Book Description
Is a thoroughly Christian and biblically informed doctrine of creation compatible with widely held conclusions of modern science, especially biology?For Darrel R. Falk, this is not just an abstract question but one with which he has personally wrestled. A professor of biology, Falk brings together his biblically based understanding of creation and the most current research in biology. The result of his efforts to acknowledge the validity of science and the authority of Scripture is a new paradigm for relating the claims of science to the truths of Christianity. Written with the undergraduate student in mind, this book nonetheless will help anyone who is looking for a place to stand in the creation-evolution debate, fearful that they'll have to choose between intellectual integrity and the faith of the church. Calling for charitable discussions within the church, Falk shows how an original and ongoing interaction of God with creation is fully reconcilable with the kinds of development identified by current biological science.
Customer Reviews:
Disappointing Lack of Rigor.......2007-09-17
This book is highly praised in Francis Collins' foreword, and I found Collins' own book The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief to be a wonderful and inspiring book. But "Coming to Peace with Science" was a big disappointment for me. I suspect it would be entertaining reading for a Dawkins fan because it fills most of its pages with material debunking any literal view of the Bible. I say "the Bible" rather than just "Genesis" because literal interpretations of other portions of scripture are also critiqued, such as Revelations' "four corners of the earth."
For the believer who is indeed seeking to make some intellectual peace with the massive evidence against overly literal readings of the bible regarding origins and certain natural phenomena, Falk doesn't provide much of value. Believers already know scripture, and those that pick up this book are likely looking for something more rigorous than quotes from scripture and appeals to faith. Collins' book, in contrast, comes from the perspective of a believer and a profound respect for scripture, but also shows the way toward consonance between faith and science from a scientific, rather than solely spiritual perspective.
Helps Bridge the Gap.......2007-05-14
Like Darrel Falk, I am an evangelical Christian who is firmly convinced that God used evolution as his plan for creation. It is most helpful to have an author with his credentials discuss this subject headon in a straightforward manner. This book should be on the must read list for people who are honestly searching for the answer to the role of science and faith in their lives.
Once again ignoring the third choice.......2007-04-25
While I applaud the efforts of the author to remain true to Christian faith and also to science, the third and best path has once again been ignored. Old-Earth creationism, as presented by people like Dr. Hugh Ross, who has both a doctorate in physics and astronomy, presents the best method of understanding the literal meaning of Genesis Chapter one. Before any young-earthers blow their stacks, they should REALLY undesrstand, in full, what Dr. Ross teaches and how his understanding of the Hebrew in Genesis is in full agreement with other parts of the Bible in both the Old and New Testaments. It is also in better agreement with both Christian and Jewish scholars throughout history. And Dr. Ross has also shown from the myriad of scientific evidence available, why evolution, as taught in the public schools, is impossible. A better book to read is "Creation and Time" by Dr. Hugh Ross, whose organization is called "Reasons to Believe". And Dr. Ross has people with doctorates in Biology on his staff.
never recevied book.......2007-03-27
I don't know how this book is. Amazon shipped to the wrong address and the never reimbursed me after they sent me an email that stated they would.
Definitely worth the read........2007-01-12
Anyone who believes the earth is only 6000 years old should be reading this book. Anyone who believes science and Scripture (not religion) do not relate, should be reading this book. Falk does a great job of pointing out where Scripture and science walk hand in hand. As it should, it has too, for the Bible is the Revealed Word and Will of God. All of sciences findings are confined to it, and not vise versa. I cannot say I agree with all of his study tools, the use of the NIV being one of them. However as I read I had all my Bible reference tools next to me and there still was not one contradiction. A pure joyful and humble experience.
Average customer rating:
- Calculations are only as good as your numbers
- Pants on fire?
- Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
- Very Interesting
- History as Science Fiction
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History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
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ASIN: 2913621058 |
Book Description
Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.
Customer Reviews:
Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03
Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.
Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19
Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09
There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.
For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.
Very Interesting.......2007-03-07
It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.
History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10
Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.
I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.
Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.
Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.
I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.
This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.
Book Description
Charles Darwin has been at the center of white-hot public debate for more than a century. In Living With Darwin, Philip Kitcher peers into the flames swirling around Darwin's theory, sifting through the scientific evidence for evolution, Creation Science, and Intelligent Design, and revealing why evolution has been the object of such vehement attack. Kitcher ranges back in time to provide valuable perspective on the present controversy, describing the many puzzling issues that blocked evolution's acceptance in the early years, and explaining how scientific research eventually found the answers to these conundrums. Interestingly, Kitcher shows that many of these early questions have been resurrected in recent years by proponents of Intelligent Design. In fact, Darwin himself considered the issue of intelligent design, and amassed a mountain of evidence that effectively refuted the idea. Kitcher argues that the problem with Intelligent Design isn't that it's "not science," as many critics say, but that it's "dead science," raising questions long resolved by scientists. But after providing a convincing case for evolution, Kitcher points out that it is also important to recognize the cost of Darwin's success--the price of "living with Darwin." Darwinism has a profound effect on our understanding of ourselves and our place in the universe, on our religious beliefs and aspirations. It is in truth the focal point of a larger clash between religious faith and the discoveries of modern science. Unless we can resolve this larger issue, the war over evolution will go on. Evolution is a dangerous idea. In this balanced and sympathetic volume, Philip Kitcher illuminates this idea while suggesting ways to defuse the danger, suggestions that embrace both the religious impulse and the force of scientific evidence.
