I have much to say about last night’s debate I participated in concerning the existence of God but those comments will come later. We asked those in attendance (at least 400) to use the #LUGODdebate hashtag if they decided to live-tweet the debate. I’ve taken screen shots of the hashtag’s feed from the beginning of the debate until now (lunchtime Friday). Most of those tweeting were Liberty students but you’ll be able to gauge the atmosphere of the debate and the performances. My Twitter handle is @maxeoa (just an FYI if you spot it in the feed). The feed is in order from the most recent uses to to the earliest uses.
February 18th, 2013
“Does God Exist?” – Upcoming Debate at Liberty University
I can now announce that on Thursday, March 28 from 7.30-9p I will be engaging in a debate with Dan Linford from Virginia Tech on the debate topic, “Does God Exist?” Dan is in the philosophy PhD program at VT. He and I debated each other last year (in partnership with Josh Nixon and Beau Bradley). Last year we debated at VT and this year we will be debate on the campus of Liberty University.
The precise location has yet to be determined but it’s currently scheduled to be in DeMoss 1113. That room holds about 300 but from initial surveys I suspect we may need to find a larger room. We currently plan on having the debate filmed so we should have it available online sometime afterwards. I’m hoping to find a way to stream the debate online. If anyone knows how we can do that please let me know. I’ll be using #LUGODdebate as the Twitter hashtag (@maxeoa). This will help gather interactive thoughts from attendees after the debate. More information will be shared as time gets closer.
Debate format:
- Moderator Introductions
- 17 minutes opening (Max—affirmative)
- 17 minutes opening (Dan—negative)
- 7 minutes rebuttal (Max)
- 7 minutes rebuttal (Dan)
- 10 minutes cross-examination (Max asks Dan questions)
- 10 minutes cross-examination (Dan asks Max questions)
- 5 minutes closing statement (Max)
- 5 minutes closing statement (Dan)
- 20 minutes of Q&A
- Total of 78 minutes of debate and 20 minutes of Q&A
You can view our debate from last spring here.
October 25th, 2012
Virginia Tech Debate on the Existence of God Audio Available
Below is the link for the audio of the VT debate on the existence of God I was a part of earlier this year.
Also, for more information and my take on the debate you can view the video and comments through the link below.
June 6th, 2012
VIDEO: VA Tech Debate on the Existence of God
This was a debate on March 21, 2012 at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, VA. It was sponsored by the Freethinkers at Virginia Tech, Leopard Zeus Fan Club, Ask Big Questions at Virginia Tech, and the Department of Philosophy at Liberty University.
Defending Theism
- Max Andrews, Department of Philosophy Liberty University
- Josh Nixon, Virginia Tech
Defending Atheism
- Dan Linford, Virginia Tech
- Beau Bradley, Virginia Tech
April 24th, 2012
Liberty University and Mitt Romney
I’m sure most of you are aware of the controversy several students in the student body have raised concerning Liberty’s selection of Mitt Romney as the Commencement speaker this year. This controversy has even been picked up by the Religion blog at CNN. (Previous notables like Ben Stein, Sean Hannity, Newt Gingrich, and Ted Kennedy have spoken on campus before and were not Evangelicals). I’m not commenting on anything about the situation other than I simply don’t care if Romney speaks or not. Jerry sent out an email to the student body today and here’s what it says:
read more »
February 11th, 2012
Being Catholic at Liberty University
The following is a guest blog post by Shoshana. She is an art communications major at Liberty University. Her interests include literature, history, and botany. In her spare time, she enjoys watercolor painting, gardening, and reading fiction.
__________
I am a Catholic student at Liberty University. I am in my sophomore year studying studio art: painting, drawing, sculpture, etc. I very much enjoy my major and Liberty as a whole. I was raised Baptist. When I was eight years old my family entered the Catholic Church. My brother and I decided we wanted to stay at Liberty Christian Academy (LCA–the private Baptist school we had attended since kindergarten) rather than leave our friends and go to a Catholic school. There were times in high school when I regretted my decision to stay at LCA. I had a lot of friends, but none of them understood what I believed. My teachers were all great people, but all of them thought they knew what I as a Catholic believed and were often completely wrong. I cannot recount all the kindly and patiently uttered anti-Catholic speeches I endured, the many unconscious slights against Catholicism, and the few not-so-innocent remarks. One girl in my history class verbally attacked me because I “worshipped Mary”. I wish I had a dime for every time that untruth came up. Instead of asking me what I believed and taking time to listen, this girl assumed that she already knew all of my beliefs. Yet what she “knew” was based on hearsay. This is perhaps to be overlooked in a teenager, but when the offender was a teacher, he or she needed to be aware that “bearing false witness” (i.e., telling the class that Catholics believe something which they do not believe) is an offense in God’s eyes. In high school I had a teacher who told me it was his goal to convert me to Protestantism before the year was over. I found that insulting. I was a Christian just as he was (as Dr. Jerry Falwell always said, “Catholics are Christians!”).
read more »
August 17th, 2011
How to Get a Theological Education Through iTunes U
Guest Blog Post by Joshua W. Anderson (joshuaanderson<at>fuller.edu)
What if I told you it’s possible to get a free theological education online? It’s well known that one can get a degree online these days; more and more schools are making their courses available on “virtual campuses.” They include the same lectures you would hear in the classroom—just recorded and posted online. Applying for school online has become a viable option, especially for those whose current walk in life makes them unwilling or unable to move across country to be on campus.
