UPDATE 3: The people at Kentucky have informed me that the Q&A stuff will be added to the video tonight. They’re working hard on getting together a high-quality and complete video, and my thanks to those hard-working folks. Meanwhile, just today the Vimeo link had gotten 16,400 hits by 3 pm EST.

And over at Choice in Dying, Eric MacDonald has a long and wonderfully thoughtful analysis of both the debate and Haught’s “explanation”: “The tempest in John Haught’s teapot.”

UPDATE 2: I’ve been told that the question and answer session will also be added to the video. Praise Ceiling Cat! I’ll keep you informed.

UPDATE: The Powerpoint slides have been added to the video site, which has now been moved to the Gaines Center website. You’ll have to download the Powerpoints separately, but I recommend doing that and following them along with the talks.

I’ve updated the link below to reflect the new location. But there are several interesting additions to the Gaines site. Not only is there a link to my own website, but to Haught’s letter to me as well. Best of all, there’s a statement from the Provost of the University of Kentucky, an estimable man whom I met at dinner:

“The Bale-Boone Symposium series has a rich tradition of providing an open and frank forum for a broad range of compelling issues, ranging from legal and medical ethics to the place of poetry in our culture. This year’s session regarding the compatibility of religion and science was no exception. It led to not only a robust –and even contentious — debate between two distinguished scholars, but a conversation that continued long afterward among the participants and those who attended. That speaks to the heart of what both The Gaines Center and the University of Kentucky hope to foster – a deep dialogue regarding issues past, present and future that impact us all. With that commitment to open and ongoing dialogue in mind, the attached link contains the video of the session, along with continued communication between the two participants afterward.” – Kumble Subbaswamy, provost

Now where did that come from? Could it reflect the fact that several of my readers—and I as well—wrote to the Provost, asking him to help release the video?

Good for you, Dr. Subbaswamy! If Drs. Haught and Rabel had only adhered to the principles of open discourse you set forth, this whole mess wouldn’t have happened.

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The Gaines Center sure didn’t waste any time: the talks that John Haught and I gave in Lexington on the compatibility of science and faith are now online.

They’re here. John goes first, then I speak, and there is an audience Q&A, most of which seems to be missing from the video.

Judge for yourself whether Haught’s contentions hold water.

Sadly, the Powerpoint slides that accompanied both of our talks aren’t shown, but the organizers are working on a professional version with the slides. I’ll put that up when it’s done. But if you really must have the slides, just shoot me an email (I can provide only my set, of course).

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you sophisticated theology.