Stephen spoke to a full tent of 250 people at the Greenbelt Festival…

“Some of us believe that every point-of-view is valid and we should live and let live. Some of us believe there are concrete truths on which everyone should base their world-view, whether that’s in science, atheism or religion. Both extremes are dangerous and most of us are somewhere in between. How do we decide where to sit on that continuum and what are the consequences of our choice?”

(you can purchase the talk here)

Stephen also wrote an article about truth…

Truth is what you believe, so believe what is true

Who decides what is true? It’s difficult to know who to trust and traditionally we looked to the educators, the politicians and the clergy, but they’ve become crowd pleasers rather than crowd leaders.

As a layman in relation to theology, philosophy and science, I’ve been thinking about the nature of truth. There are plenty of facts we all agree on, but the hypotheses that emerge from these facts can vary and that’s when it becomes difficult to agree, or even discuss, what is true. It can be hard to believe in something and hold it lightly enough to genuinely welcome the other point of view or even change your mind. Continue reading →