God Debate – Dawkins and McGrath

Here in the far corners of the Philippines the Dawkins / McGrath debate has passed us by a somewhat. I have followed it a little on the web though. A great resource if you have not come across it is this from the Times website. It’s a couple of MP3’s that are recordings of a live debate between Dawkin and McGrath. (Questions from the audience at the end are terrible and a bit emotional though).

I recommend it.

Aside from the character of the arguments themselves (which are very good on both sides), and the tenor of the debate itself (again excellent – witty, informed and respectful – a model for all of us) I was struck by the similarity of Dawkins and McGrath. They both have great minds, both are good orators. In fact, they are almost mirror images of each other.

For Example:

Richard Dawkins – Born in 1941 his childhood was “a normal Anglican upbringing”, he then began to doubt the existence of God when he was 9, in his teens he returned to faith persuaded by the argument from design, later after studying evolution he became a convinced Agnostic (in the discussion he defines himself as agnostic as opposed to Atheist -as you cannot definitively say something does not exist – invisible unicorns – rather the most you can do is assert it highly improbable that something does not exist). And now is a leading evolutionist, Oxford professor and critic of the validity of religious belief.

Alister McGrath – Born in 1953 he grew up in religiously divided Northern Ireland, partly as a result of that he became a convinced Atheist, and then later converted to Christianity. He studied Science and Theology and has a DPhil in Molecular Biology, and now is a leading evangelical, Oxford professor and defender of the validity of religious belief.

Evidence of the providence of God, for every Dawkins there is a McGrath?

from: Anselmic’s Place