19 November 2010

The 2010 Margaret Harris Lecture on Religion - Photo Call

Photo opportunity: 5.45pm on Monday, 22nd November at Dalhousie Building, University of Dundee. Professor John Lennox will meet with Rev Dr Fiona Douglas, Chaplain at the University, before delivering his lecture.

Christian academic Professor John Lennox, who has participated in public debates with fervent atheists such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, will deliver the 2010 Margaret Harris Lecture on Religion next week.

The Professor of Mathematics at Oxford University will challenge the findings of ‘The Grand Design’, written by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinov, at the University of Dundee-hosted event

His talk, ‘A Matter of Gravity: God, the Universe and Stephen Hawking’, which takes place at the Dalhousie Building from 6pm on Monday, 22nd November.

Afterwards, Professor Lennox will be signing copies of his new book, ‘God and Stephen Hawking: Whose Design is it Anyway?’, which will be available on advance sale ahead of its official release in January.

The talk, and book, are direct responses to Hawking’s controversial recent bestseller, which argues that invoking God is not necessary to explain the origins of the universe, and that the Big Bang is a consequence of the laws of physics alone

Whilst Hawking’s supporters have claimed that he has finally buried God, Professor Lennox, who has written a number of books on the relations of science with religion and ethics,will challenge that view when he appears in Dundee.

'Hawking asks us to choose between God and physics, as if they were necessarily in conflict,' he said. 'Dawkins thinks the same. He maintains science is in conflict with religion in general, and Christianity in particular.

'One of my roles is to bridge the gap between science and religion for the public. Science does not necessarily lead away from God, it can lead to God.'

The 2010 Margaret Harris Lecture, A Matter of Gravity: God, the Universe and Stephen Hawking, takes place at the University’s Dalhousie Building from 6pm on Monday, 22nd November.

Admission is free, and tickets are available from www.dundee.ac.uk/tickets or 01382 385564. A drinks reception and book signing follow this event, for which there may be overflow theatres in operation.

Copies of Professor Lennox’s new book, God and Stephen Hawking: Whose Design Is It Anyway?, as well as his previous text, God's Undertaker: Has Science Buried God?, will be available following the lecture.

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07854 953277