Larry Shapiro and John Lennox in conversation "Is there truth beyond science?"

A lively, honest, and friendly conversation between a classical Christian (Lennox) and an atheist (Shapiro) held at the University of Wisconsin.

People engaged in our current political discourse could learn a lot from these two gentleman and scholars about how to talk about things where there is disagreement.

In our 21st century world, there are people who don't think there is even such a thing as truth. On this point, they both agree that there is such a thing.

On the question of whether truth can be found outside of science, I think they would both agree on that point as well. They both point out that science as a method is very good for understanding the natural world. However, our lives have aspects that are more than just the natural world - morality, purpose, meaning, etc.

Where they do part company is whether or not God is in the equation of our grasping of truth. Shapiro does not think there is enough (or perhaps even any) evidence for the existence of God. In an interesting segment, he asks how would one distinguish "god" from a powerful alien from another planet or a "flying spaghetti monster."

Lennox's response was that the claims of Christianity exist within a long historical narrative framework that can be assessed by human reason.

The podcast is about 90 minutes and a worthwhile listen if you are interested in such things.

P.S. If you find these types of conversations interesting, be sure to check out Bishop Robert Barron (Catholic Christian) and Professor William Lane Craig (Protestant Christian) discuss faith, science, and society. In this discussion there was much more agreement between the two speakers (compared to Lennox and Shapiro) but the same friendly honest approach. There was a short segment on the differences between Protestant and Catholics but both emphasized that the common ground is so large. One could also see some differences in emphasis and style but the centrality of Christ was the guiding light in their presentations.

Update: found the video for embedding (1/25/2018)