* The staff at Bob Enyart Live: say Happy Atheists Day with this special edition of Real Science Radio!
* God's Philosophers & James Hannam: Hannam's book is subtitled, How the Medieval World Laid the Foundations of Modern Science. Join Bob Enyart as he enjoys this transatlantic interview with James Hannam, author of God's Philosophers!
* The Church Never Taught that the World was Flat: Neither the medieval world in general, nor the Christian Church in particular, ever taught that the Earth was flat. (According to the popular secular site LiveScience, the president of the active Flat Earth Society, Daniel Shenton, is an evolutionist. See this and more at rsr.org/flat-earth. And see also creation.com's article on the four corners of the Earth.) But much of western civilization believed that the Sun, planets and stars evolved around the Earth, and that belief greatly slowed scientific progress. So, who gets the blame for retarding scientific progress for 1500 years, the Bible and the Christian Church, or the pagan Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle?
* Post-show Update: So, not only did the Church never teach that the Earth was flat, the president of the actual Flat Earth Society is himself an evolutionist! And see also a University of California Santa Barbara history professor's great article, The Myth of the Flat Earth.
* Bonus - Enyart and Hannam to Debate Theistic Evolution: James Hannam has agreed to return to BEL soon to discuss his belief in theistic evolution with Bob, who rejects evolution and advocates special creation and a young earth! See Hannam's assessment just below, and enjoy the debate intself at these links:
* Handy Hannam Links:
- James Hannam's article on debating creationism with Bob Enyart
- Enyart's interview with Hannam on God's Philosophers (this page)
- Hannam & Enyart on Theistic Evolution Pt. I
- Hannam & Enyart on Theistic Evolution Pt. II
- Hannam & Enyart on Theistic Evolution Pt. III
* Rave Reviews: The acclaimed British author James Hannam has earned great reviews for God's Philosophers:
"...this wonderful book. With an engaging fervour, James Hannam has set about rescuing the reputation of a bunch of half-forgotten thinkers, and he shows how they paved the way for modern science." London's Sunday Mail
“A spirited jaunt through centuries of scientific development… captures the wonder of the medieval world: its inspirational curiosity and its engaging strangeness.” London Times
“This book contains much valuable material summarised with commendable no-nonsense clarity… James Hannam has done a fine job of knocking down an old caricature.” London's Sunday Telegraph
“Hannam, the liveliest of guides, makes enjoyable reading out of some seriously dusty history and difficult ideas.” The Scotsman
“Here, in short, is a readable book, aimed at an intelligent but ignorant layman. You'll enjoy it.” London's Daily Telegraph
“A very useful general survey of a difficult topic, and a robust defence of an unfairly maligned age.” Britain's The Spectator
* RSR: Today's program has been designated an honorary episode of Real Science Radio!
* Update -- Bob on the Pepperdine University Campus re: Theistic Evolution: See rsr.org/pepperdine for the Summer 2015 event details or just see Bob's presentation right here:
* British Darwinist's Assessment of Debating Bob: After this debate, evolutionist PZ Myers copied and pasted the following quote, written by well-received British author and Darwinist James Hannam, about young-earth creationist Bob Enyart:
What About Bob? "Richard Dawkins once said that 'if you meet somebody who claims not to believe in evolution, that person is ignorant, stupid or insane (or wicked, but I'd rather not consider that).' It rapidly became clear that Bob was none of these things. For a start, I know a fair bit about evolution and genetics. But when it came to familiarity with the arguments, he was way ahead of me. On epigenetics, RNA/DNA chemistry, and animal physiology, I was hopelessly outclassed. Bob is not ignorant. And it is pretty clear he is neither stupid nor insane. He came across, in fact, as extremely intelligent. So perhaps he is wicked? Well... I am sure he is nothing of the sort." -Acclaimed British Author and Darwinist James Hannam
* UC History Prof. Debunks Myth of the Flat Earth: Dr. Jeffrey Russell, Professor of History at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has also taught history and religious studies at Berkeley, Harvard, and Notre Dame. His book, Inventing the Flat Earth, documents that 19th-century anti-Christians invented and spread the falsehood that educated people in the Middle Ages believed that the earth was flat. RSR notes that the anti-Christians spreading this fabrication allegedly includes some of Darwin's promoters like David White, and that those "educated people", the targets of this falsehood, would of course include bishops, monks, and ecclesiastical scholars. Prejudice and myth die hard, and a small army of professional historians have been unable to correct this evolutionist libel against Christians. Toward that end however, see Dr. Russell's brief article, The Myth of the Flat Earth. Russell there mentions the widespread false belief that in 1491 Christopher Columbus faced inquisitors and theologians who held that the Earth was flat, which mini-myth has been widely debunked and identified as a pure invention of the author Washington Irving. See also rsr.org/flat-earth, rsr.org/geocentrism, and rsr.org/cosmological-principle.
* Today’s Resource: Have you browsed through our Science Department in the KGOV Store? Check out especially Walt Brown’s In the Beginning and Bob’s interviews with this great scientist at rsr.org/walt-brown!