The Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio) (1601)
It is a common perception that Christian faith is belief without evidence or reason. Knowledge is justified, true belief. If it is not justified, then how do we know it’s true? Then it is just a subjective choice, often inherited from parents. In fact, Richard Dawkins claims that this notion of faith is
Wow! Perhaps this is true, but only if faith is belief without evidence. Is this the Biblical meaning of faith and are any of these objections valid? The memes that are circulated in society may represent peoples’ perceptions, but ultimately, they are irrelevant. What matters is what the Biblical authors meant when they mentioned faith. Nothing else matters. So, what is the true nature of faith and why do the Biblical authors deem it so fundamental and important?
A video of the presentation is available on YouTube.
Dr Kevin Rogers
Dr Kevin Rogers is the director of Reasonable Faith Adelaide. After a 40-year engineering career, he was a Research Fellow and lecturer with the University of South Australia but is now mainly retired.
This presentation describes eye-witness accounts of numerous healing and other miracles that took place in Bungoma in Kenya, as investigated by Gordon Stanger.
Patrick and Joseph at Bungoma: Eyewitnesses to the Kenya miracles.
And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
However, for those who act upon these words with child-like faith, this text is validated; these, and other miracles do occur. Some extraordinary miracles occurred in a Christian children’s ministry in a remote part of Kenya, as reported in a book by Jennifer Toledo. These included practical deliverance from the evils of witchcraft, which sound bizarre from our cultural perspective. Gordon happened to be working in that part of Africa, so he made a detour to check out the reality of these miracles, the results of which are reported here.
We also discuss the purpose of such miracles. God’s extraordinary miracles aren’t confined to places ‘far away’ in different cultures. Raf has been walking close to the Lord for many years, here in Australia as well as overseas. He relates some personal testimonies of remarkable healing, words of knowledge, and other modern-day miracles.
Dr Gordon Stanger is a geologist, hydrologist, water resources specialist, and a climate-change impact analyst. He also spent significant time in Africa, where he came in contact with many people who received miraculous healing or who had other experiences of the miraculous. He is an RFA committee member and is semi-retired.
In a number of passages in the 4 gospels, Jesus claims that he is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets and that the scriptures testify about him. For example, on the road to Emmaus, Jesus joined 2 of his disciples.
Luke states: 25 Jesus said to them,
“O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. (Luke 24:25-27)
I wonder what scriptures Jesus referred to. It doesn’t explicitly tell us here, but can we find out? We do get some hints. There are a number of Old Testament passages that are cited in the NT as referring to events during Jesus’ ministry, especially his birth, baptism, trial, death, burial, resurrection, ascension and coming again. There are also references in the OT that seem to apply to Jesus even, though they are not cited in the NT. I survey a number of these prophecies. They show how the life of Jesus has always been central to God’s eternal plan. They also demonstrate that the scriptures are God-breathed and inspired by God.
Dr Kevin Rogers is the director of Reasonable Faith Adelaide. After a 40-year engineering career, he was a Research Fellow and lecturer with the University of South Australia but is now mainly retired.
The apostle Paul encouraged believers to work with their hands so that they could give to those who are in need.
However, much of our giving supports church ministry, particularly paying the wages of full-time Christian workers. In addition, there are numerous para-church organizations who frequently appeal for money to support their ministry. There is a lot of competition for the Christian dollar. Is financial support for Christian ministry diverting funds away from the poor?
Paul says that gospel workers deserve financial support, but he did not exercise that right. Paul and his co-workers worked with their hands to supply for their own needs and offered the gospel free of charge. They did this to not be a burden on anyone and to be an example to others. And what was Jesus’ approach? This presentation also covers the historical development of church organisations from
• voluntary shared leadership from elders, to
• power and control centred on the bishop.
This was changed somewhat during the reformation, with emphasis on the priesthood of all believers, but do we have the balance right, and should unpaid lay Christians be more involved in church ministry rather than relying on the minister/pastor to do it on our behalf?
Dr Kevin Rogers is the director of Reasonable Faith Adelaide. After a 40-year engineering career, he was a Research Fellow and lecturer with the University of South Australia but is now mainly retired.
During the first 300-400 years after Jesus’ ministry, the early church formalised the doctrine of the trinity and finalised what books would be included in the New Testament canon. The orthodox believed that there was one God in 3 persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Christ is eternally pre-existent, divine and became incarnate as a human being through the virgin Mary. However. the orthodox position was strongly contested by a range of ‘heresies’. There were those who taught:
• Jesus was just a man and was neither pre-existent nor divine (e.g., the Ebionites),
• Jesus was a man, but was adopted as son of God at his baptism or resurrection (adoptionism), or
• Jesus Christ was divine, but his humanity was an illusion (Docetism)
All of these positions deny either Christ’s divinity or humanity.
In “The orthodox corruption of scripture”, Bart Ehrmann claimed that, when copying the New Testament manuscripts, orthodox scribes modified (corrupted) some of the New Testament text to strengthen the orthodox position and refute the heretics. These variants were sometimes introduced prior to the earliest extant manuscripts thus creating uncertainty regarding what the original authors wrote. Textual criticism is the science of resolving the differences between the New Testament manuscripts to recover what the New Testament authors actually wrote. What Bart Ehrmann is saying is true to a degree. There are variants where scholars debate which is the original and you can see them in the Biblical footnotes (some manuscripts …). I go through some examples and then discuss the following issues:
• How bad is the uncertainty in our knowledge of the what the authors wrote?
