2017 Meetings...
ATL RTB 14th AnnualChristmas Social
Please join us for a Christmas dinner at Zeal Modern Eatery to honor our speakers for RTB Atlanta for the past year. We will review the programs of the year and dream a bit about programs for the new year. Thursday November 30th Arrival and Fellowship 6:30 pm Dinner 7 pm Location: That is just a few blocks northwest of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in the Market Plaza just off Johnson Ferry Road.
If you did not receive an announcement and would like to come, please send us an email to let us know you are coming.
>> REMINDER: There will not be a normal RTB Atlanta meeting for November. <<
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October Meeting
Presented by Dr. Richard G. Howe
Thursday October 26th- 7:00 PM JOHNSON FERRY BAPTIST CHURCH
Multiple arguments are used today to evidence the existence of God but the classical Thomistic versions have largely been forgotten or poorly understood by the modern professional and lay philosophers. Thomas Aquinas' cosmological argument from being to Being has been supplanted by the modern version of the Kalam cosmological argument made popular recently by many, but particularly William Lane Craig. The emphasis of modern science on the origin of the universe is partly responsible for the replacement of Aquinas by the Kalam argument originated by Al-Ghazali.
Dr. Richard G. Howe will help us understand the two approaches by comparison and contrast in what is sure to be an enlightening evening of brain stimulation. Bring your thinking caps and come be equipped to defend the faith by the always enjoyable Dr. Howe as he gives us philosophical reasons to believe.
Dr. Richard G. Howe is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy and Apologetics at Southern Evangelical Seminary and President of the International Society of Christian Apologetics. He is a writer as well as a public speaker and debater in churches, conferences, and university campuses on issues concerning Christian apologetics and philosophy. Dr. Howe has a BA in Bible from Mississippi College, an MA in Philosophy from the University of Mississippi, and a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Arkansas.
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September Meeting
A book review by Colin Green
Thursday September 28th- 7:00 PM JOHNSON FERRY BAPTIST CHURCH
A side-by-side comparison of Jesus Christ and four of the world's religious leaders - Krishna, Buddha, Confucius, and Muhammad - reveals Jesus alone is worthy of our full allegiance and worship.
A Defense of the Uniqueness of Jesus Christ
RTB scholar Ken Samples' book "God Among Sages" offers a defense of the uniqueness of Jesus Christ by comparing him with the great religious sages and founders of the world's religions - Krishna, Buddha, Confucius, and Muhammad. Each leader is compared and contrasted with Jesus using eight relevant categories of evaluation - history, nature, character, mission, role, state, life, and future. The book also offers a biblical perspective on how the religions of the world relate to the truth of historic Christianity.
In a world of religious pluralism, God among Sages points to the salvation, hope, and everlasting life offered by Jesus Christ alone.
Colin Green is a volunteer apologist with Reasons to Believe and has a Certificate in Science Apologetics from Reasons Institute. He serves the Atlanta Chapter as the New Resource Coordinator. He has enjoyed a long career as a military and airline pilot and is currently a Captain employed by Delta Air Lines.
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August Meeting
Overview by Rod Nave & Bruce Phillips Thursday August 31st- 7:00 PM JOHNSON FERRY BAPTIST CHURCH
Tom Bethell, author of "Darwin's House of Cards" is a highly regarded journalist and writer with a leaning toward the sciences. He is also someone of an iconoclastic bent, never reticent to point out that "the Emperor has, in fact, no clothes!" Perhaps you are familiar with his "Politically Incorrect Guide to Science."
In "Darwin's House of Cards" Bethell turns his attention to neo-Darwinian orthodoxy examining the support behind widely accepted concepts like natural selection and the tree of life. But he is also concerned with Darwinism's position in our society - which has become perhaps the fundamental support for philosophical materialism and, in its turn, atheism. It certainly is an interesting question to ask whether Darwinism just happened to take on this role or if it was in some way intended for this purpose.