But let’s say you don’t want to actually enroll in a program and dish out the money for a degree. (Maybe you already have another degree, or are in the workforce, or ministry). Can you still get a theological education for free? You sure can: many Christian colleges and seminaries have posted classes to download for free on iTunes U. So much so, you can build your own curriculum rivaling the amount of classroom time it would take to actually go to school. At the end of your studies you won’t get a piece of paper to hang on the wall and show your friends, but you will learn a lot that God will be able to use for your ministry.
If you’re feeling led to do this, I’d recommend downloading a flash card program like Anki http://ankisrs.net/ and building flash card decks full of only the information you hear in the lectures you want to stick in your brain. Don’t go crazy building a huge deck of cards you’ll feel overwhelmed with; just put stuff on there you actually want to be able to quote off the top of your head. Then incorporate a daily (or weekly) time of study into your life. Just listen to a lecture (taking notes or adding info to your Anki deck), and then go over your flashcards again for the day. Anki is really cool because it’s designed upon an algorithm that works with the way we learn—so you only have to designate a set amount of time you want to study each day and over time you will master large amounts of material.
The time is going to pass either way: a year from now either you will have absorbed the equivalent of a master’s degree of knowledge, or not. I’m just telling you that you can do it for free!
Check out the links below for schools that have courses online, and my own ideas for putting together a curriculum.
God bless you in your studies.
Christian Schools:
Fuller Theological Seminary:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/institution/fuller-theological-seminary/id380159118
Reformed Theological Seminary:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/institution/reformed-theological-seminary/id378878142
Biola University:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/institution/biola-university/id389654288
Dallas Theological Seminary:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/institution/dallas-theological-seminary/id386158137
Liberty University:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/institution/liberty-university/id427898998
Westminster Theological Seminary:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/institution/westminster-theological-seminary/id430331214
Concordia Seminary:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/institution/concordia-seminary/id426790662
Christian History:
History of Christianity I (Reformed Theological Seminary)
http://itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/history-of-christianity-i/id378878676
History of Christianity II (Reformed Theological Seminary)
http://itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/history-of-christianity-ii/id378878708
History I (Reformed Theological Seminary)
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=378878750
History II (Reformed Theological Seminary)
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=378878755
History of the Christian Church I (Liberty University)
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=427913072
History of the Christian Church II (Liberty University)
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=431286200
Ancient and Medieval Church History (Covenant Theological Seminary)
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=418582066
Christian Philosophy and Apologetics:
Critical Reasoning for Beginners (Oxford University)
http://itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/critical-reasoning-for-beginners/id387875757
Ethics for Complete Beginners (Oxford University)
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=438910219
History of Philosophy and Christian Thought (Reformed Theological Seminary)
http://itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/history-philosophy-christian/id378879176
Ancient and Medieval Philosophy (Notre Dame)
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=382668779
Defenders Class by William Lane Craig (ReasonableFaith.org)
http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/defenders-podcast/id252618196
Apologetics and Outreach (Covenant Theological Seminary)
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=418582076
Introduction to Apologetics (Liberty University)
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=427913229
Christian Apologetics as Taught by Ronald Nash (Reformed Theological Seminary)
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=409829793
Christian Apologetics as Taught by John Frame (Reformed Theological Seminary)
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=378879273
History and Nature of Apologetics (Westminster Theological Seminary)
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=430339495
Hermeneutics and Exegesis:
Biblical Hermeneutics (Fuller Theological Seminary)
http://itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/ne505-biblical-hermeneutics/id380159148
Bible Study Methods (Dallas Theological Seminary)
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=386158693
Biblical Hermeneutics (Concordia Seminary)
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=426809720
The Gospels as Histories taught by Richard Bauckham (Reformed Theological Seminary)
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=426936770
The Pentateuch (Fuller Theological Seminary)
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=380159249
The Prophets (Fuller Theological Seminary)
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=380159288
Textual Criticism:
The Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts (Daniel Wallace)
http://itunes.apple.com/us/institution/center-for-study-new-testament/id416966041
Biblical Languages:
Basics of Biblical Hebrew (Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary)
http://itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/beginning-hebrew-ruth-class/id392738805
Elementary Hebrew (Concordia Seminary)
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=426804337
Elementary Greek (Concordia Seminary)
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=426804037
Elements of Greek I (Dallas Theological Seminary)
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=386159183
Elements of Greek II (Dallas Theological Seminary)
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=386159200
Preaching and Homiletics:
Overcoming Public Speaking Anxiety (UC Davis)
http://itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/overcoming-public-speaking/id414117823
Expository Preaching I (Dallas Theological Seminary)
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=386159618
Homiletics II (Concordia Seminary)
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=426816801
Systematic Theology:
Systematic Theology as Taught by Wayne Grudem
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/wayne-grudems-systematic-theology/id322844869
Intro to Theology (Dallas Theological Seminary)
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=386159276
Some Notable Secular Institutions and Courses:
Oxford University:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/institution/oxford-university/id381699182
Yale University:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/institution/yale-university/id341649956
Harvard:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/institution/harvard-university/id379060688
MIT:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/institution/mit/id341593265
Stanford:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/institution/stanford/id384228265
Philosophy of Mind as Taught by John Searle (UC Berkley)
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=438307693
Science and Religion Lectures (Cambridge University)
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=418516646
*Note
I stuck with only links through iTunes U (except for William Lane Craig’s Defender’s class, and Dan Wallace’s material, because I couldn’t resist) but obviously you don’t have to limit yourself to this; there are also awesome podcasts that you could learn from that are not affiliated with a Christian university. Just go for it!