2020 Meetings...
October Meeting(Via ZOOM)
A presentation by Jeff Zweerink, Ph.D.
Thursday October 29th- 7:00 PM (See below for details)
We are looking forward to a Zoom session with RTB Scholar Dr. Jeff Zweerink on the subject of Artificial Intelligence. Jeff is an astrophysicist who joined the Reasons to Believe Scholar team in 2005. In addition to writing and speaking on the compatibility of faith and science at universities, churches and other venues, he continues to be active in research as a project scientist at UCLA.
He is the author of three books: Is There Life Out There?, Who's Afraid of the Multiverse?, and Escaping the Beginning. Jeff and his wife, Lisa live in Southern California with their five children.
For more information on Dr. Jeff Zweerink and his biography ...
https://reasons.org/about/jeff-zweerink
If you would like to join us for our zoom session, please contact us at atlanta2010@reasons.org for the meeting ID and passcode. Try to join us by 7:10pm since we may not be able to accept joining after the presentation starts. |
September Meeting(Via ZOOM)
A presentation by Jefrey D. Breshears, Ph.D. Thursday September 24th- 7:00 PM (See below for details)
C. S. Lewis is generally regarded as the foremost Christian thinker and writer of the 20th century. A first-rate scholar, philosopher, apologist, theologian, literary critic, science fiction writer, poet, and author of children's fantasy novels, he wrote with charm, wit, insight and eloquence.
Lewis was neither a professional philosopher, theologian, Bible scholar, historian, psychologist, nor a social scientist, but he thought and wrote perceptively on all these subjects. A rarity among intellectuals, he integrated both reason and imagination into his life and works. Lewis understood that unless conditioned by humility and Christian discipline, reason tends to solidify into sterile Rationalism while imagination tends to drift toward idealistic Romanticism. Therefore, Christian maturity necessitates a thoughtful and faithful integration of both mind and heart.
Although Lewis' writings on political philosophy are often overlooked, in fact he was as acute and perceptive in this vital area of life as in other aspects of Christian discipleship. Lewis understood that Christianity is more than a religion and more than personal piety. As a life-transforming relationship with God via faith in Jesus Christ, Christian faith is a lifestyle and a comprehensive worldview that should encompass all the pertinent issues of life - including one's social and political values and beliefs.
Lewis' views on political philosophy are as relevant today as when he wrote them, and all Christians who take wholistic discipleship and their citizenship responsibilities seriously will benefit from his insights and wisdom.
So please join us as Dr. Jefrey Breshears presents this insightful look into C.S. Lewis from his book C.S. LEWIS ON POLITICS, GOVERNMENT, AND THE GOOD SOCIETY.
Jefrey Breshears, Ph.D., is an historian, author, and the president of The Areopagus, a Christian education organization in the Atlanta area. As a university history professor Dr. Breshears taught ancient history, philosophy and religion and United States history, and The Areopagus offers substantive courses on a wide range of subjects in Christian history, apologetics, and contemporary cultural issues.
Click here for more information on The Areopagus.
If you would like to join us for our zoom session, please contact us at atlanta2010@reasons.org for the meeting ID and passcode. Try to join us by 7:10pm since we may not be able to accept joining after the presentation starts. |
August Meeting(Via ZOOM)
A guided discussion led by Bruce Phillips, Howard Deutsch, and Rod Nave Thursday August 27th- 7:00 PM (See below for details)
What's the Best Way to Do RTB in Covid Time?
For this month's Atlanta RTB meeting on Zoom, we will reserve a time for discussion and ideas about how best to continue to meet and maintain an evangelistic outreach to the Atlanta area. Please give prayer and thought to strategies and programs that might serve during this unusual time. After the time of discussion, we will have a brief review of an important new book, with a view toward doing a full meeting on its content when we can again meet together in person.
The Stairway to Life
Biochemist Change Laura Tan and medical engineer Rob Stadler take on the challenge of how you might build life from chemistry. Tackling first the question of how the required chemicals could have been assembled in a prebiotic world, they conclude that it is not feasible. But then essentially saying, "Oh, well, if we could have done that, here is the next challenge: How do we supply only left-handed amino acids to life when laboratory-developed molecules will be an equal mixture of left and right?" This scenario is repeated through 12 steps of development, building a formidable case against a fully materialistic abiogenesis of life.
Bruce Phillips, Howard Deutsch, and Rod Nave will guide the discussion.
When life is under the Covid threat worldwide, we will reflect on the marvel of life and the intricate coordination of so many structures and processes to develop the simplest of life. The evidence of purpose, foresight, and detailed information lead the authors at the end to testify: "Living organisms and the Stairway to Life are powerful evidence of God - an inescapable conclusion when one is free to follow the evidence where it leads."
