Robin Collins Interview Transcript

The following transcript is from an Apologetics 315 interview with Robin Collins. Original audio here. Transcript index here. If you enjoy transcripts, please consider supporting, which makes this possible.

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BA: Hello, this is Brian Auten of Apologetics315. Today’s interview is with Robin Collins. Robin is Professor of Philosophy at Messiah College. His training is in physics and in philosophy. And, he is a leading advocate for using the fine-tuning of the universe as a design argument for theism. This is often considered one of the more contemporary and persuasive arguments from design. The purpose of the interview today is to learn more about the fine-tuning of the universe, explore what this means in a case for design, and answer common objections to the fine-tuning argument. Thanks for joining me for the interview today Robin.

RC: You’re welcome, glad to be here.

BA: Well, first off, would you mind just giving our listeners a bit of background about yourself and the work that you’re involved in?

Sunday Quote: Antony Flew on Design

"Although I was once sharply critical of the argument to design, I have since come to see that, when correctly formatted, this argument constitutes a persuasive case for the existence of God.”

- Antony Flew (There is a God, p. 95.)

Fine-Tuning of the Universe MP3 Audios by Guillermo Gonzalez and Jay Richards

Here are a couple of great talks from Veritas.org, featuring Privileged Planet authors (book / DVD) Guillermo Gonzalez and Jay Richards

The Fine-Tuning of the Universe (Guillermo Gonzalez and Jay Richards)
MP3 Part 1 Talk | MP3 Part 2 Q&A

Our Privileged Planet (Guillermo Gonzalez)
MP3 Part 1 Talk | MP3 Part 2 Q&A (audio quality poor)

Enjoy.

What was last year's post? See here.

Sunday Quote: Ed Harrison on Fine Tuning

"The fine tuning of the universe provides prima facie evidence of deistic design. Take your choice: blind chance that requires multitudes of universes or design that requires only one."1

- Ed Harrison

1. Harrison, E. 1985. Masks of the Universe. New York, Collier Books, Macmillan, pp. 252, 263.

Is the Universe Designed? William Lane Craig MP3 Audio

William Lane Craig presents a talk at Asbury Theological Seminary entitled: Is the Universe Designed?

Full MP3 Audio here. (40min)

Enjoy.

Sunday Quote: John Polkinghorne on Fine-Tuning

“When you realize that the laws of nature must be incredibly finely tuned to produce the universe we see, that conspires to plant the idea that the universe did not just happen, but that there must be a purpose behind it.”1

– John Polkinghorne

1. (John Polkinghorne, Cambridge University physicist, "Science Finds God," Newsweek, 20 July, 1998)

Signature in the Cell MP3 Audio by Stephen Meyer

In Signature in the Cell, Dr. Stephen Meyer examines how the digital code embedded in DNA points powerfully to a designing intelligence and helps unravel a mystery that Darwin did not address: how did the very first life begin?
This talk explains the thesis of this new book.

Full MP3 Audio here. Or watch the video, complete with animations.

Enjoy.

Intelligent Design MP3 Audio by William Dembski and Sean McDowell

William Dembski and Sean McDowell do a seminar on understanding Intelligent Design. This is based on their new book.

Full MP3 Audio here.

Enjoy.

26 Quotes from Scientists Regarding Design of the Universe

Over at www.godandscience.org you can find a page of 26 Quotes from Scientists Regarding Design of the Universe.

Here are a few:

Fred Hoyle (British astrophysicist): "A common sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a superintellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as with chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature. The numbers one calculates from the facts seem to me so overwhelming as to put this conclusion almost beyond question."

George Ellis (British astrophysicist): "Amazing fine tuning occurs in the laws that make this [complexity] possible. Realization of the complexity of what is accomplished makes it very difficult not to use the word 'miraculous' without taking a stand as to the ontological status of the word."

Paul Davies (British astrophysicist): "There is for me powerful evidence that there is something going on behind it all....It seems as though somebody has fine-tuned nature’s numbers to make the Universe....The impression of design is overwhelming".

Click here for the whole list. Enjoy.

Five Questions Evolutionists Would Rather Dodge by William Dembski

Mathematician and philosopher William Dembski presents five questions evolutionists would rather dodge in this quick resource for dealing with evolutionary theory.

This includes the fossil record, natural selection, detecting design, molecular machines, and testability.

Download the PDF here.

Enjoy.

Three Articles on Darwinism from dissentfromdarwin.org

The arguments that ultimately unravel the Darwinian synthesis aren't terribly difficult to grasp. Anyone who remembers the rudiments of logic they learned in freshman composition can follow the essentials of the argument.

Below are three articles to get started:
Fact Sheet: Microevolution vs. Macroevolution
Fact Sheet: The Cambrian Explosion
The Survival of the Fakest

These resources can be found at www.dissentfromdarwin.org.