Tonight: Robin Collins to speak on science and religion in philosophy lecture

Robin Collins, a philosopher of science and religion and a professor of Philosophy at Messiah College in Grantham, Penn., will speak at two guest lectures on the Western Washington University campus on April 6 and 7 as part of the Bellingham Lectureship in Philosophy and Christianity for 2010.

Both guest lectures are free and open to the public.

At 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 6, in Arntzen Hall Room 100, Collins will present “The Fine Tuning Argument.” According to recent findings in physics, almost everything about the basic structure of the universe is finely tuned for life to occur. For example, if the initial explosion of the Big Bang had differed in strength by even a tiny amount, the universe would have either quickly collapsed back on itself or expanded too rapidly for stars to form; either way, life would be impossible. Similar things can be said about the strong nuclear force, gravity, the proton-neutron mass difference, the electromagnetic force and other independent variables. If we imaginatively think of each variable as a dial on a radio, it seems that unless all of the dials were set just right, there would be no life. This suggests they were set so that there would be life. Collins will argue that the fine-tuning data constitutes strong evidence for the hypothesis of design over various naturalistic alternatives.

A question-and-answer session will follow the lecture.

At 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 7, in Arntzen Hall Room 100, Collins will present “The International Theory of Atonement.” According to Christian tradition, sinful human beings can become reconciled with God through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus – the Christian doctrine of atonement. One natural reaction is puzzlement: How is that supposed to work? Another reaction is more polemical: No way! That's impossible! According to Collins, it's not only possible, the incarnational theory reveals how it might well work. The theory develops certain themes more prevalent in Eastern Orthodoxy than Western Christendom, while making sense of the biblical data.

People of all religious persuasions are invited to attend and participate in the lively question-and-answer session sure to follow the lecture.

For more information on the lectures or the Bellingham Lectureship in Philosophy and Christianity, contact WWU professor of Philosophy Dan Howard-Snyder at (360) 650-4865.