Faith & Reason 2017

Click on the title to listen to or download the audio recording:

 

The annual Faith & Reason Conference provides opportunity for Christians to explore and discuss relevant topics in our present culture. Some of these topics often challenge the claims of Christianity in some way. Often the issues are muddled or distorted by popular media; at other times Christianity is treated with outright dismissal, as false and superstitious, and in some cases even as a danger to society.

The aim is not to be reactionary, since Christianity will always have its critics, some of whom will not allow themselves to be reasoned with. The FRC is a positive approach, helping to make sense of what it means to be a Christian, of what it means to apply your head for thinking as well as your heart for caring. Put differently, it is about exploring how Christian beliefs that are firmly rooted in the events of history that transpired around a Specific Person in 1st century Palestine, relate to the unique questions and culture of a 21st century world.

To help facilitate this process of exploration and discovery are a group of people who have thought carefully about many issues. They also care enough about people to devote some of their time in offering their insights and encourage a robust Christian faith.

– Participating partners: AntWoord, Dialoog, Ratio Christi (NWU), RZIM (SA), Real Talk.

WHEN:     Saturday, 26 August 2017

WHERE:  Oosterlig Church (see google maps location), 469 Lea Street, corner of Judith Street, Waterkloof Glen, Pretoria

COST:        No cost, no need to register, but donations will be appreciated. A light snack available at lunch time.

WHAT:      The programme will start at 08:30 until 15:00 (see below)

CONTACT:  antwoorde@yahoo.com

PROGRAMME SCHEDULE:

08:30 – 09:00   Tea/Coffee

09:00 – 09:15   Welcoming

09:15 – 10:15   Session 1a, b, c

  • Ray Ciervo – The Eyewitness Testimony About Jesus: Are They Trustworthy?
    (unfortunately Ray Ciervo had to cancel this speaking engagement)
  • Liza Bornman – Science and Faith in God: Inherent Differences and Its Implication
  • Itai Chitapi –  Truth, Justice and (Re)Conciliation: Challenges for the Church in South Africa

Tea/Coffee

10:30 – 11:30   Session 2a, b, c

  • Mathabo Baase – Does the Bible Condone Slavery?
  • Herman Carstens – Persuasion, Christians and Climate Change: A Look at How Our Beliefs are Formed
  • Nel Brace – Speaking of Justice: How Meaningful Without God?

11:30 – 12:30   Lunch (A light snack will be available)

12:30 – 13:30   Session 3a, b, c

  • Roedolf Botha – How We Got Our Bible & Why It Is Authoritative
  • Sue Dykes – Interpreting Hominin Fossils
  • Afrika Mhlophe – Christianity and the Veneration of Ancestors

Tea/Coffee

13:45 – 14:45   Session 4a, b, c

  • Lara Buchanan – Is Christianity Sexist?
  • Rudolph Boshoff – Christ In Me International: Emergence of a New Cult?
  • Mahlatse Mashua – Conflict & the Challenge of Peacemaking in a Secular South Africa