Customer Reviews:
Darwin's Personal Life.......2007-09-05
An excllent sumary in small hard-cover format of Charles Darwin's life. It reflects the agony he experienced in knowing that his discoveries were totally contrary to the 1800's teachings of the Church and startling contradictions to the book of Genesis.
Carl Bauer, Prescott AZ
Finding the true path.......2007-09-05
It's a bit depressing, seeing a man of global outlook having to produce a book of such limited audience. Kitcher's philosophical study is an excellent summation of the false ideas forwarded by anti-Darwin forces in the US. His approach is a needed one, that "creationists" of various stripes there must be addressed in rational terms, and on their own ground. He accomplishes the task with extraordinary skill and reserve. It's a badly-needed book, but it's a pity is that this is so. It's to be hoped Kitcher's well-reasoned techniques applied here will reach a significant portion of that targeted readership.
His approach is to categorise the themes of creationist writers as regards the value of the "science" they purport to espouse. He puts creationists in three basic forms: "Genesis" - the biblical "literalists"; "novelty" - special acts of creation by some supernatural interference; and the "anti-selectionists" - composed of the newer "Intelligent Design" advocates. "Anti-selectionism" has found a niche by contesting the concept of the Tree of Life, the graphic representation of gradual change in organisms over time to produce new forms. It isn't evolution itself these writers contest, but the details not readily explained by what we know now. Aimless mutations aren't enough to explain the complexity of some elements in certain organisms, they argue. Some undetectable "force" must be involved. The first two forms are adhered to by sincere, if dogmatic followers. The third is one that must be considered on the evidence under study. That consideration must adhere to the rules of scientific investigation to be valid.
Kitcher understands that the challenge of the anti-selectionists isn't based on scientific, but on cultural, values. He recognises that the real agenda of "Intelligent Design" is to give religious people a way to grasp Darwin's concept within a framework of supernatural forces. They have been forced to concede that "young-Earth" biblical creation is untenable. They also recognise that "special creations" aren't supported by the fossil or genetic record. The only way to allow their deity a means of keeping its hand in is to give some tampering power. Bacterial flagella and some internal functions of the body argue against Darwin's "descent with modification". Building up certain proteins to perform the tasks they do today cannot be sustained, they contend. Kitcher responds by noting that while the "anti-selectionists" can make this arguement due to lack of hard fossil evidence for how these functions evolved, neither do the Darwin-detractors offer any evidence for divine tampering to establish them.
The author's classifications may be novel, but the issues involved have been presented often. What makes this book important and necessary is Kitcher's resistance to sinking into wearying invective. His prose is bright and conversational, his lining out of evidence firmly dispassionate and his conclusions irrefutable. He makes no unwarrented claims, and fully recognises that gaps in our knowledge remain to be filled.
Another gap, however, must also be contended with. What to do about those who feel that "faith" is a human necessity? The author offers an historical synopsis of what the Enlightenment contributed to our view of the supernatural. Of all the challenges to Christian belief, it was Darwin's that was the most devastating. It was one thing to displace the Earth from the centre of the universe. It was quite another to remove any supernatural element from life's workings. In particular, it's devastating to some to learn that humans are not the subject focus of divine attention. Kitcher's answer is that a new form of "faith" must emerge, and be encouraged. That "faith" will not resist natural selection, but embrace it. That new religion will combine a form of Darwinist humanism with a sense of the spiritual as a social mucilage. There will be no "god", but there will be a drive to reduce pain and suffering so far as possible. It won't be easy to establish such a concept, particularly in a nation with such vocal forces objecting to natural selection having a role in human affairs. But success depends on the withdrawal of artificial objections to Darwin's ideas. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
Another Round in the Darwin-Intelligent Design Wars.......2007-08-29
I found this to be a very helpful addition to the literature on the continuing conflict between evolutionists and those supporting intelligent design. Unlike some other books on this topic, the author does not try to dispose of ID by declaring it unscientific; rather his view is to demonstrate that it represents "dead science," discarded in 1859-1870, much like alchemy. In other words, the scientific "basis" for ID has not progressed since the days of Paley's "Natural Theology" (1826), while the scientific evidence supporting Darwin has grown tremendously in depth and reach. It is also helpful that the book covers the entire history of creationism, since the author addresses "genesis creationism," "novelty creationism", and "anti-selectionism." The author effectively demonstrates in language generally understandable to the layperson why each of these three approaches is defective in analysis and foundation. His discussion of how DNA and modern genetics support evolution is particularly effective and helpful.
Along the way, he poses some tough questions for those advocating ID. For example, when does "intelligence" act, and how does it affect life. The author's discussion of the "concrete case" argument, i.e., how could complex structures such as the human eye be the result of evolution, and what he terms the "computational argument" that invokes mathematical probabilities as an argument against evolution, casts much welcome light on these contentions. Kitcher is quick to admit there are gaps in the fossil records, and that as of the present some important dimensions of evolution have not yet been proven. But in his view the direction science is going suggests that more and more of these issues will be resolved in the future.
