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Against the Tide: Lennox on Filming in Israel

Photo: John Lennox in Against the Tide.

Yes, folks, it opens tonight! Oxford University mathematician John Lennox stars in the three-nights-only film Against the Tide: Finding God in an Age of Science, with actor Kevin Sorbo, in theaters across the country on November 19, 20, and 23Get your tickets here, and don’t forget to bring family and friends! Looking forward to the documentary’s release, Professor Lennox took time to answer some questions from Evolution NewsAgainst the Tide was filmed in Oxford but also, in its second half, in Israel. 

How did you chose those locations in Israel? Is there a favorite one that you particularly enjoyed?

I didn’t chose the locations. The film’s director at that stage, Iain Morris, is a very gifted person. He’s a musician, and a writer, and he taught English earlier. The locations were really determined by the issues we wanted to discuss. I think my very first visit to that part of the world [Israel] occurred in 1966. There are two places I remembered most. One was the so-called Garden Tomb, where we did some filming, although that was not the place of the tomb of Jesus from an archeological perspective. But it gives an idea. And it was such a thrill to go back. My first visit was very unusual. When we got out there, three of us as students from Cambridge, we drove a very small car around Israel. And the guardian of that tomb area discovered we were living in a hotel that had a very bad reputation and he said “You’ve got to get out of there right away!” And there was a tiny little shed in that garden and he gave it to us. It was so narrow that we could put three camp beds beside each other, and that filled it completely. For nearly two weeks, we lived in that garden. And it is a very special memory.

The other thing was Galilee. I find that the so-called holy sites turn me off because of all the religious excrescences and all this kind of thing — the commercialization of it. And people lose the Christian message. But Galilee is refreshing — the topography, the hills, and above all, being by the lake. Those scenes by the lake evoked a lot of memory for me. I’ve only been there twice actually in my life so it’s not that I have visited a great deal.

We’re looking forward to these three nights. See the trailer here:

Against the Tide includes an exclusive conversation after the film with Discovery Institute philosopher of science Stephen MeyerBe sure to get tickets now in case it sells out, as events with John Lennox tend to do!

David Klinghoffer

Senior Fellow and Editor, Evolution News
David Klinghoffer is a Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute and the editor of Evolution News & Science Today, the daily voice of Discovery Institute’s Center for Science & Culture, reporting on intelligent design, evolution, and the intersection of science and culture. Klinghoffer is also the author of six books, a former senior editor and literary editor at National Review magazine, and has written for the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Seattle Times, Commentary, and other publications. Born in Santa Monica, California, he graduated from Brown University in 1987 with an A.B. magna cum laude in comparative literature and religious studies. David lives near Seattle, Washington, with his wife and children.

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