THE WHEATLEY INSTITUTION Responding to the New Atheism: Scientific and Religious Perspectives Richard N. Williams and Edwin E. Gantt, Editors Wheatley Publications Responding to the New Atheism: Scientific and Religious Perspectives Richard N. Williams and Edwin E. Gantt, Editors Wheatley Publications The Wheatley Institution Brigham Young University 392 Hinckley Center Provo, UT 84602 Main: 801-422-5883 Fax: 801-422-0017 Email:
[email protected] http://wheatleyinstitution.byu.edu Donor Liaison: Tom Mullen Phone: 801-422-4476 Email:
[email protected] CONTENTS Responding to the New Atheism . 1 Richard N. Williams and Edwin E. Gantt Defending Against the Threat of the New Atheism . 7 Dinesh D’Souza, King’s College The Possibility of Atheism; the Place of Faith . .15 James E. Faulconer, Richard L. Evans Professor of Religious Understanding; Professor of Philosophy, Brigham Young University Scientific Fundamentalism and Its Cultural Impact . 23 Karl W. Giberson, Eastern Nazarene College Physics and Faith . 31 Stephen M. Barr, University of Delaware The Argument for Intelligent Design in Biology . 37 Michael J. Behe, Lehigh University Outlines of an LDS Response to the New Atheism. 45 Edwin E. Gantt and Richard N. Williams, Brigham Young University RESPONDING TO THE NEW ATHEISM Richard N. Williams and Edwin E. Gantt t may be lamentable, but is nonetheless true, that many trustworthy, and just plain worthy in the intellectual life of I people speak and write English without ever consult- our culture, as well as what is incoherent, erroneous, and ing a dictionary of the English language or a grammar text. unworthy. Many, if not most Americans will defend our constitutional This is most often not an easy thing to do.