Alister McGrath critiques Stephen Hawking's new Book

Stephen Hawking, the internationally respected scientist, has published a new book which famously (already!) declares, "Because there is a law such as gravity, the Universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the Universe exists, why we exist."

There is a substantial review and critique by English Theologian Alister McGrath (whose first doctorate was in Molecular Bilogy). I have published some of this review at the GodTalkatUWS blog.

The original article can be found HERE.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse ride again

This week (week 7) at CBM we return to our series on the book of Revelation.

This week we will be looking at Revelation chapters 6 & 7. The drama unfolds as the Lion of Judah opens the seals on the scroll of God's plans and purposes - and we see the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse ride out onto the earth!

Please join us:

Tuesday 1-2 pm at 23.G.40
Thursday 1-2 pm at 1.1.80

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Can I Trust the Bible?

This week (week 6) at CBM we have been looking at the question 'Can We Trust the Bible'?

Over at GodTalkatUWS there are some notes on the topic and hopefully some links will be posted in the coming days / weeks.

Hope they are helpful.

Links Discussing the Relationship of Science & Christianity

In our discussions at CBM I offered to put up some links to helpful sites/ articles that look at the issues in more detail. Here are the first few:

“Why not Every Scientist Worships at Darwin’s Feet”
- An Article by Professor John Lennox (Professor of Mathematics at Oxford University) from the Sydney Morning Herald of August 17th, 2008.

Has Science Disproved the Existence of God?
- A good summary from Cornerstone church, Nottingham, UK.
Includes this claim: “Indeed it might surprise you to know that of the 500 or so people who attend Cornerstone there are currently over thirty doctors of science of one sort or another. These range from a professor of microbiology, doctors in biology, medical doctors, metallurgists, pharmacists, engineers and physicists, all of whom are committed Christians who see no conflict between their faith and their field of study.”

I Believe in Nature: An Exploration of Naturalism and the Biblical Worldview.
- A detailed and well researched article by Australian author Kirsten Birkett who wrote Unnatural Enemies: An Introduction to Science and Christianity. A PDF file of the article can be downloaded from the same site.

The Complementary Nature of Science and Christianity
– an online booklet by Dick Tripp that examines the foundations of science and the relationship between the ‘book of nature’ and ‘the book of God’s word’.

Has Science Disproved Christianity?

When people are asked to consider Christianity one of the replies that is commonly heard is "Hasn't Science Disproved Christianity?"

Many people assume that the advances in science from the time of the 17th century - not least the theories of Darwin - have effectively repudiated the claims of the Bible. They assume that 'Scientific Worldview' has done away with the 'Christian Worldview'. At the very least they assume that Science and Christianity are incompatible.

But is this the case?

In week 5 there will be two addresses by Richard Blight on the relationship between science and Christianity. In particular he will consider whether science disproves the claims of the Bible about God. Richard is a graduate in both Science and Theology, and will draw on his own experience of reconciling Science and Christianity.

At UWS Bankstown Campus in Week 5

Tuesday 24th August 1-2 pm Rm 23.G.40
Thursday 26th August 1-2 pm Rm 1.1.80

There will be a talk followed by time for questions and discussion. Everyone is welcome

Welcome Back for Semester 2!

Just a quick post to welcome everyone back for semester 2. This semester in the main meetings we will be studying the book of the Revelation. Many people think of this book as full of undecipherable prophecy and impenetrable mystery. Despite it's reputation, the book of revelation is not that hard to decipher and can be a great encouragement to 21st century Christians. Join us to understand this important part of the Bible.




Main Meetings:
Tuesdays 1-2 pm in 23.41
Thursdays 1-2 pm in 23.40

We also have a number of Bible Studies at other times:
Wednesdays 1-2pm, Rm 1.1.224 (with Peter)
Girls Bible Study : Wednesday 11-12
Chinese (Mandarin) / English Bible Study – Wednesday 12-1 pm


For more info contact Richard at: cbm.bankstown@gmail.com

Looking forward to seeing you on campus!

Christianity and The University

Stanley Hauerwas is a Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke Divinity School in North Carolina. In 2001, Time Magazine called him “America’s Best Theologian”. CPX (the Centre for Public Christianity) interviewed him about the connections between religion and violence, the place of Christianity in the modern university, death, friendship and community. Very relevant for Christian University Students.

Christianity and the University from CPX on Vimeo.

Richard' Blog - 'Deep Conviction'

Richard is blogging here at Deep Conviction.

Early blogs include some on 'The Cross of Christ'.

Well Done in Week 5 & Have A Great Easter!

I want to thank everyone who contributed to making our Easter outreach such a great time!

It was great to have so many people handing out leaflets, cooking pancakes and generally working hard to raise the profile of CBM on campus. Thanks also to everyone who invited friends to the talks on "Is God Really Good".

I want to thank Andrew Laird, our guest speaker, for helping us to think through the issues of God's Goodness. For those who weren't able to be there, here is the outline of what he said:

(1) Why God Might Not be Good
=> The Problems in the World
=> The Problems in my life

(2) The Cause of These Problems
God made the world good (Genesis 1:31)
But humans rebelled against God (sin), the cosequence of which was judgement. The judgement includes broken relationship with God, a broken world and ultimately, death.
Remember, God does not take pleasure in Evil (psalm 5:4)

(3) Why God is Good
=> We see God's goodness at the Cross
God shows his goodness by sending the Son to die for us while we are still his enemies. (Romans 5:8)
=> God's Goodness Seen in Creation
Although the world is marred by sin, we still see God's goodness to us. Psalm 34:8 Taste and see that the Lord is good.
Because we know God loves us we can be sure that God is bringing about what is ultimately best, even in some terribly bad situation (Romans 8:28)

I'll try and post more and continue the conversations at godtalkatuws.blogspot.com

I hope you have a great Easter and I'll look forward to seeing all back on campus.

Check out "God Talk at UWS"

In Week 5 of Semester 1, 2010, we will be having a guest speaker at UWS Bankstown. Andrew Laird will talk about: "Is God Really Good?"

In order to raise the profile of the talks and to get some input from students on campus, we have started a response blog at www.godtalkatuws.blogspot.com.

Do check it out and have a say - although we want to make sure that lots of different students have a chance to have their say.

Please be thinking and praying about who you can invite to the Tuesday and Thursday meetings. We'll look forward to seeing you there!

Welcome to the CBM Blog

Hi Guys,

I'm starting this blog so that anyone associated with CBM at UWS Bankstown can keep up with current news and also provide a venue for more reflective articles for CBMers.

I should start by explaining that CBM stands for Campus Bible Ministries. We are a student group with sub-groups across all the campuses of UWS. We are affiliated with the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students (www.afes.org.au) and our goal is to encourage all students on campus to know Christ and to help them make Christ known. To do this we run Bible Studies, cell groups and training groups, as well as weekends away, Mid Year Conference and participate in the AFES National Training Event. We also want to help Christian students get to know each other so we can encourage one another while we are on campus.

You can find the CBM website here: www.mycbm.org.au

and you can contact us at cbm.bankstown@gmail.com

looking forward to seeing you on campus,

Richard