The final chapter, "A Mess of Pottage," focuses upon a key point. For the author, there really is no way Darwinism can be compatible with religion that posits supernatural dimensions. For him, it is either Drawin or God, and there is no way to compromise. There is certainly room to disagree with the book on this point. Instead, the author suggests that there is still room for what he terms "spiritual religion." Much like the author's "Abusing Science: The Case Against Creatinism" (1982), this book is very well written, and at 186 pages fairly compact, including 19 pages of helpful notes. Whichever side one is on in this debate, this book is challenging and worthy of consideration.
Living IN Darwin.......2007-08-05
Although my parents insisted I attend and participate in a christian church environment, they also insisted that I could make up my own mind when I was of age. After visiting various denominational churches,I reached the conclusion that although the basic tenets of Christian religion were commendable,notions of 'creation by a diety'were unacceptable for me.
When a friend gave me a copy of 'Origin of Species' I virtually devoured it.
It is important for a reader of this work to do so with a truly open mind but in the final analysis they will be faced with confronting their ingrained 'faith' or beliefs because those lessons taught in sunday school to impressionable young minds are difficult to abandon.
I have become an unrepentant Atheist and have in turn exposed my children to scientific analysis rather than non-scientific faith based education.
I have confidently offered this book to them for extra reading as it deals with the issues of evolution Vs creationism in a scientific manner without emotional religious bigotry.
Perhaps the fact that I came to live in Darwin Northern Territory Australia, named after Charles Darwin who visited here during his voyages has heightened my interest in his theories and laid a solid foundation to scientific study
I believe I can live with Darwin.......2007-08-03
Ever since the Origin of Species was published in 1859, Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection has been viewed as dangerous to Christian faith. This is especially true for adherents of biblical literalism who view it as a threat and have taken various steps to assuage its effects on the faithful. The most recent of which comes under the title "Intelligent Design." [ID] In his book, Living with Darwin, philosopher of science Philip Kitcher sets out to attack claims made by proponents of Intelligent Design by showing their weakness as a "scientific" as well as a "religious" hypothesis." And ultimately demonstrating why a Darwinian orthodox explanation is still the best option available.
In chapter one, "Disinterring Darwin," Kitcher refers to [ID] as "dead science" a doctrine that "once had its day in scientific inquiry and discussion but has rightly been discarded" (8). This means that at some point in the past it was seriously considered a workable scientific hypothesis but for good reasons it was abandoned and left for dead, to be replaced by a hypothesis that does a better job of explaining the natural world. But Kitcher recognizes that this is not the last word for proponents of [ID], or as he likes to call them "resurrection men." The [ID] proponents have other tricks up their sleeve as Kitcher demonstrates. For one, there isn't just one strand of intelligent design that evolutionists have to deal with. Kitcher concentrates on a total of three anti-evolution approaches: "Genesis creationism," "novelty creationism," and "anti-selctionism" respectively. This makes it a little more difficult for proponents of evolution to refer to [ID] as non-science (nonsense) because aspects of these other hypothesis could easily meet the requirements of a science. Instead, Kitcher seriously considers the [ID] program by playing their game and addressing their objections to Darwinian orthodoxy. Secondly, Kitcher recognizes a two-part distinction between a "negative thesis' and a "positive thesis" in [ID]. The negative thesis says that life as a whole is too complex to have come about the way the theory of natural selection explains it. On the other hand, the positive thesis says that there is an alternative causal agency to natural selection which is thought to be intelligent. Now it shouldn't automatically be assumed that this "intelligence" is the supernatural creator God of the Bible. Kitcher will address this subject in the final chapter (chapter 5). Suffice it to say that merely labeling something "intelligent" doesn't get one closer to the supernaturalism one wishes to prove. In fact, it may just make that understanding of a designer more problematic when one actually considers what kind of world actually exists.
In chapter two Kitcher addresses genesis creationism and ultimately says "Good-bye to Genesis" and any compatibility of a literal interpretation of the flood story with the fossil record in the layers of rocks. The initial problem for adherents of a worldwide flood mentioned in the book of Genesis is that the layers give an ordered appearance with extinct animal fossils at the bottom with the most recent animals at the top (as it should be if the earth is very old and animals have gone extinct). There is, however, a hypothesis by Genesis creationists that Kitcher entertains. Genesis creationists propose that God created all of the animals at one time. If this is the case, then it is impossible that the fossils at the bottom of the strata can be older than the fossils at the top. Instead, they believe the Noahic flood could have mixed around the fossils and distributed them the way scientists currently observe. On problem with this interpretation is that the layers are ordered by ecologies so that it would be unlikely that, barring a miracle, the flood could have washed all of the fossils in the exact arrangement we have them. Not only would one have to grant that God caused the flood, but God also meticulously controlled where each animal would be deposited in the layers of strata. Another problem with a literal interpretation that besets Genesis creationism is the scene Kitcher paints of Noah and his family trying to care for all of the animals, making sure they stayed alive and didn't eat the other. There is also the trouble of creating artificial environments for each animal. If it truly was a worldwide flood then not all animals will obviously be able to survive in a sedentary environment like the ark. When one truly thinks on these things it does become harder to take the biblical account of the flood story seriously. I even found myself laughing when I read Kitcher's account of the birds that weren't taken onto the ark trying to find shelter while Noah and his family fought them off. I suppose God would be very displeased if any other birds than the two "He" told Noah to bring with him onto the ark got on board. When one actually consider the story and the fact that there are flood myths in other religious texts, you see that this is more likely story rife with symbolism and not an account of a historical even that can be used as scientific hypothesis. Kitcher doubts that even the "resurrection men" would want to bring this story back from the dead. As Kitcher explains in the chapter, it was rightly buried in 1831 by a reverend Adam Sedgwick who was a very meticulous geologist and had done the requisite legwork. If the good reverend saw fit to bury it, why not those others who adhere to a literalist interpretation?
