Dr Paul Allen

Image via Wikipedia Alvin Plantinga is among the preeminent philosophers of his generation. After a long career, chiefly at Calvin College and the University of Notre Dame (where he is emeritus John A. O'Brien Professor of Philosophy), Plantinga has formally retired, but he hasn't been idle. In his new book,  Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion, and Naturalism  (Oxford University Press), he sheds light on a subject that is often obscured by posturing and superficial polemics. John Wilson, editor of  Books & Culture , spoke with Plantinga about the underlying harmony between scientific and religious accounts of reality. Most of your book is taken up with the proposition that there's superficial conflict but deep concord between theistic religion and science. In certain areas, the right word would be  alleged  conflict. For example, I argue that there's no real conflict between evolutionary theory—that is, the scientific theory of evolution apart fr

Enlarge Hulton Archive / Getty Images An engraving depicting Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden , by Albrecht Durer, 15th century. Let's go back to the beginning — all the way to Adam and Eve, and to the question: Did they exist, and did all of humanity descend from that single pair? According to the Bible (Genesis 2:7), this is how humanity began: "The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." God then called the man Adam, and later created Eve from Adam's rib. Polls by Gallup and the Pew Research Center find that four out of 10 Americans believe this account. It's a central tenet for much of conservative Christianity , from evangelicals to confessional churches such as the Christian Reformed Church . But now some conservative scholars are saying publicly that they can no longer believe the Genesis account. Asked how likely it is that we all descended from Adam and Eve, Den

Image via Wikipedia The Berlin Wall went up  50 years ago  – Aug. 13, 1961, to be exact. Although its builders called it the “Anti-Fascist Protective Wall,”  its purpose was not to protect the citizens of East Germany but rather to be sure that a planned economy could plan on the number of citizens it would have.  It stopped a population hemorrhage, as about a quarter of the country’s citizens had left all they had behind to escape a society dedicated to building a socialist utopia in a “better Germany.” The Wall served its purpose for the 28 years it stood. As many as 200 people died trying to cross it, but most East Germans , with little choice in a bad situation, turned their small nation into the most economically successful of the Soviet bloc states. Even so, once the books were opened it turned out that East Germany was hopelessly in debt. Twenty eight years is a moment in human history. Some past walls stood for centuries, even a millennium or more. Yet every major