But in the end, Darwinism flies under the flag of science, and as such should be ready to be judged by the normal criteria we apply to scientific theories. Bethell attempts some of both: looking at its scientific bona fides as well as its social impact.
The book consist of twenty-one short essays taking on issues like natural selection, common descent, homology and convergence. But it also addresses Darwinism and materialism, intelligent design, artificial intelligence and Darwin's theology. In all it's a wide-ranging and always entertaining walk through this interesting and important topic.
Rod Nave and Bruce Phillips have prepared short overviews for a selection of these essays. We will share the overview then open the evening up for discussion of each one in turn. We may do four. We may do eight or more. But hopefully we'll leave you wanting more (!) with a desire to read this well-written and insightful book! |
June Meeting
facilitated by... Rod Nave Thursday June 29th- 7:00 PM JOHNSON FERRY BAPTIST CHURCH
Because science and faith are so often perceived to be in conflict, showing evidence that nature points to the God of the Bible can be a very effective witnessing tool. To encourage people in this approach Reasons to Believe has conducted AMP conferences for the past three years that emphasize just this kind of witness.
This month's RTB Atlanta meeting will feature brief video clips from four AMP presenters followed by a discussion session on each facilitated by Rod Nave. We hope you will come and join the discussion and discover new ways to present nature's evidence for God.
Short bio's of the AMP presenters....
Dr Fuz Rana: Biochemist, VP for Research & Apologetics, Reasons to Believe, Author of The Cell's Design, co-author of Who Was Adam? With Dr. Hugh Ross.
Dr. Hugh Ross: Astrophysicist, President and Founder of Reasons to Believe, Author of A Matter of Days, Navigating Genesis, and a number of other books.
Mary Jo Sharp: MS in Christian Apologetics and Certified Apologetics Instructor with the North American Mission Board, Southern Baptist Convention.
J. Warner Wallace: Cold Case Homicide Detective, Adjunct Professor of Christian Apologetics at Biola, and author of Cold Case Christianity. |
May Meeting
presented by... Jefrey Breshears
Thursday May 25th- 7:00 PM JOHNSON FERRY BAPTIST CHURCH
The Protestant Reformation was one of the most significant events in Christian history as well as one of the great transitional eras in Western civilization. Protestant Christians look back at this period as a kind of Golden Age in which heroic figures such as Martin Luther, William Tyndale, John Calvin, Menno Simons and others emerged to challenge the Roman Catholic Church's dominance over the religious, social and cultural life of Europe. Understandably, Catholics view it differently. For them, the Reformation ruptured the unity in the Body of Christ that had prevailed for more than a thousand years and led to the fragmentation of Western Christianity into innumerable splinter groups.
The Reformation was certainly a momentous era, and there is much about it that is cause for celebration. For the first time in over a thousand years Europeans had an alternative to the imperial Roman Catholic Church. Not only was the Reformation movement a major grassroots reaction to the corruption and immorality in the Church, but it also offered an incisive critique of many apostate doctrines and practices of Roman Catholicism by restoring the centrality of the Bible as the source of authority for doctrinal and ecclesiastical orthodoxy. As a result, within 20 years after Luther drafted his Ninety-Five Thesis, the Bible was available to most Europeans in their own language. This year, 2017, marks the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation. As such, the Reformation is, and will be, much discussed and debated throughout the year. In this overview of the Reformation Dr. Breshears will address issues such as, "Was the Reformation necessary?" and "What were the positive and negative outcomes of the Reformation?" This is vital information that all informed Christians should know and understand.
Dr. Jefrey Breshears is a former university history professor, an author, and the founder and president of The Areopagus, a Christian study center and education ministry in the Atlanta area. Dr. Breshears can be contacted at JBreshears@TheAreopagus.org. |
April Meeting
a discussion by... Bruce Phillips
Thursday April 27th- 7:00 PM JOHNSON FERRY BAPTIST CHURCH
In late 2016 Dr. Douglas Axe of the Discovery Institute published a book that claims that the current orthodox Darwinian position of random variation and natural selection is not a feasible description that could account for the incredible variety of life forms that we see around us. Axe himself is a published researcher on the structure of proteins, the key battleground between purposeful design and materialist orthodoxy. Is life designed? Or must we look to random variation and natural selection to explain the overwhelming diversity of life we see around us? Far from being a technical dispute, this debate bears directly on who and what we are. Could anything be more important?