In chapter three, "One Tree of Life," Kitcher examines the claims of novelty creationists. But when it comes down to it there are only two options. You can either believe that newer organism's branch from older ones in a tree-like fashion, or they are specially created by a supernatural intelligence. Kitcher exhibits patience once again by taking the claims of the novelty creationists seriously but ultimately showing that their hypothesis fails. For one, Kitcher points out that we cannot ultimately trust the competence of a "designer" who has the ability to create these newer organisms but leaves traces of the structure of previous organisms. Why not start from scratch with a better design than to reuse the same stuff that possibly caused an organism to go extinct? If evolution is correct, then it would appear that the newer organism is a modified descendent of the previous organism instead of one that came into existence ex nihilo (out of nothing) at the whimsy of the "designer." Examples such as this raise more questions than the novelty creationists can answer. Ironically, this is how [ID] thrives. As Kitcher observes, the task of explaining all the details of evolution to a novelty creationist is "Sisyphean, that no sooner has this particular stone reaches the summit than another one will appear requiring the same time-consuming work" (70-71). Evolution is not as quick to answer all of the objections as [ID] is to raise them. But this isn't necessarily a bad thing since it is mostly sophistry, and [ID] still has the problem of providing answers to the objections it raises to evolution's answers. And at the end of the day Darwinian evolution by descent with modification wins out over a special act of creation by a supernatural designer that can't seem to measure up to the omnipotent and omnibenevolent God of the Bible that proponents of [ID] ultimately wish to defend.
Chapter 4 examines the anti-selectionist's rhetoric and asks if natural selection is "at the mercy of chance?" In this chapter Kitcher identifies two types of arguments at the heart of the anti-selectionists. The first type is what Kitcher calls the "cumulative case argument." This is the view which states that challenges natural selection by calling into question it ability to act on certain types of organisms that are too "complex." The eye is a common example of an organ that couldn't have evolved via natural selection because it would need all of its working parts to have evolved. This was a problem that originally beset Darwin but was addressed in his time. Kitcher observes how anti-selectionists arbitrarily decide how these organisms must have been like and why there explanation is no better than an invention of his as to why we observe the eye as complex today. I think the point he is trying to make is that we don't know the initial conditions for how something as complex as the eye evolved. However, just because we haven't solved the problem doesn't mean it is unsolvable. Furthermore, Kitcher questions the "positive" alternative that the anti-selectionists offer in the way of what most likely is a supernatural intelligence. But why is this better explanation for how certain organisms evolved? Kitcher observes that any good theory is flexible enough to undergo change. As a scientific hypothesis a supernatural designer cannot be scrutinized. If this is the case, then it seems that we have reached the end of the road in scientific investigation. This is not good science and Kitcher knows it. The second approach is what Kitcher calls the "computational case argument." Unlike the concrete case, the computational case deals with probabilities instead of the complexity of an organism being intelligently designed. And it appears that the odds are not in favor of [ID] when one seriously considers the way they use probabilities. It all seems like a carefully crafted part of their rhetorical attack on evolution since it appears that they have an agenda in the way they use probability theory to their advantage. But through careful scrutinizing Kitcher walks through several arguments (e.g., blood-clotting mechanism) and ultimately shows why they fail.
The strengths of this book lie in the final chapter which he calls "A Mess of Pottage." The phrase is associated with a story in the Bible where Esau sells his birthright to his brother Jacob for a bowl of lentil stew. Kitcher uses this phrase as a metaphor for Darwinian evolution to show the concern of a supporter of supernaturalistic religion that they are surrendering something far more valuable and everlasting for something vacuous and temporal. For some the trade-off isn't worth it and instead they choose to remain faithful to their doctrines. What Kitcher does is introduce a "spiritual religion" into the conversation. This way one could have their lentil stew and eat it too. If you take Kitcher's critique of the doctrines of providentialist faith seriously, then this may be the only alternative open to live with Darwin without falling into an extreme secularism or atheism which strips all of the value from religion or falling back into supernaturalism with the problems it contains, most notably its insoluble problem of suffering vis-à-vis an intelligent designer who is omnipotent and omnibenevolent. And you can still have your most cherished stories without taking them as literal historical happenings. It is doubtful that everyone will be satisfied with Kitcher's approach. As a matter of fact, a cursory glance of reviews of his book show that some people cannot accept Kitcher's alternative. I say, so much for those folks. Personally, I found it enlightening and a suitable alternative for the time being. But I also have abandoned supernatural religion for a naturalistic approach called "Panentheism" adopted by philosophers such as Charles Hartshorne, David Ray Griffin, and John B. Cobb just to name a few, so I have less trouble agreeing with Kitcher. The doctrine of Panentheism literally states that "all is in God." So in this panentheistic approach one could use the analogy that we are individual cells in a supercellular organism, i.e. God. It is far beyond the scope of this review to go into detail with this approach. I brought it up because I thought it would be interesting to see how Kitcher would respond to a semi-popular theology such as this. Regardless, it seems clear that in order for one to live with Darwin she is going to have to abandon his faithfulness to supernatural theology.
