LA MIRADA, CALIF. — The New Atheists challenge the claim that there is intelligent agency behind the universe, theologically conservative views of science and faith, and even Christian belief itself, but they have met their match with the winsome approach of a mathematician and philosopher from Oxford University — John C. Lennox.

The Master of Arts in Science and Religion program at Biola University is honoring John C. Lennox with the 2012 Phillip E. Johnson Award for Liberty and Truth, in recognition of his eloquent responses to naturalism and for his defense of intelligent agency in the universe from the perspective of science and philosophy.
 
The award is given every other year to a nationally or internationally recognized scholar who challenges the materialistic bias of the modern academy and advances a position that fosters an integrative approach to science and religion.
 
Lennox has been an exceptional scientist-spokesman for design arguments and for conservative Christianity in general, debating atheist Richard Dawkins on “The God Delusion” in the University of Alabama (2007) and on “Has Science Buried God?” in the Oxford Museum of Natural History (2008). He debated the late Christopher Hitchens on the New Atheism (Edinburgh Festival 2008) and at Samford University, Alabama, on the question: Is God Great? He has also debated Princeton bioethicist Peter Singer (Melbourne 2011) on the question: “Is there a God?” He has responded to the New Atheist arguments in print form, publishing God's Undertaker: Has Science Buried God? (2009); God and Stephen Hawking: Whose Design is it Anyway? (2010); Gunning for God: Why the New Atheists are Missing the Target? (2011); and Seven Days that Divide the World: The Beginning According to Genesis and Science (2011).
 
John Lennox is Professor of Mathematics in the University of Oxford, Fellow in Mathematics and the Philosophy of Science, and Pastoral Advisor at Green Templeton College, Oxford. He holds three doctorates. In addition to his works cited above, he has published many professional books and articles in mathematics.
 
Biola University established the Phillip E. Johnson Award for Liberty and Truth in 2004 to honor legal scholar and Berkeley law professor Phillip E. Johnson, who was the award’s first recipient. The award recognizes Johnson’s pivotal role in advancing our understanding of design in the universe by opening up informed dissent to Darwinian and materialistic theories of evolution. The late British philosopher Antony Flew, once considered the most prominent defender of atheism in the English-speaking world, became the second recipient of this award in 2006 for his Socratic approach of “following the evidence where it leads” and abandoning atheism on account of design arguments. Lawyer and former presidential speechwriter Ben Stein received the award in 2008 for his key role in the major feature film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, which documented the harassment of intelligent design sympathizers. Bioethicist Richard Land received the 2010 award for his advocacy of human dignity, the rights of the unborn and infirm, pro-family policies, and other conservative evangelical bioethical concerns.
 
Lennox will receive the award during a luncheon on June 8, 2012, at Biola University. Further details are available at www.biola.edu/academics/sas/ apologetics/events.
 
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Biola University, named one of 17 “up and coming” national universities by U.S. News & World Report in 2011, is a private Christian university located in Southern California. For more than 100 years, Biola has remained committed to its mission of biblically centered education, integrating biblical principles with every academic program. With a current record-high enrollment of 6,250 students, the university’s six schools offer 145 academic programs, ranging from the B.A. to the Ph.D. For more information, visit www.biola.edu.