The last part of our 'I could never be a Christian ...' series saw retired scientist and church minister John Williams talk about how he would respond to those who say "I believe in science instead." He spoke about his personal journey as both a scientist and follower of Jesus. You can listen to his talk here. 

For those who want to explore further the interplay between science and faith, there are lots of helpful resources around, including:

'Test of faith' - a series of videos including interviews with leading scientists. Watch excerpts here or buy the full course here. 
"Creation or evolution: do we have to choose?" by Denis Alexander, director of the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion at the University of Cambridge.
"Can science explain everything?" - a new book by Prof John Lennox. You can watch a trailer for the book here, or an extended interview about the book here. 
"God's undertaker: has science buried God?" by Prof John Lennox.
"Inventing the universe: why we can't stop talking about science, faith and God" by Prof Alister McGrath.
And here's the video of the recent debate in Southampton: can science explain everything?

The third part of our 'I could never be a Christian because ...' series looked at how to respond to those who say 'Christians are hypocrites.' It's a fair and important criticism for us to take on board. But does it rule out a belief in Jesus? 

You can catch up with the sermon online and also download the discussion guide and sermon slides here. (Please note that the end of the sermon includes a drawing on a flipchart, which we have tried to re-create as additional sermon slides - that part of the sermon will make more sense viewed alongside the sermon slides!) 

For those who want to explore this issue further, you could look at:
Mark Clark "The problem of God"
Michael Green & Nick Spencer "I'd like to believe, but ..."
Amy Orr-Ewing "But is it real?" 

Last Sunday, Dan talked about how he would respond to those who say "You don't need to be religious to be moral", highlighting some questions to dig a little deeper than the obvious answers. 

You can listen to the talk here. 

​If you'd like to explore this topic further, here's some suggestions:

Krish Kandiah "Faitheism" - an innovative look at how Christians and atheists can find common ground and have constructive debate
Tim Keller "Making sense of God" - a thoughtful and well-argued case for why belief in God and Jesus still makes sense in our day and age
Mark Clark "The problem of God" - similar to Keller's book - more punchy and less academic
www.reasonablefaith.org/moral which includes this and other helpful videos 

Dan kicked off our "I could never be a Christian because ..." series yesterday by looking at how to respond to those who say " ... there are no gods." 

You can listen to the sermon here. 

There are loads of books that deal with this topic, but here are some of the ones Dan delved into in his preparation, if you want to think about this topic further:

• Mark Clark "The problem of God" - written by a Canadian who was an atheist, tackling various common objections to Christian faith. Fairly easy to read. 
• Michael Green & Nick Spencer "I'd like to believe, but ..." - written by an English duo, based partly on research. Short and punchy style. 
• Andrew Wilson "If God then what?" - written by an English pastor. A really relaxed mix of story, personal exploration and deep thought.