Biola University recently honored Oxford University philosopher 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.

"I feel highly honored," said Lennox upon receiving the award. "I have great respect for his [Phillip Johnson] intellectual courage in challenging the reigning paradigms and he has been a stimulus to me in whatever little contribution I have made to the intellectual battle to defend the Christian faith against naturalism."

The award is given by Biola's Master of Arts in Science and Religion program to a nationally or internationally recognized scholar every other year who challenges the materialistic bias of the modern academy and advances a position that fosters an integrative approach to science and religion.
 

“Like Phil Johnson, John Lennox has been a winsome and insightful voice in responding to the naturalistic assumptions that dominate scientific thinking today in areas relating to origins," said John Bloom, Biola professor of physics and chair of the chemistry, physics, and engineering department. "Dr. Lennox breaks the media stereotype that one cannot be a Christian and a scientist."

Lennox, who received the award at a June 8 luncheon, 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).
 
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.
 
Written by Jenna Bartlo, Media Relations Coordinator. For more information, Jenna can be reached at 562.777.4061 or at jenna.l.bartlo@biola.edu.