A Special 2019 Apologetics Event
Reflecting on the past and present event opportunities afforded Warren Apologetics Center should produce deep gratitude. The words of Paul strike a chord: “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God” (2 Corinthians 3:5).
The Warren Center, namesake of Thomas B. Warren, one of the greatest voices on behalf of Christian theism in the 20th century, challenges religious skepticism through the rich legacy of Warren’s classical (biblical) apologetics approach. He being dead still speaks (cf. Hebrews 11:4). His debate with Antony Flew, arguably the world’s foremost philosophical atheist in the 20th century, has been called the most significant debate on the existence of God during the last 100 years or more. From Warren’s flawless logical theistic argumentation, the great public interest generated by the debate, and all followed three decades later by Flew’s “conversion” to belief in God, it may very well be the time when atheism was handed its most devastating defeat since the earliest days of Christianity.
A strong case can be made that the works of the British apologist, C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) remain the most popular apologetics writings. Interestingly, Lewis “locked horns” with Antony Flew at Oxford University Socratic Club in 1950. Lewis chaired Oxford’s Socratic Club from 1942-1954. It was a venue that provided a lively forum for debates between atheists and theists. In 1952, Mere Christianity, a master work of apologetics by Lewis, was published. It is to this day recognized by many as the most popular book of its kind in the English language. It has never gone out of print.
Thomas B. Warren respected and referenced the apologetics works of C. S. Lewis, especially his treatment of the moral argument for the existence of God. In his 1976 essay, We Can Know that God Is (published by the Warren Center 2010), Dr. Warren answered Princeton University atheist W. T. Stace. In this essay he (Warren) refers to what Lewis in Mere Christianity identified as the “Law or Rule about Right and Wrong,” or the “Law of Nature.” This is the objective standard (absolute moral law) Warren logically demonstrated, which was identified in The Nürnberg Case (published by Alfred A. Knopf 1947) and by which the Nazis were judged for their horrific crimes against the Jews and others. As Chief of Counsel for the United States, Justice Robert H. Jackson delivered his closing address at Nuremberg, Germany, stating that the Germans had been judged by Law that “rises above the provincial [geography] and the transient [time] and seeks guidance . . . from the basic principles of jurisprudence . . . which long have found embodiment in the codes of all nations” (122). This is what C. S. Lewis in his BBC Broadcast Talks of 1941-42 had called the “Law of Nature.”
Given Dr. Warren’s (1) formulation and presentation of the moral argument in his debates with Antony Flew (pp. 173-77) and University of California (Berkeley) professor, Wallace Matson (pp. 284-91), as well as others, and (2) his acknowledgement of the moral argument for God as presented by Lewis, it has been our desire to invite a qualified C. S. Lewis scholar to present a series of lectures on C. S. Lewis and the Moral Argument. Our invitation has been extended and accepted by just such a scholar! Dr. Devin Brown, Professor of English at Asbury University, and one of the most recognized C. S. Lewis scholars of today, is scheduled to serve as speaker at the 9th Annual Spring Apologetics Lectures hosted by Warren Apologetics Center. We believe it will be one of the premier apologetics events of 2019. Make your reservation to attend the oral lectures delivered by Dr. Brown. Seating is limited. Watch for the book, C. S. Lewis and the Moral Argument, to be published by WCAC later this year. What wonderful opportunities!
Charles C. Pugh III
Executive Director