John Carson Lennox (born 7 November 1943) is a Northern Irish mathematician, bioethicist, and lay theologian. He has written many books on religion, ethics, the relationship between science and God (such as Has Science Buried God and Can Science Explain Everything); he has also participated in public debates with atheists including Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens.
Lennox earned a doctorate in mathematics from the University of Cambridge, followed by second and third doctorates from the University of Oxford and Cardiff University, respectively. As a professor, Lennox specialised in group theory. He is emeritus professor of Mathematics
Early life and education
John Lennox was born on 7 November 1943 in
Northern Ireland and brought up in
Armagh, where his father ran a store.
He attended The Royal School, Armagh, and went on to become Exhibitioner and Senior Scholar at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where in 1962 he also attended the last lectures of C. S. Lewis on the poet
John Donne. Lennox obtained a Master of Arts, a Master of Mathematics and a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Cambridge with the dissertation
Centrality and Permutability in Soluble Groups (1970).
Lennox was awarded a Doctor of Science degree in mathematics by Cardiff University in 1993 for his research. Lennox also holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Oxford (by incorporation)[Having a doctorate from both Cambridge and Oxford makes Lennox what Ghil'ad Zuckermann calls an "Oxbridge paradox": Lennox belongs to the rare group of people who hold a "pair o' docs" (sounding like "paradox" but meaning "two doctorates") – a D.Phil. (Oxon.) and a PhD (Cantab.) – from both Oxford and Cambridge universities (commonly abbreviated as Oxbridge) – see Biography.] and an M.A. degree in bioethics at the University of Surrey. In addition, he was a Humboldt Fellow at the University of Würzburg and the University of Freiburg.
Career
Upon completing his doctorate, Lennox moved to
Cardiff,
Wales, becoming a reader in Mathematics at the University of Wales, Cardiff. Lennox is currently the President of OCCA (The Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics). He also teaches science and religion in the University of Oxford. During his 29 years in Cardiff he spent a year at each of the universities of Würzburg,
Freiburg (as an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow), and
Vienna, and has lectured extensively in both Eastern and Western Europe,
Russia, and
North America on mathematics,
apologetics, and the exposition of
scripture.
Lennox is the author of a number of books on the relations between science, religion, and ethics. He has published over 70 peer-reviewed articles on mathematics, co-authored two Oxford Mathematical Monographs, and worked as a translator of Russian mathematics.
He has spoken in many different countries, in conferences and as an academic fellow, including numerous trips to the former Soviet Union.
On 14 March 2012 he presented an edition of the Lent Talks for BBC Radio Four. Lennox has also given lectures at the Veritas Forum on topics such as the relationship between science and religion,
Debates
Lennox has been part of numerous public debates defending the Christian faith, including debates with Christopher Hitchens,
Michael Shermer,
Richard Dawkins,
Lawrence Krauss,
Peter Atkins,
Victor Stenger,
Michael Tooley,
Stephen Law, and
Peter Singer.
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On 3 October 2007, Lennox debated Richard Dawkins at the Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, on Dawkins's views expressed in his book The God Delusion.
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Lennox and Dawkins had a discussion in April 2008 at Trinity College, Oxford, to expand upon topics left undeveloped during The God Delusion Debate.
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On 9 August 2008, Lennox debated Christopher Hitchens at the Edinburgh International Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, on the question of whether Europe should jettison its religious past and welcome the "New Atheism".
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On 23 August 2008, Lennox debated Michael Shermer at the Wesley Conference Centre in Sydney, Australia, on the existence of God.
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On 21 October 2008, Lennox again debated Dawkins at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, the site of the 1860 Oxford evolution debate between Thomas Henry Huxley and Samuel Wilberforce. The debate was titled "Has Science Buried God?".
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On 3 March 2009, Lennox debated Hitchens for the second time at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, on the question "Is God Great?" The debate addressed the validity of some of Hitchens' claims in his book God is Not Great.
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On 20 July 2011, Lennox debated Peter Singer at the Melbourne Town Hall in Melbourne, Australia, on the topic "Is There a God?"
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In August 2021, Lennox was the chief guest for Malhar Fest, hosted by St. Xavier's College, Mumbai.
Personal life
Lennox speaks English, Russian, French, Spanish and German. He is married to Sally and has three children and 10 grandchildren.
[ He has a brother named Gilbert Lennox, previously an elder in Glenabbey Church, Glengormley.]
Works
External links