Amazon.com
Over the centuries, theories have abounded as to why human beings have a seemingly irrational attraction to God and religious experiences. In Why God Won't Go Away authors Andrew Newberg, M.D., Eugene D'Aquili, M.D., and Vince Rause offer a startlingly simple, yet scientifically plausible opinion: humans seek God because our brains are biologically programmed to do so.
Researchers Newberg and D'Aquili used high-tech imaging devices to peer into the brains of meditating Buddhists and Franciscan nuns. As the data and brain photographs flowed in, the researchers began to find solid evidence that the mystical experiences of the subjects "were not the result of some fabrication, or simple wishful thinking, but were associated instead with a series of observable neurological events," explains Newberg. "In other words, mystical experience is biologically, observably, and scientifically real.... Gradually, we shaped a hypothesis that suggests that spiritual experience, at its very root, is intimately interwoven with human biology." Lay readers should be warned that although the topic is fascinating, the writing is geared toward scientific documentation that defends the authors' hypothesis. For a more palatable discussion, seek out Deepak Chopra's How to Know God, in which he also explores this fascinating evidence of spiritual hard-wiring. --Gail Hudson
Book Description
Why have we humans always longed to connect with something larger than ourselves? Why does consciousness inevitably involve us in a spiritual quest? Why, in short, won't God go away? Theologians, philosophers, and psychologists have debated this question through the ages, arriving at a range of contradictory and ultimately unprovable answers. But in this brilliant, groundbreaking new book, researchers Andrew Newberg and Eugene d'Aquili offer an explanation that is at once profoundly simple and scientifically precise: the religious impulse is rooted in the biology of the brain.
Newberg and d'Aquili base this revolutionary conclusion on a long-term investigation of brain function and behavior as well as studies they conducted using high-tech imaging techniques to examine the brains of meditating Buddhists and Franciscan nuns at prayer. What they discovered was that intensely focused spiritual contemplation triggers an alteration in the activity of the brain that leads us to perceive transcendent religious experiences as solid and tangibly real. In other words, the sensation that Buddhists call "oneness with the universe" and the Franciscans attribute to the palpable presence of God is not a delusion or a manifestation of wishful thinking but rather a chain of neurological events that can be objectively observed, recorded, and actually photographed.
The inescapable conclusion is that God is hard-wired into the human brain.
In
Why God Won't Go Away, Newberg and d'Aquili document their pioneering explorations in the field of neurotheology, an emerging discipline dedicated to understanding the complex relationship between spirituality and the brain. Along the way, they delve into such essential questions as whether humans are biologically compelled to make myths; what is the evolutionary connection between religious ecstasy and sexual orgasm; what do Near Death Experiences reveal about the nature of spiritual phenomena; and how does ritual create its own neurological environment. As their journey unfolds, Newberg and d'Aquili realize that a single, overarching question lies at the heart of their pursuit: Is religion merely a product of biology or has the human brain been mysteriously endowed with the unique capacity to reach and know God?
Blending cutting-edge science with illuminating insights into the nature of consciousness and spirituality,
Why God Won't Go Away bridges faith and reason, mysticism and empirical data. The neurological basis of how the brain identifies the "real" is nothing short of miraculous. This fascinating, eye-opening book dares to explore both the miracle and the biology of our enduring relationship with God.
Customer Reviews:
An interesting perspective on the neuroethology of religion.......2007-09-22
This book explores the relationship between the brain's functioning and religion and myth. The authors note that (page 8): "Gradually, we shaped a hypothesis that suggests that spiritual experience, at its very root, is intimately interwoven with human biology. That biology, in some way, compels the spiritual urge." In short (page 9), "We will examine the biological drive that compels us to make myths, and the neurological machinery that gives these myths shape and power."
In the study of evolution, one key question is: What is the survival value of a particular behavior? What is its advantage in natural selection? How does it enhance survival odds of individuals? This book, as others, suspects that the ability to hold religious values and myths, in fact, enhances survival value of individuals and even groups. The authors note (page 138): "Their religion would serve to strengthen bonds between individuals and to encourage more peaceful and productive interaction in the community at large. Stronger social groups, of course, would mean better lives for clan members, which might ultimately result in higher rates of survival as well."
The authors, including some well-respected researchers in brain structure and function, use standard neurophysiological technology to assess the brain's functioning with respect to religious behaviors. They report studies that suggest that certain brain areas are involved in religious-related behaviors.
The book also notes that the authors do not want to set up biology versus religion dichotomy. They observe that the fact that the brain is built to accept religious values and beliefs does not mean that religious beliefs are wrong. Simply, they assert that there is machinery in place for people to be predisposed toward accepting a belief in God, or some other deity/entity.
This is an intriguing book. Readers may respond very negatively or positively, based on their beliefs. But the argument in the book makes on think about important issues in humans' lives. If for no other reason, that makes this worthwhile reading.
