which he argues that a person can be fully justified in believing in God’s existence even if that belief is not grounded on evidence as it’s typically understood. This 2007 lecture is of particular interest because this month Dr. Plantinga has released a new book taking on the claim that religion and science are incompatible. His book, Where the Conflict Really Lies, is sure to generate a lot of discussion and be the subject of much debate. Philosophy News will be publishing an interview with Dr. Plantinga on his new book and this lecture is an early version of some of the ideas he included in the book. We hope you enjoy it.

Listen: [mp3:Plantinga_2007_podcast.mp3]

Subscribe to Philosophy News podcasts 

Excerpt:

“The first question is, “Is there really a debate?” and I think the answer to that question is, “Yes, there is really a debate.” But if you Christians feel sort of beleaguered by science, if you think science is somehow going contrary to Christian belief, because these certain parts of it do, several scientists, quite a few scientists think that religion is a real danger to science. Still others think that as science advances, religion retreats. So there is this kind of opposition—at least a perceived opposition—between science and religion and my question is, “Why is that? Why does this debate continue?” I think there are several reasons . . . six of them anyway.”