Welcome to ARN-Announce
by Dennis Wagner

Number Twenty-Seven, February 18, 2003

ARN-Announce is the on-line announcement and information service of Access Research Network. ARN generates announcements to the current ARN Announce list as information becomes available. You have received this message because your email address was submitted to this list. Subscription and Unsubscription information is at the end of this message.

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IN THIS ARN-ANNOUNCE:

• The Right Questions: New Book by Phillip E. Johnson
• Asking the BIG questions: Paul Nesselroade with the Wedge Update
• ARN Video Sale: Save 35% on two great lecture videos
• An Online Chat with Paul Nelson on the Cambrian Explosion
• Cosmos and Contact: A lecture by Robert C. Newman

The Latest Book from Phillip E. Johnson

The Right Questions: Truth, Meaning & Public Debate

October 2002 (hardback edition), Intervarsity Press, 191 pp.

Phillip Johnson helped shape the Intelligent Design movement by teaching people how to ask the right questions.  The ID movement is not about having all the answers.  It's about teaching people how to ask all the right questions.

• Is nature all there is?
• Can natural forces alone explain the universe and everything in it?
• Did life arise by blind, materialistic Darwinian processes, or does the evidence point to other forces?

In his newest book, released October 2002, The Right Questions: Truth, Meaning & Public Debate, Professor Johnson teaches us how to put a variety of contemporary topics on the witness stand-such as education, science, logic, tolerance, gender and liberty-and unwrap the confusion by asking the right questions. You will also find a very personal reflection from Phillip Johnson as he relates how a debilitating stroke gave him a new perspective on the The Right Questions.

Johnson deftly demonstrates how the reigning naturalistic philosophy not only squelches public debate but also constrains us to ask the wrong questions. Unless we start with the right questions, Johnson argues, our discussions will be framed by the assumptions of that very philosophy which must be challenged. A few of the questions Johnson puts on the table in this book include:

• Why is it always wrong to mix science and religion?
• What is the ultimate premise, the beginning point, from which logic should proceed?
• How can a college education prepare students to understand the ultimate purpose or meaning for which life should be lived and to choose rightly from among the available possibilities?
• What is the appropriate understanding of religion in a pluralistic nation where substantial numbers of Christians, agnostics, Jews and Muslims all need to live together in peace?
• How can democratic liberalism remain viable when severed from its Christian roots?
• What is the most important event in human history?

The foreword to the book by Nancy Pearcey is a bonus worth the price of the book itself. Pearcey, who has been an observer and writer of the origins debate for many years, explains in the 19-page foreword why Phillip Johnson is a great strategist. She also explains why the Intelligent Design movement was able to form around Johnson's two simple strategies to: 1) unite theists behind the common theme of design and 2) divide the practice of science from the worldview of philosophical naturalism. If you want to understand the history of the intelligent design movement in a nutshell, and the pivotal role that Phillip Johnson played, then read the forward by Nancy Pearcey.

If you have a son or daughter in high school or college I recommend you get them a copy of this book immediately. If you went through college and only learned how to regurgitate what you had been taught, then I recommend you get yourself a copy of this book ASAP. You may find yourself starting over as Johnson helps you break free of the intellectual and spiritual captivity of materialism by asking the right questions.

To see the table of contents or order this book now for $12.95 go to: http://www.arn.org/arnproducts/php/book_show_item.php?id=58

Asking the BIG Questions

We have a new guest columnist filling in for Mark Hartwig. Dr. Paul Nesselroade is associate professor of psychology at Asbury College in Kentucky. Recently he has been asking a lot of questions himself, like why students are being told what they can and can't think about origins at certain public colleges in Texas. To read his latest columns go to: http://www.arn.org/wedge.htm

Two ARN Videos now on Sale: SAVE 35%

For the next 30 days we are dropping the price of two of our great lecture videos by 35% from $29.95 to $19.95.

In Creation of the CosmosDr. Walter Bradley presents the cosmological argument for design. Bradley received his Ph.D. in materials science from the University of Texas at Austin. After eight years at the Colorado School of Mines, he moved to Texas A&M University in 1976 where he has served as professor and Senior TEES Research Fellow in the department of mechanical engineering until his recent retirement. This lecture was recorded at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

To learn more about this video or to order at the special sale price of $19.95 go to: http://www.arn.org/arnproducts/php/video_show_item.php?id=10

In The Theological Roots of Modern Science Dr. Henry Schaefer reviews the theistic worldview of Bacon, Kepler, Pascal, Boyle, Newton, Faraday and Maxwell that was instrumental in the rise of modern science. He goes on to name many modern scientists and Nobel prize winners, including Charles Coulson, John Suppe, Charles Townes, Arther Schawlow, Alan Sandage, Donald Page, R. David Cole and Francis Collins, whose religious faith is an integral part of who they are as scientists. Dr. Schaefer is Professor of Chemistry at the University of Georgia and a prolific scholar with over 750 scientific publications to his credit.

To learn more about this video or to order at the special sale price of $19.95 go to: http://www.arn.org/arnproducts/php/video_show_item.php?id=9

An Online Chat with Paul Nelson on the Cambrian Explosion

Paul Nelson and Marcus Ross are working on a new concept called "Ontogenetic Depth" as a complexity metric for the Cambrian Explosion. Paul recently presented this concept and answered questions in an online chat hosted by theInternational Society for Complexity, Information, and Design. To view the transcript of the chat go to:

http://www.arn.org/docs/nelson/pn_ontogeneticdepth021803.htm

Cosmos and Contact: A lecture by Robert C. Newman

Dr. Robert C. Newman recently presented this lecture at the Colorado School of Mines. Newman reviews the movie Contact based on the book by Carl Sagan. In the book Dr. Sagan defines what would constitute an extra terrestrial (ET) message. Dr. Newman claims the fine-tuning of the universe and the complexity of living systems meet Sagan's definition for an extra terrestrial message. We have been looking for a message from ET and it has been starring us in the face all along. To view the powerpoint slides of this lecture go to:

http://www.arn.org/newman/rnhome.htm

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A FEW NOTES ABOUT ARN ANNOUNCE

ARN-Announce describes many of the upcoming events and new articles, books, videos and other resources on Intelligent Design. Please forward this message to several of your friends and colleagues to let them know about the resources available at Access Research Network (www.arn.org). Back issues of ARN-Announce can be found at www.arn.org/announce.htm

ARN-ANNOUNCE IS PRODUCED BY ACCESS RESEARCH NETWORK

ARN-Announce is written by Dennis Wagner (dwagner@arn.org)

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02.18.03