The Mystical Origins of Religion........2006-11-25
_Why God Won't Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief_ by Andrew Newberg, M.D., Eugene d'Aquili, M.D., Ph.D., and Vince Rause is a fascinating look into the brain science which seeks to provide an understanding of mystical experience (i.e. the experience of God). While many of the publications of scientific writers are openly hostile to religion, this book takes a different approach to the subject and attempts to shed light on religion through science without demeaning it. As scientists, the authors of this book find it necessary to maintain a position of neutrality on the existence of God; however, they do note that religious experience may be hardwired into our brains. How this religious experience is subsequently interpreted then depends on the religious beliefs (or lack thereof) of the individual undergoing the experience (according to the authors, at least). Furthermore, the mere fact that religious belief may be hardwired into our brains says nothing about the existence of God. The religious believer need only argue that God constructed our brains so as to allow us to experience Him; while, the atheist may propose an evolutionary explanation for the origins of such experience. Thus, the question of the existence of God, really remains a question for metaphysics and not science (despite recent popularized scientific forays into the question of God's existence). Furthermore, as the authors point out, to understand the processes at work in our brain it is necessary to understand the relationship between our brains and our minds. This raises the age old philosophical conundrum of the "mind/body problem". One solution to this problem is that advocated by physicalists who reject the mental and maintain that the mind is exactly the brain. However, the authors of this book propose another solution to this problem that differs from both materialism (or really "physicalism") and dualism (cf. Cartesian dualism which separates mind from brain). They contend that "'mind' and `brain' are two views of the same reality - mind is how the brain experiences its own functioning, and brain provides the structure of mind." This solution is proposed as a working understanding of both "mind" and "brain" and as the appropriate understanding of the relationship between the two.
The authors begin this book by discussing an experiment conducted on a meditating Buddhist. When the individual in the experiment reaches the peak moment of his mediation, he pulls a string which will allow the researchers to view the bloodflow in his brain (using a SPECT camera) after the injection of a radioactive substance into his arm. Experiments such as this have shown a lack of activation of what the researchers have termed an orientation association area (OAA), which is theorized to be responsible for orienting the individual in physical space. However, in order to perform this orientation, the OAA must first draw a sharp distinction between self/not-self. What the researchers have found though, is that during the peak moments of meditative experience, the mediators appear to have reduced activity in this region, suggesting that the boundaries between "self" and "other" are blurred. This precisely corresponds to the language used by mediators and mystics from time immemorial. After completing this discussion of the experiment, the authors take us on a tour of the brain's machinery (which is responsible for producing our perceptual experiences). The authors also outline various autonomic states and spiritual experience, the emotional brain (the limbic system), and how the mind understands the world (cognitive functions). Following this, the authors provide an evolutionary understanding of the origin of myth-making, showing its universality and its roots in even the most primitive of human ancestors. (It should be noted that the use of the term "myth" as understood by the authors does not imply that it is a "falsehood" or "fabrication". Rather, the authors use "myth" in the original Greek sense of "mythos" (translated as "word") or "musteion" which means to "close the eyes or the mouth", rooting our understanding of the term "myth" in "an experience of darkness and silence".) The authors reference in particular the works of Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung and his protégé Joseph Campbell, and their theories regarding the universality of archetypes and the role of such archetypes in the formation of myths. The authors also discuss the role of ritual, showing its apparent evolutionary origins, as well as the role of ritual in inducing mystical states. The authors contend that the repetitive actions involved in ritual are likely to induce mystical states as well as strong emotions. The authors also relate ritual to the process of myth-making. The authors next discuss mysticism proper, arguing that mysticism (an often abused term) is not to be understood in terms of psychosis or mental imbalance. Indeed, the authors contend that spontaneous mystical experiences are common in the general population (perhaps as high as 35%), and that mystics differ from psychotics in that their experiences do not often lead to grandiosity and anxiety but rather to a sense of humility and well-being. The authors show how such experiences relate to neurobiology (and their research on meditators). Following this, the authors turn their attention to the origins of religion. Here, the authors show that religion is not being cast aside (as many 19th and early 20th century atheists contended that it would be), and they contend that the reason for this is because of spontaneous mystical experiences which lead the religious to seek God. The authors contend that the religious experience of the Absolute is felt to be something "realer than real" by those who experience it. Furthermore, the authors propose an interesting theory as to the origins of fanaticism (claiming that fundamentalists and fanatics may often experience the "Absolute" in such a manner that leads them to believe they have attained absolute truth and thus reject all other conflicting viewpoints). The book is perhaps weakest however when it contends that all religious experience is fundamentally the same and that all religions arise from this same experience. This seems reductionistic and overly-simplistic. While there is certainly much good done in the vast majority of the world's positive religions, there is little reason to assume that they all are rooted in the same experience. The authors end this book with a discussion of the coming role of "neurotheology" in helping mankind to make sense of his religious experience.
As a product of scientific research, this book is very interesting, in that it attempts to use the methods of science to shed light on religious experience. It is sure to offend many of those who rigorously maintain either that religion is false or that science can say nothing about religious experience. Nevertheless, it is important to note where science reaches its limits. It is at these limits where metaphysics takes over and science can no longer tell us anything more about the nature of the ultimate Reality.
Toward Bridging the Gap.......2006-08-04
This book is an excellent engagement of several critical and interesting issues on the nature of spiritual experience and accompanying belief systems. As scientists with apparently little earlier background in religion and spirituality, the authors do a good job in getting to the bottom of what inspires religious beliefs--ultimately, in their view, a profound "spiritual" experience had by mystics, shamans, and others from diverse cultures all over the globe. They explain the neurology of how this likely works, in understandable lay terms. Along with this is a studied attempt to set it all in an evolutionary context. Yet this does not lead them to eliminate the possibility of actual spiritual reality behind the biology and its evolution. This is a very helpful approach, as opposed to the absolutism and reductionism of a decreasing number, but still the strong majority of scientists.
