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Metaxas, Berlinski: A Match Made in Heaven

David Klinghoffer
Image source: Discovery Institute.

Well, maybe not quite in Heaven…but the recent Socrates in the City matchup between David Berlinski and Eric Metaxas was one I looked forward to watching. I loved it. From a discussion of Berlinski’s latest book, Human Nature, they go on to some more theologically charged topics. The dramatic tension between the two is notable and interesting and unusual for the SITC forum, punctuated by laugh-out-loud moments of humor. It’s not just the very different personalities that make the conversation fascinating, but David’s steadfast refusal to agree with Eric that the design evidence that we discuss here points to an intelligent agent behind nature. 

David isn’t persuaded by intelligent design or by Darwinian materialism. Nor is he persuaded by evidence, as Eric perceives it (and so do I), for an “invisible world” beyond ours. What, Eric finally asks, does David make of the accounts of supernatural experience that countless human beings have had (including Eric). David’s reply, delivered in classic Berlinski fashion: “Hard to say.” You have to watch this all the way to the end.

Incidentally, after a wry exchange with arch-skeptic Berlinski about whether he’s Catholic or not (he’s not, of course, though he fully accepts the idea of original sin), Metaxas asks David if has read Eric’s biography Martin Luther: The Man Who Rediscovered God and Changed the World. Berlinski says he has not — but as it happens, I’m reading the book right now. It’s superb and highly recommended.

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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DarwinismEric MetaxasfaithHeavenhuman beingshuman natureHuman Nature (book)intelligent agentintelligent designMartin Luther (book)materialismnatureoriginal sinSocrates in the CitysupernaturaltheologyYouTube videos