Expelled, a new documentary that argues the case for Intelligent Design from a Judeo-Christian perspective, has been in the headlines lately, prior to its April 18 theatrical release.

The film, hosted and narrated by Ben Stein, has been screened to invitation-only audiences at churches and for various Christian groups. But several critics have worked their way in to some of the screenings, most notably Roger Moore of The Orlando Sentinel, who recently trashed the movie in his blog.

A critic of another kind "crashed" a screening in Minnesota on Thursday night--Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion and arguably the most outspoken critic of Intelligent Design and Creationism. Dawkins himself appears in the documentary--but claims he was duped into believing it was going to be an objective account of Darwinism vs. ID.

Jeffrey Overstreet, a film critic for CT Movies, broke the news on his own blog Thursday night after receiving an e-mail from a college student who was at the screening.

Stuart Blessman, the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities student, told Overstreet in the e-mail that Dawkins' appearance "was quite a surprise" to both the audience and associate producer Mark Mathis, who fielded questions afterward.

Blessman reported that Dawkins asked several questions, and complained that "any statement he made in the film was in fact under the assumption that he was being interviewed . . . for a film that was to take an even-handed look at the Intelligent Design/Evolution controversy."

It's not the first time Dawkins and other Darwinian experts say they were duped by the filmmakers. The Guardian reported last fall that Dawkins said, "At no time was I given the slightest clue that these people were a creationist front," he said. And The New York Times quotes Dawkins and other atheists who appeared in the film under a "deceptive invitation."

Blessman also wrote that "the Q&A then proceeded pretty uneventfully, with several of the questions addressed to Dawkins himself. Mathis and Dawkins also clearly had spoken on numerous occasions and appeared to continue an argument that they had started previously."

Blessman also reported that Dawkins complained that a colleague of his was turned away even though he (Dawkins) was admitted to the screening. That colleague, PZ Myers, a biologist and prof at the University of Minnesota-Morris, is actually featured in the film. Myers later blogged his own account of what happened here and here.

Myers wrote that he caught up with Dawkins and friends after the film, "which I hear is not only boring and poorly made, but is ludicrous in its dishonesty. Apparently, a standard tactic is to do lots of fast cuts between biologists like me or Dawkins or Eugenie Scott and shots of Nazi atrocities. It's all very ham-handed. The audience apparently ate it up, though. Figures. Christians have a growing reputation for their appreciation of dishonesty."

Read more about Expelled in earlier editions of Reel News at CT Movies.

3/26 UPDATE: There has been much discussion about the use of the word "crash" to describe how Dawkins got into the screening. Since this story posted, CT has learned that the screening was not an "invitation-only" event, but that attendees had simply signed up on a website--that it was open to anyone who signed up in advance. Tickets were not needed. CT regrets the choice of the word "crash" in the title and in the story, because neither Dawkins nor Myers were trying to "crash" the event, but had legitimately signed up for the screening as did everyone else who attended.

Posted by Mark Moring at March 20, 2008 | Comments (71)

First Things’ managing editor interviewed Tim Keller on the occasion of his new book, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism, which Keller calls “Mere Christianity for Dummies.†The table of contents is a list of common doubts about what orthodox Christians believe, which Keller answers in short, accessible arguments.

Keller says his motive in starting to write it was to lay out the big ideas behind what he had been preaching as a resource for members of his church, Redeemer Presbyterian. “And I think probably the other thing was this thing called aging,†he told Anthony Sacramone.

While the interview loops back to the significance of denomination and affiliation, it also covers a broad range of topics. Some of the ground they covered:

On how this is different from the world Mere Christianity was broadcast in:

On why believers should doubt:

On dealing with creation and evolution:

Tim Keller is taking the book tour to Veritas forums at various colleges throughout the U.S.

Posted by Susan Wunderink at February 26, 2008 | Comments (0)

Controversial biblical scholar Bart Ehrman has a new book out, but this time he’s not bent on tackling issues of scriptural discrepancies, as he did in his most (in)famous work, Misquoting Jesus (see Books and Culture’s review from 2005). This time, Ehrman founds his agnosticism on the Bible’s seemingly equivocal answers to the question, How can a loving God allow terrible things to happen to people?

“I realized I couldn’t explain any longer why there could be such pain and misery in the world that was supposedly ruled by an all-powerful and loving God,†the religion professor at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, told the San Diego Union-Tribune over the weekend. The problem of suffering “put me over the top," says Ehrman. "So, I became an agnostic.â€

God’s Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question—Why We Suffer (HarperOne) traces Ehrman’s change in convictions about God and Scripture based on his inability to reconcile the goodness of God with the suffering of man. Ehrman explores and ultimately disputes the way suffering is handled in biblical accounts: as punishment for wrongdoing (Genesis), as an outcome of others’ wrongdoing (throughout the Psalms), as part of redemption (the Gospels), or as part of the mystery of God (Job).

Ehrman finds these varied explanations problematic, as he does chalking the question of theodicy up to something beyond human knowledge: “If you say it’s a mystery, then what you’re saying is there’s no answer.†And having no answer is apparently insufficient for Ehrman.

For other agnostics, though, encountering believers who have profound hope and peace despite suffering is enough to at least crack a window open for belief. This is what happened to John Marks, a former 60 Minutes producer who traces his journey into and out of faith in his new spiritual memoir, Reasons to Believe: One Man’s Journey Among the Evangelicals and the Faith He Left Behind (Ecco). In a striking interview in this weekend’s Boston Globe, Marks tells of a close friendship with an evangelical couple, the McWhinneys, that emerged from Marks’s research for his book:

While believers may not be able to give a thoroughly coherent reason for why God allows his followers to suffer—and debates about theodicy will likely continue among theologians until Judgment Day—we may at least be able to provide a glimpse into “the peace that passes all understanding†as we respond to crises in our own lives and come out praising the Creator for his unbounded goodness.

Posted by Katelyn Beaty at February 18, 2008 | Comments (8)

Over the weekend, the New York Times magazine was busy sowing the seeds of doubt about a potentially bestselling book by philosopher Antony Flew. Flew’s books aren’t normally bestsellers, but There Is a God is different:

· It’s published by HarperOne, a publisher with marketing muscle.
· It is “written in simple language for a mass audience.â€
· It tells the story of the famous atheist’s late in life turn toward belief in God (first reported in 2004).

That’s a winning formula for creating a wide readership.

In “The Turning of an Atheist,†Mark Oppenheimer raises questions galore without actually proving any of his points. He questions the degree of Flew’s involvement in writing the book, the credibility of scientists whose perspective Flew adopted, and even Flew’s mental competence at the advanced age of 84. (Oppenheimer suggests that Flew may be “a senescent scholar possibly being exploited by his associates†and raises the possibility that his “memory [is] failing†and that “his powers [are] in decline.â€)

If Oppenheimer’s piece creates enough of a furore, I’m sure HarperOne will see it as publicity they couldn’t have purchased at any price.

It would be nearly impossible to answer all of Oppenheimer’s questions, especially since direct conversation with Flew (in Oppenheimer’s terms) “confuses more than it clarifies.â€

You’ll probably have to bracket Oppenheimer’s questions until God’s kingdom comes, but in the meantime here are two other articles you may want to read:

"Thinking Straighter" (CT, April 2005). James A. Beverley interviews Antony Flew for Christianity Today.

"Victorian Skeptics on the Road to Damascus" (Christian History and Biography newsletter, 2005). Timothy Larsen recounts other famous atheists who returned to faith late in life.

Posted by David Neff at November 5, 2007 | Comments (17)