Contact: Wesley Strackbein, 210-340-5250 ext. 222, press@visionforum.org 

BOSTON, June 18 /Christian Newswire/ -- On July 3, Vision Forum Ministries will host Calvin vs. Darwin: The Boxing Match of the Millennium -- a vigorous head-to-head debate between two re-enactors representing John Calvin and Charles Darwin's diametrically-opposing worldviews. This "boxing match" will take place during the Reformation 500 Celebration, to be held July 1-4 in Boston, which falls during a year where millions around the world are celebrating two distinct birthdays: the 500th anniversary of Calvin's birth on the one hand, and the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth on the other (as well as the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin's Origin of Species).

"Two days before Richard Dawkins and dozens of other Darwin apologists gather in Cambridge, England to celebrate the legacy of Evolutionism as part of the 2009 Darwin Festival, an audience in Boston will witness a representative of John Calvin -- the heavyweight contender of the Christian faith -- take on his worldview opponent head-to-head," noted Doug Philips, the President of Vision Forum Ministries. "This debate will feature an intense crossfire of ideas as the contrasting worldviews of Calvin and Darwin collide in a great conflict. And the audience will watch as one man's beliefs triumph."

"The major media is having a field day extolling Charles Darwin's 'virtues' during this 200th anniversary year of his birth," Phillips remarked. "And it's high time that the Father of the Modern Theory of Evolution be given a firm counterpunch by the Father of Modern Liberty, John Calvin, whose 500th birthday is also being celebrated this year."

"The real 'God Delusion' is in Darwin's camp, not Calvin's," observed Phillips. "And those who suppress the truth in unrighteousness must not be given free reign."

Phillips, who will referee the debate, readily acknowledges that both Calvin and Darwin's influence have been profound -- that both ideologies possess real world-shaping firepower: "No two men of the millennium have done more to shape the thoughts of mankind or to affect the political and social destiny of nations than Calvin and Darwin -- the former for great good and the glory of God, and the later for unimaginable evil."

"The children of Calvin and the Reformers gave us the rise of nation states that embraced republican representative government. The children of Darwin gave us Marxism and totalitarianism," Phillips explained. "Calvin's legacy included respect for life, a defense of the biblical family, and the rule of law under God. Darwin's philosophical progeny introduced the world to the horrors of eugenics and legalized widespread abortion on demand.

"Where Calvin insisted that law was transcendent, being created by God for the good of man and as a reflection of his unchanging righteousness, the followers of Darwin would insist that laws evolve, that the Bible is non-applicable to matters of the state, and the transcendent standards of morality do not even exist."

Concluded Phillips: "The reforms of Calvin resulted in the blossoming of Christendom. Darwin foreshadowed the darkness of modernity."

In addition to the Calvin vs. Darwin debate, the Reformation 500 Celebration will feature more than thirty history messages on the impact of the Reformation, Faith & Freedom mini-tours of historic Boston, and a Children's Parade. The festivities will climax on America's Independence Day with the world-renowned music and fireworks celebration on the Esplanade by the Charles River with the Boston Pops Orchestra.

To watch a sneak preview of the Calvin vs. Darwin "Boxing Match", click here. To interview Doug Phillips regarding the competing legacies of Calvin and Darwin, contact Wesley Strackbein by e-mail at press@visionforum.org or by phone at (210) 340-5250, ext. 222.