• Does it affect our beliefs or theology?
• Does it affect the historicity of the Biblical accounts?
Dr Kevin Rogers is the director of Reasonable Faith Adelaide. After a 40-year engineering career, he was a Research Fellow and lecturer with the University of South Australia but is now mainly retired.
On the 12th September 2024, Kevin Rogers presented a talk on “Is Jesus God?”
Orthodox Christians claim that Jesus Christ was pre-existent and is both man and divine. The doctrine of the Trinity is that there are 3 persons, but one God. However, the term ‘Trinity’ is not explicitly mentioned in the Bible. So: What are the arguments for Christ’s divinity? How did the doctrine of the trinity develop? What were the alternative beliefs? What do current unorthodox sects believe? Is belief in the Trinity necessary or helpful, or Is the doctrine of the Trinity unnecessary baggage?
Dr Kevin Rogers is the director of Reasonable Faith Adelaide. After a 40-year engineering career, he was a Research Fellow and lecturer with the University of South Australia but is now mainly retired.
On the 22nd August Kevin Rogers gave a talk on “Is the universe a free lunch?”
It takes a lot of energy to launch a rocket into outer space. Likewise, it seems pretty obvious that it would also take an enormous amount of energy to cause our universe to expand against the force of gravity. However, some cosmologists have claimed that gravitational energy is negative, which cancels out other forms of positive energy (such as heat, light, mass and kinetic energy) such that the total energy of the universe is zero. Thus, no energy is required to create the universe, and our universe is the ultimate free lunch. In “A brief history of time” Stephen Hawking made this claim but provided no justification. In “A universe from nothing”, Lawrence Krauss made the same claim and provided a very brief argument based on Newton’s gravitational equations, but Krauss’s argument looks wrong.
I have spoken to a number of physicists on this issue. A few of them have initially affirmed it, but then are unable to say why. I have never heard a plausible explanation. I have no in principle objection to the free lunch hypothesis. I don’t propose to be dogmatic, and am happy to be shown that I am wrong. If it is true, then it could explain what creation ex nihilo actually means. However, “Is the free lunch hypothesis true and can it be justified?” I will present my argument for why I believe it isn’t and you can judge whether I am wrong.
Dr Kevin Rogers is the director of Reasonable Faith Adelaide. After a 40-year engineering career, he was a Research Fellow and lecturer with the University of South Australia.
On the 8th August Brian Schroeder gave a presentation on on “what does it mean for the Bible to be inspired by God?”
Penn Jillette has said: “I think that anyone who is thinking about maybe being an atheist, if you read the Bible or the Koran or the Torah cover to cover I believe you will emerge from that as an atheist. You could read The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, you can read God is Not Great by Hitchens, but the Bible itself will turn you atheist faster than anything.”
And yet we frequently find in practice it works out exactly the opposite of that. Many people have picked up this book & read it and heard, as it were, the voice of God speaking directly to them from its pages & have come to God rather than being driven to atheism. They find in its pages hope and truth and life. Christians claim that the Bible is inspired by God. What exactly does that mean, and what are the implications of such a belief?
Brian Schroeder is a Reasonable Faith committee member. He has BSc and BA degrees from Adelaide University (Computer Science, Physics, Mathematics), and an MA in Theology.
On the 25th July Joshua Meade spoke on the Miller-Urey experiment.
Here is Joshua’s summary:
The Miller-Urey Experiment, conducted in 1952, is considered a scientific breakthrough in the field of abiogenesis. Stanley Miller, while under the supervision of Harold Urey, conducted an experiment that simulated what was thought to be early Earth conditions. The famous experiment used a mixture of gases, plus simulated lightning in the form of a spark in order to produce a selection of racemic amino acids. Amino acids are one of the fundamental building blocks required for life.
This worldview sparks debate amongst theists and atheists. I’ll be presenting the perspective from each side and will attempt to give a reasonable representation of the current arguments.
Joshua Meade is a mechatronic engineer and a member of the RFA committee. He also has an active interest in biochemistry. Joshua and Amethyst are currently back in New Zealand, and they have three lovely young girls.
On the 11th July Bronwyn Pearse spoke on a Christian perspective on the occult.
In the Western post Christian era, the 21st century has seen an upsurge in people exploring spiritual experiences. How should the 21st century Christian view Occult practises? Are they harmless, as some argue, or do they really hold potential power?
Does the Bible say anything them? C.S Lewis himself said “We cannot biblically dismiss the reality of external, personal evil forces diametrically opposed to the kingdom of God; ones which actively work against the one who came to bring humans life in all its fullness- mind, body and spirit.”
This talk explores what today’s Occult practices look like and what the Bible says about Ghosts.
Bronwyn Pearse is a primary school teacher and a Christian. Bronwyn has personally found that apologetics has strengthened her faith and helped her to answer questions from unbelievers on the problem of evil, how Christianity is unique amongst the world religions and how science and faith connect.