As a serious, long-time student of religion, I found their attitude toward religious beliefs respectful and their analysis careful. Still, their approach is primarily scientific, and makes a contribution to our knowledge of the important biological processes assisting the development of religious beliefs. Their approach is not simplistic, and was I intrigued to see that at least Dr. Newberg (his co-author, Dr. D'Aquili, died prior to the book's completion) seemed to personally be opened, by his research, toward acceptance of spiritual experiences as perhaps genuine windows into a larger-than-material reality. Yet, he is careful to indicate where he is speculating versus where he is reporting solid science.
People who want only science, only hard data, or struggle intellectually with the increasingly common science-theology interface that this book indulges, will find reason to object. But this book makes a contribution to that body of literature, which continues to grow. These works, of which "Why God Won't Go Away" is a prime example, enlighten our understanding of what makes good sense and is pro-social and healthy in spirituality versus what is dysfunctional.
I greatly appreciated the final chapter, which has been and will be debated and objected to by some. In it, the authors make the solid point that science itself involves "a type of mythology, a collection of explanatory stories that resolve the mysteries of existence and help us cope with the challenges of life" (p. 170). Another way of saying what I think they mean is that everyone, including scientists, are "religious" in the broadest sense of the word.
The kind of work represented in this book helps foster clearer and deeper dialog between two realms which are often too rigidly set against one another. The authors caution against taking literally the "foundational assumptions" of either religion or science. "But if we understand the metaphorical nature of their insights, then their incompatibilities are reconciled, and each becomes more powerfully and transcendently real" (p. 171).
Why do people believe in God?.......2006-07-15
Who do people believe in God? Is it a phenomenon, a perceptual illusion of your brain or is God a real, quanitfiable entity?
Surprisingly, according to this book, the only difference between's one experience of "oneness" during prayer and one's experience of say, enjoying a concert, is merely in the different areas of the brain that are fired by the activity.
And what fires humans to experience spirituality? Not as theologeons but scientists, Drs Newberg, D'Aquili in collaboration with Vince Rause speak about what their clinical testing has shown on what they describe as the area of "neurotheology" or a scientific study of the basis of religious belief.
Not surprisingly, they are not the first scientists to attempt to rise to the occassion of answering this question.
However, they do distinguish themselves for having produced a particularly and democratically accessible easy to read book that briefly expounds their findings. And like any good book on religion, they also include guest appearances by great thinkers from history by quoting liberally from Albert Einstein, C.S. Lewis, Carl Sagan, Erwin Schroedinger not to mention leaders and founders of the world's constituted religions.
However, like any book on religion, it also biographically shows the conceit of its authors in the way that works on religion usually seem to do. Careful thinkers, the authors discuss "oneness"; they quote people who've experienced it; still the same, their ability to so casually dissemble the experience leaves you wondering whether they've actually ever felt it themselves.
It's not bad but it is different to merely discuss someone achieving "oneness" instead of ever doing it yourself.
Why God Wont Go Away.......2006-05-22
In this fascinating novel, Why God Won't Go Away, authors Andrew Newberg and Eugene D'Aquili document their explorations and experiments in order to connect the biology of the brain to the religious impulse or belief. Newberg and D'Aquili blend advance technology and science into the nature of consciousness and spirituality. The main question they face is why, with all this advanced technology, do people still continue to believe in a higher power? Throughout history many theories have been disproved by science except for one; the belief in God or a higher power.
Newberg and Eugene perform many neurological tests on people while meditating and they discover amazing results; the orientation part of the brain that is constantly working, even while sleeping, dramatically slows during meditation. Could this prove that people really can be in a state where they are in touch with god or is it merely a complete state of relaxation? This is just one of the questions the authors face throughout the novel. They also cover why the brain is compelled to make up myths. Humans want to have an explanation for everything to block out their own anxieties, therefore make up myths to explain experiences that our brains cannot make sense of. The authors also touch upon how the brain deciphers the difference between reality and fiction everyday.
The overall conclusion is humans want to feel connected with something more powerful than them. They want to feel protected and safe. God won't go away because science has proven that our minds are drawn by the intuition of deeper reality, a sense of oneness, where suffering vanishes and all desires are at peace. As long as our brains are arranged the way they are, as long as our minds are capable of sensing a deeper reality, spirituality will continue to shape the human experience, and the concept of god will not go away.
Newberg and D'Aquili do an excellent job of blending science and religion, two very different subjects. I thought this book was excellent and I highly recommend it.
Book Description
"I'm an evolutionary biologist and a Christian," states Stanford professor Joan Roughgarden at the outset of her groundbreaking new book, Evolution and Christian Faith: Reflections of an Evolutionary Biologist. From that perspective, she has written an eloquent and persuasive discourse on reconciling evolutionary biology and the Bible.
Perhaps only someone with Roughgarden's unique academic standing could examine so well controversial issues such as the teaching of intelligent design in public schools, or the potential flaws in Darwin's theory of evolution. Certainly Roughgarden is uniquely suited to reference both the minutiae of scientific processes and the implication of Biblical verses. Whether the topic is mutation rates and lizards or the hidden meanings behind St. Paul's letters, Evolution and Christian Faith distils complex arguments into everyday understanding. Roughgarden has scoured the Bible and scanned the natural world, finding examples time and again, not of conflict, but of harmony.
