We are happy to announce the schedule for our upcoming meeting in Pittsburgh on Evidential Apologetics. The meeting will take place on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh, in the historical Cathedral of Learning. April is a wonderful time of year in Pittsburgh, with flowers blooming and trees budding!
Many Christians are not convinced of the value of evidence-based arguments. Shouldn’t we just have faith? Does anyone really change their mind based on evidence? Should we just presuppose that the Bible is true? What if the evidence we are using changes based on new discoveries?
In this seminar we will discuss both how to think about evidence, and also present evidence-based arguments for various aspects of Christianity.
Click here to register for the event. Registration is free for students with ID, $15 for members of the Christian Scientific Society (click here to join), and $30 for members of the general public. Registration includes access to all prior CSS meeting recordings.
Schedule for the Meeting
Friday Night, April 17
All events will take place in the Cathedral of Learning, Room 232, of the University of Pittsburgh.
7:30 PM David Snoke, Distinguished Professor of Physics, University of Pittsburgh, and President of the Christian Scientific Society
“Why do so many Christians in science reject apologetic arguments based on science?”
This is in many ways a golden age of scientific evidence for the existence of God, and we have seen in past decades several dramatic “conversions” of atheists in the public eye to theism of one sort or another. Yet many Christians, including Christians in science, do not favor evidence-based reasoning for belief in God. I will discuss some of the history of Christians in science and the general trends of the relationship of Christianity and science over the past three hundred years. I will argue that our natural thinking always involves evidence, and we need not fear that.
David Snoke is Distinguished Professor of Physics at the University of Pittsburgh and co-director of the Pittsburgh Quantum Institute. He has authored or co-authored over 200 publications on various topics of experimental and theoretical quantum systems, and six scientific books, including Solid State Physics: Essential Concepts and Interpreting Quantum Mechanics: Modern Foundations, with Cambridge University Press, as well as the theological book, A Biblical Case for an Old Earth, with Baker Books.
8:30 PM Fazale Rana, President and Senior Scholar of Reasons to Believe
“From what has been made: Detecting the Creator’s fingerprints in biology”
One reason why many people challenge science-based arguments for God’s existence and role in the origin and design of life stems from an epistemological concern: namely, scientists can’t “put God in a test tube.” Yet certain scientific disciplines, such as SETI, archeology, and forensic science, have the tool kit to detect the activity of intelligent agents. Careful analysis of the process these disciplines use to distinguish between systems produced by natural causes and those generated by intelligent agents reveals a design detection methodology based. Applying this approach to the genetic code’s structure and origin illustrates how an evidential approach leads to a scientifically robust conclusion that life’s central defining system arises from the work of Agency.
Biochemist Fazale “Fuz” Rana is president, CEO, and senior scholar at Reasons to Believe (RTB), an organization that exists to open people to the Gospel by revealing God in science. Rana earned a BS in chemistry with highest honors from West Virginia State College (now University) and a PhD in chemistry with an emphasis in biochemistry from Ohio University, and he completed postdoctoral work on cell membranes at the Universities of Virginia and Georgia. He later worked for seven years as a senior scientist in research and development for Procter & Gamble. In addition to contributing numerous feature articles to Christian magazines, Rana has published articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals, including a chapter on antimicrobial peptides for Biological and Synthetic Membranes. Rana’s books include Humans 2.0, Fit for a Purpose, and Dinosaur Blood and the Age of the Earth.
Saturday Morning, April 18
9:00 AM Timothy McGrew, Professor of Philosophy, Western Michigan University
“Evidence and Christian Apologetics”
What does it mean to say that the central claims of Christianity are supported by evidence? I develop a rigorous model of evidential support drawn from contemporary epistemology and probability theory. After briefly tracing the historical shift in apologetics from deductive “proofs” to explanatory reasoning, I argue that the most fruitful framework for contemporary discussion is cumulative case reasoning. On this approach, multiple independent strands—drawn from diverse fields such as cosmology, biology, and historical inquiry—contribute incrementally to a convergent case. No single argument bears the full weight of the conclusion; rather, evidential force accumulates through the multiplication of likelihood ratios. This framework does not promise certainty, but it clarifies what it means for evidence to confirm a hypothesis and provides a rigorous structure for evaluating apologetic arguments from the sciences.