Zoom Meeting Information
If you would like to join us for our zoom session, please contact us at atlanta2010@reasons.org for the meeting ID and passcode. Try to join us by 7:10pm since we may not be able to accept joining after the presentation starts. |
July Meeting(Via ZOOM)
Presented by Glen Leckman
Thursday July 30th- 7:00 PM (See below for details)
With his characteristic wit and clarity, Frank Turek asks where atheists get the structure of logic and basic concepts like causality. His answer, "they have to steal them from God", because without a Creator, none of them would exist. And is it reasonable that human reason and self-awareness arose from blind chance? What about specified information and intentionality? Glen Leckman will take us on a tour of Turek's case that atheists have to steal from God to make their arguments.
Glen Leckman will take us on a tour of Turek's case that atheists have to steal from God to make their arguments.
Zoom Meeting Information
If you would like to join us for our zoom session, please contact us at atlanta2010@reasons.org for the meeting ID and passcode. Try to join us by 7:10pm since we may not be able to accept joining after the presentation starts.
After graduating from University of Wyoming with a degree in statistics Glen Leckman came on the staff of Cru (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ). He started his Christian ministry experience as a runner on the Athletes in Action track and cross country teams. Besides competing, the teams conducted clinics with high school sports teams and with military bases in southern California. While living there he met his future wife Barbara. After they married, the couple moved to South Africa to help start the Athletes in Action ministry in that nation. During their 15 years in that nation, they were able to develop the AIA ministry and turn it over to the leadership of nationals.
For the past 20 years Glen & Barbara have ministered to university professors at Georgia Tech, Georgia State University and Kennesaw State University. For the past few years, the highlight of their ministry has been the annual trip of taking Christian professors to Ecuador to minister to faculty in the Quito area. For the last 10 years or so, Glen has been an occasional presenter for Reasons To Believe in Atlanta. During his free time Glen enjoys running long distances, especially over trails.
In Memorium, Ben Smith
We bring the sad news that our brother in Christ Ben Smith went to be with the Lord on Sunday, July 19, by a sudden heart attack.
We will spend some time at the beginning of our meeting in remembrance of Ben. Ben has been one of our Chapter leaders and has made great contributions over the past ten years, having made 14 presentations over those years and having served the chapter in many other ways. |
March - June Meetings
NOTE: Due to COVID 19 guidelines and facility restrictions, the March thru June meetings were cancelled. |
February Meeting
Presented by Eric Smith
Thursday February 27th- 7:00 PM JOHNSON FERRY BAPTIST CHURCH
955 Johnson Ferry Rd, Marietta
Genesis 1:1 declares "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth". In the 20th century major discoveries like the fine-tuned expansion of the universe projected back to a beginning which is congruent with Genesis. Those who object to a beginning and a Creator have made many attempts to "escape" from this beginning and its implication of a Creator, and this effort is addressed in Jeff Zweerink's book "Escaping the Beginning?".
One of the most popular criticisms of the Fine Tuning argument is the existence of a multiverse -- an infinity of universes with an infinity of possibilities. In this session, Eric Smith will examine several scientific models for the multiverse, see how much evidence there really is for it, and look at Fine Tuning in the light of these models.
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-discovers of dark energy. He has spoken on both scientific and apologetics topics at the Atlanta chapter of Reasons to Believe, the Areopagus Forum, and Ratio Christi. He currently resides in Milledgeville, GA, where he is an Associate Professor of Physics at Georgia Military College. |
January Meeting
Presented by Dr. Michael Sabom
Thursday January 30th- 7:00 PM JOHNSON FERRY BAPTIST CHURCH
955 Johnson Ferry Rd, Marietta
Skeptical of Dr. Raymond Moody's report of Near-Death Experiences (NDEs) in Life After Life (1975), Christian cardiologist Michael Sabom began studying the testimonies of patients surviving near-death events. Results of his research were published in his 1983 ground-breaking book, Recollections of Death: A Medical Investigation. His medically-documented analysis of the evidence produced what remains the largest published series of corroborated "out of body" visualizations of near-death, unconscious patients. Fifteen years later, Dr. Sabom reported results of a second multi-year study in Light & Death. Included here is the NDE of Pam Reynolds during "Standstill" - an extremely risky neurosurgical procedure where the blood was literally drained from her head. This case has been internationally recognized as "the single best instance we now have in the literature on NDEs to confound the skeptics and to thin the line to the vanishing point between near- and after-death experiences."
Using over forty years of research, Dr. Sabom will focus on reconciling scientific and biblical insights into this fascinating and controversial subject. Evangelical Christianity's widespread interest in "Heaven Tourism" NDE reports will also be examined.
Dr. Sabom is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiology and is a Fellow in the American College of Cardiology. He served as Assistant Professor of Cardiology at Emory University School of Medicine for five years before entering private practice until retirement in 2017. He is a founding member of the International Association of Near-Death Studies and has written extensively in both professional and lay publications. His books together have been translated into 12 languages. |
