On Thursday, Feb. 28, the film “Has Science Buried God?” was presented to students, posing controversial questions that resulted in debate.

The one–hour film showcased John Lennox, a mathematician, and Richard Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist, as they debated over the controversial issue of God’s existence.

The debate posed questions including, “Has science buried God?” and “What is the meaning of life?”
Lennox, a believer in the Christian faith, supported his claims that science points to an intelligent creator.

“Something complex has to come from something even more complex,” Lennox said.

He also believes in the philosophy of evolution, but trusts that God had some control in it.

“God is the agent, not the mechanism. I’m not ashamed of being a scientist and a Christian, I’m not anti-scientific, but where do we get our morality from if there is no God?” Lennox asked.

The counterargument was then led by Richard Dawkins, an open atheist. He claimed that life was not designed by a God, but rather by evolution.

“It’s tempting to believe that the world has been designed, but that is not the truth,” Dawkins said.
“It’s difficult enough to think how the cosmos came into existence, but even more difficult to think of how a God came into existence,” Dawkins said.

Dawkins bases his beliefs on scientific evidence such as Darwinism to explain his claims.

The second half of the presentation was a discussion led by a student and alumni panel.

Students Mark Shifflet, Paul Engelkeimer, Jonathan Goos, Derek Robertson and alumnus Matthew Bair all offered their varying opinions on the film.

The panel also brought up a dialogue regarding faith, evolution, religion, science and God.

Audience members participated as well to ask questions and raise their thoughts about the film.

“It was interesting to hear all the differing opinions from such a variety of people. The topic of God is sometimes a sensitive issue, but the panel did a great job of keeping it professional,” SU senior Rachel O’Neill said.

Share