Timothy McGrew is Professor of Philosophy at Western Michigan University, where he has taught for the past 30 years. His specialties include Formal Epistemology, the History and Philosophy of Science, and the Philosophy of Religion. His work has appeared in journals such as Mind, Analysis, The Monist, and British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, and he is the author of the article on Miracles in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
10:00 AM Jonathan McLatchie, Fellow and Resident Biologist, Discovery Institute
“The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus”
What is the historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus? In this presentation, I will develop the case that the gospels and Acts are composed by individuals who are very well informed, close up to the facts, and in the habit of being truthful. In so doing, I will build a case that the accounts of Jesus’ resurrection in the gospels and Acts substantially represent what the original alleged witnesses themselves claimed. Given the nature and scope of the claim (involving individual as well as group encounters with Jesus, physical contact with Jesus, eating and drinking with Jesus, etc) it is highly implausible that the apostles were sincerely mistaken. And yet, the persecutions and hardships voluntarily undertaken by the apostles make it quite implausible that they were intentionally setting out to deceive people about the resurrection. Since it is neither plausible that the apostles were lying, nor that they were sincerely mistaken, the best explanation is that the content of what they alleged is in fact true.
Jonathan McLatchie currently works in Seattle at the Discovery Institute Center for Science & Culture, where he serves as a fellow and resident biologist. Previously, Jonathan was an assistant professor at Sattler College, Boston, where he lectured on biology for four years. He holds a Bachelor’s degree (with Honors) in Forensic Biology, a Masters (M.Res) degree in Evolutionary Biology, a second Master’s degree in Medical and Molecular Bioscience, and a PhD in Evolutionary Biology. Jonathan is also the founder and director of TalkAboutDoubts.com, an organization that offers free private mentoring to Christians who are struggling with doubts about faith, in addition to ex-Christians who want to explore whether there is a rational path back to faith.
11:00 AM Michael Strauss, David Ross Boyd Emeritus Professor of Physics, University of Oklahoma in Norman
“The Case from Cosmological Fine Tuning”
Many of the fundamental constants in the universe must be in an extremely narrow range in order for life to exist, or in many cases, for there to be a stable universe at all. This fine-tuning of the parameters of the universe is one of the most compelling arguments available when making an objective case for the existence of an intelligent designer, identified as God. Even as the case for God from the finely tuned universe has become stronger, many counterarguments have been proposed that supposedly refute these claims. This talk will review some of the finely tuned parameters in the universe and explore the most persuasive rebuttals against fine-tuning, ultimately proposing the best conclusion based on the available evidence.
Dr. Michael G. Strauss (BS, Biola University, PhD, University of California, Los Angeles) is David Ross Boyd Emeritus Professor of Physics at the University of Oklahoma in Norman. He conducts research in experimental particle physics at CERN laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland, where he studies the fundamental particles and forces in the universe. Dr Strauss has over 2000 publications in peer-reviewed journals. He is the author of the bookThe Creator Revealed: A Physicist Examines the Big Bang and the Bible, and one of the general editors of Zondervan’s Dictionary of Christianity and Science. He is the co-recipient of the 2024 Texas A&M Trotter Prize for his work in illuminating the mechanisms and wonder of nature, particularly relating to the connection between science and religion.
12:00 PM Lunch Break
1:30 PM Dominic Halsmer, Senior Professor of Engineering, Oral Roberts University
“Evidence from the Reverse Engineering of Natural Systems”
Our fascination with the universe does not derive from what exists, but from the incredibly fruitful relationships between its elements. An exploration into these relationships is the study of affordances. An affordance is simply a relationship between an agent and the environment that allows for a potential action to be performed. Affordance-based reverse systems engineering is an objective attempt to bring concepts and techniques from the field of engineering to bear on natural systems in order to answer deeper questions of origins and purpose, especially in light of a Christian worldview and the special revelation of the Bible.
Dominic Michael Halsmer is Senior Professor of Engineering at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma and a registered Professional Engineer. His education includes Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from Purdue University, a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from UCLA, and a Master of Arts Degree in Biblical Literature from ORU. He served as a NASA Fellow at Goddard Space Flight Center in 1996 and 1997 through the ASEE Summer Faculty Fellowship Program. His current research involves engineering education, reverse engineering, and contributions from the field of engineering to the science and faith conversation. His first book, which combines all three of these areas, came out in 2019: Hacking the Cosmos: How Reverse Engineering Uncovers Organization, Ingenuity, and the Care of a Maker.
2:30 PM Panel Discussion with the speakers
4:00 PM Closing
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