Axe provides just enough information about proteins for us to begin to appreciate what must be involved in any theory that is grounded in the accidental assembling of these building blocks of life. He then shows how astronomically impossible such a theory would be as a real life alternative. Successful biological "searches" for suitable proteins from an inventory of random creations could exhaust the physical capabilities of our universe without a successful find! And yet evolution supposedly has found hundred of thousands of them. It doesn't add up.
But more importantly, Axe completes his book with a look at what this might mean for who and what we are - a stirring argument for the centrality of human persons. Rather than see us as the culmination of some random natural process, our characteristics and value suggest that we should lie at the center of any comprehensive understanding of the universe. This is exciting stuff!
Please join us for an evening that’s ultimately about YOU!
Bruce Phillips is a Certified Apologetics Instructor with certificates from the North American Mission Board of the SBC, from BIOLA (the Bible Institute of Los Angeles) in California, and from Cross-Examined, an apologetics ministry founded through Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, NC. |
March Meeting
Presented by... Ben Smith
Thursday March 30th- 7:00 PM JOHNSON FERRY BAPTIST CHURCH
For decades Egyptologists and historians have been saying there is no evidence for a slave exodus from Egypt that resulted in the birth of the nation of Israel. Nor is there evidence of a conquest of Canaan. The Israelites are said to have arisen within the local population and their stories of origin are exaggerated tales at best, or completely fabricated at worst.
Archaeological evidence has been mounting for the times of the kings and even the united nation under David, but what about Moses? Do we have any reason to believe the story from Joseph to Joshua is based in historical fact? Apologist Ben Smith says, "Yes we do!" Come and enjoy the presentation and join the discussion.
Ben Smith has been studying and teaching theology and apologetics for 30 years since becoming a Christian while attending Ga. Tech. He is the author of the book Genesis, Science, and the Beginning available now on Amazon and Kindle. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Christian Worldview and Apologetics from Luther Rice University and is the Ratio Christi Chapter Director at the University of West Georgia in Carrollton GA. |
February Meeting
A book review by Eric Smith
Thursday February 23rd- 7:00 PM JOHNSON FERRY BAPTIST CHURCH
The number and complexity of the astronomical, geological, chemical, and biological features recognized as essential to human existence have expanded explosively within the past decade. An understanding of what is required to make possible a large human population and advanced civilizations has raised profound questions about life, our purpose, and our destiny.
In this presentation, we will examine some of the fine-tuned astronomical phenomena that made possible the habitability of our planet, and how their extreme improbability contributes to the argument for a creator.
Eric A. Smith received his Master's degree in Physics from Vanderbilt University where he was a member of the Supernova Cosmology Project, the co-discoverers of dark energy. He has been an Instructor in Physics and Astronomy at Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta, GA and is now teaching physics and astronomy at The Weber School, a Jewish high school in north Atlanta. He is a regular attender at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church. |
January Meeting
A book review by Andrea Smith Thursday January 26th- 7:00 PM JOHNSON FERRY BAPTIST CHURCH
Far from being Darwin's featureless little blobs in a warm little pond, the cell is a well-coordinated factory with a vast number of cooperating parts. Andrea will review some of the evidences of design in Dr. Fuz Rana's book "The Cell's Design".
Part of that evidence for design is in the cell's nucleus where the DNA blueprint is used to send out working plans to construct the cell's many working proteins. Armed with cutting-edge techniques, biochemists have unwittingly uncovered startling molecular features inside the cell that compel only one possible conclusion -- a supernatural agent must be responsible for life.
Andrea Smith studied general sciences at Webster University and biology and science education at University of Georgia, Athens, She has been involved in Reasons to Believe and the Areopagus Christian Study Center for the more than six years.
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