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Conference Talks: \u201cWhy Evolution and LDS Thought are Fully Compatible,\u201d<\/a> given in late 2013 by Steven L. Peck<\/a><\/p>\n Steven Peck, a professor of biology at Brigham Young University, takes it as \u201caxiomatic that evolution in its broad sense is the way the biological world works, although details are still being worked out and amazing discoveries will continue for centuries.\u201d Using vivid examples, he explains both the compelling nature and the complexity of evolution. He also describes what he regards as the weak science behind what is popularly called the \u201cIntelligent Design\u201d movement. However, he says, \u201cevolution does not negate by one iota the idea of a purposeful universe that was organized by a loving, intelligent God.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Relatively soon after it was published, as I recall, I read a book containing commentary on, and the text of, a debate between Gary R. Habermas, an evangelical Protestant philosopher based at Virginia\u2019s Liberty University of whom I had never previously heard, and Antony G. N. Flew, who was, at the time, arguably the most prominent vocally atheistic philosopher in the English-speaking world.\u00a0 The topic of the debate was the purported resurrection of Christ; the book\u2019s title was Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?<\/em>\u00a0 Professor Flew, obviously, argued for the negative, since there can be no resurrection of the Son of God if there is no God in the first place. Professor Habermas argued the positive.<\/p>\n As I recall, somebody called my attention to the book in conversation.\u00a0 I was told that Professor Habermas had made a strong case that Jesus had, most likely, actually risen from the dead.\u00a0 This intrigued me.\u00a0 I believed, at that point, that Jesus really had<\/em> done so.\u00a0 But I also assumed at that point that the \u201cevidence\u201d for his resurrection was limited to the flat assertions of the New Testament.\u00a0 Of course, those assertions were corroborated and fortified, for Latter-day Saints, by the \u201csecond witness\u201d of the Book of Mormon (particularly 3 Nephi) and by the testimonies, some of them quite remarkable, of modern apostles and prophets.<\/p>\n When I picked up the book, I was still not expecting very much.\u00a0 I was, though, quite frankly stunned by the case that Professor Habermas mounted, and astonished at the weakness of Professor Flew\u2019s position in the debate.\u00a0 And, even now, I count my reading of Did Jesus Rise from the Dead<\/em> as a pivotal moment in my intellectual autobiography.\u00a0 It convinced me that a persuasive if not altogether ironclad historical argument could be made, something that, perhaps surprisingly from where I now stand, I had not previously imagined.<\/p>\n Here is a bibliographical list of more or less directly relevant books by Gary Habermas, so far as I\u2019m aware.\u00a0 I\u2019ve created it for my own nefarious purposes, of course \u2014 which almost certainly involve character assassination, deception, and mercenary self-interest, as well as the fact that I myself have an incomplete manuscript on the topic that I hope someday to finish and to publish \u2014 but I thought that at least a few others out there might find it of value:<\/p>\n Habermas, Gary R<\/cite>.;\u00a0Flew, Antony G. N.<\/cite>(1987).\u00a0Did Jesus Rise from the Dead? The Resurrection Debate. San Francisco, CA: Harper & Row.\u00a0<\/cite><\/em><\/p>\n \u2014\u2014\u2014;\u00a0Stevenson, Kenneth\u00a0(1990).\u00a0The Shroud and the Controversy. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.<\/cite><\/em><\/p>\n \u2014\u2014\u2014 (1984).\u00a0Ancient Evidence for the Life of Jesus: Historical Records of His Death and Resurrection. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.<\/cite><\/em><\/p>\n \u2014\u2014\u2014 (1996).\u00a0The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ. Joplin, MO: College Press.<\/cite><\/em><\/p>\n \u2014\u2014\u2014 (2000). Heart of New Testament Doctrine: Resurrection (vol. 1). Joplin, MO: College Press.<\/cite><\/em><\/p>\n \u2014\u2014\u2014 (2000). Heart of the Christian Life: Resurrection (vol. 2). Joplin, MO: College Press.<\/cite><\/em><\/p>\n \u2014\u2014\u2014 (2003).\u00a0The Risen Jesus & Future Hope. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.<\/cite><\/em><\/p>\n \u2014\u2014\u2014;\u00a0Moreland, James P.\u00a0(2004).\u00a0Beyond Death: Exploring the Evidence for Immortality. Wheaton, IL: Crossway.<\/cite><\/em><\/p>\n \u2014\u2014\u2014;\u00a0Licona, Michael R.\u00a0(2004).\u00a0The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel.<\/cite><\/em><\/p>\n \u2014\u2014\u2014;\u00a0Flew, Antony G. N.\u00a0(2005).\u00a0Resurrected?: An Atheist and Theist Dialogue. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.<\/cite><\/em><\/p>\n \u2014\u2014\u2014;\u00a0Flew, Antony G. N.\u00a0(2009).\u00a0Baggett, David\u00a0(ed.).\u00a0A Conversation with Gary Habermas and Antony Flew: Did the Resurrection Happen?. Veritas books. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.<\/cite><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Gary Habermas has been working in these waters for a very long time.\u00a0 His 1976 doctoral dissertation at Michigan State University was entitled \u201cThe Resurrection of Jesus: A Rational Inquiry.\u201d\u00a0 He has been a prolific author, and multiple videos of him making his arguments are easily accessible online.\u00a0 But Professor Habermas isn\u2019t the only person who has put forward interesting historical arguments for the literal historicity of Christ\u2019s resurrection.\u00a0 Michael Licona, William Lane Craig, and N. T. Wright, among a fair number of others, have also made important contributions.\u00a0 See, too, such things as my \u201cArguing for the Divinity of Jesus.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n This subject is, to put it mildly, rather important.\u00a0 As Paul says at Romans 1:4, Christ was and is \u201cdeclared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Here are a couple of somewhat surprising news items from the world of science.\u00a0 (As regards the second of them, I suggest taking a moment or two to reflect on what\u2019s happening and then to scream \u201cAieeeee!\u00a0 We\u2019re all doomed!\u201d before calming down and resuming your normal routine.)<\/p>\n Newsweek<\/em>:\u00a0\u00a0\u201cMilky Way Bigger Than It Should Be\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>