The result is an accessible and intelligent context for seeing a Christian vision of the world within evolutionary biology. In the ongoing debates of religion versus science, Evolution and Christian Faith will be seen as a work of major significance, written for contemporary readers who wonder how-or if-they can embrace scientific advances while maintaining their traditional values.
Customer Reviews:
A needed presentation.......2007-05-12
Excellent and honest with plenty of biblical references.
Very well written
A Christian's failed defense of Darwinism.......2007-04-16
As a Jew I don't belong to the first in my preceding heading, but neither do I accept the second, contrary to the author's contention that "It is only Christians...who are challenging the teaching of evolution..." (p.11).
Above the title on the dust jacket of this book is the line: "WHAT JESUS AND DARWIN HAVE IN COMMON". Considering that Jesus is held by believers to be the incarnation of God, it is quite bold of one believer to elevate Darwin to a like status. The author indeed has through decades as an evolutionary biologist been what I see as indoctrinated regarding what is considered unshakable truth of at least much of evolutionary theory, which of course determines the origin of species, traditionally viewed as God's province. Author Roughgarden thus states that "The single tree of life is the basic fact of evolution" (p.13).
She argues (pp.14-15) that all organisms stem from the same ancestry because they share DNA, the chemical that genes are made from. As an example she cites paternity analysis, "we can tell whether people are related by seeing if their DNA is the same." Ironically, it is the people NOT related that point to the flawed logic. Those people and other organisms differ sufficiently in DNA not to be the relatives. The fact that all organisms share DNA to a great degree does not establish common ancestry, but can be owing to DNA constituting stuff from which organisms are made.
However, I do not wish to dwell on this aspect of evolution, because it bypasses the crux of the argument dividing Darwinians and their opponents, and which Dr. Roughgarden virtually ignores. It is that Darwinism is built on the denial of any purpose in the formation of organisms, on the supposition that only "blind" forces are responsible.
She devotes a chapter to "Evolution's Direction" (p.49) and insists that natural selection, calling it natural breeding, does have direction, unlike seemingly argued. The direction appears to be the known adaptation, but the question is not direction, applying to any event, but directedness--whether an event has an aim, a purpose. The author objects (pp.57-8) to a clergyman's claim that "one can clearly discern purpose and design in the natural world", and says that for these "to be considered facts of nature, some equipment would be needed or statistical test devised to demonstrate it."
I agree with her in a sense. One should demonstrate claimed facts, and this also applies to Darwinism. But I will focus on the purpose, aims, in question. Those aims are by proponents of Intelligent Design, a subject given another chapter by the author (p.80), considered displayed by the complex functionality of the organism's structure. Sounds reasonable, doesn't it? More so than the fantastically stretched probabilities of accidental formation alleged by Darwinians. Nevertheless, the usefulness of the structure may itself not imply that it was designed for that purpose; one may wish it shown that such goal-directedness actually occurred. Dr. Roughgarden resorts to ridicule like "imagine animals stumbling around blindly until the intelligent designer plops eyes into empty eye sockets" (p.87). Perhaps most extreme is her charge "The intelligent designer makes miracles. The many irreducibly complex structures that organisms are said to possess constitute miracles their lineage has supposedly accumulated through time" (p.88). She then continues (p.95), "Intelligent design asks you to believe in God on the basis of miracles", and makes effort to discount Jesus' miracles, as not intended to prove God. The last, incidentally, does again not imply that some miracles may not lead to proof of God.
There is no need, however, to speak of miracles, or assume that organisms or their parts suddenly pop into existence. We know that every individual organism forms gradually, from smallest beginnings in germination, to full-grown maturity. And in this process, aims can indeed be detected. As I tried to bring to attention in other reviews and still find the need to do, this process of development, as well as the organism's other activities, are well known to have an aim, namely self-preservation. In other words, the purpose of self-preservation is an overwhelming phenomenon characterizing every living thing, if totally overlooked in the discussed disputes.
To speak of miracles in this respect is consequently pointless. Miracles are understood as events contradicting laws of nature, and the goal of self-preservation, distinguishing life from the lifeless, can be comprehended as part of nature's order.
a little gem.......2007-03-20
Joan Roughgarden, an evolutionary biologist at Stanford since 1972 and an active Christian in her Episcopal church, wrote this book, she says, to provide a succinct statement of exactly what evolutionary biology does and does not know, and how the Bible relates to that scientific knowledge. The book is short enough to read in a few sittings, has no footnotes at all, avoids bogging down in secondary literature on the subject, and is written at a level for people with limited knowledge of science. I especially appreciated her irenic spirit.
At its simplest level evolution teaches that all of life is related in one big family tree, and that species change over space and time through "natural breeding" (as opposed to artificial breeding, for example, that farmers and others do today). Because of random mutations in the genes that are passed on from the "original" to the "copies," changes occur, some of which are favorable and some of which are deleterious. These mutations are random, but whether the overall evolutionary process has any "direction" good or bad is hotly debated among evolutionary biologists, says Roughgarden. Finally, she thinks Darwin is badly wrong about universal sex roles in which aggressive males seek passive females in a competition of perpetual conflict. She believes that cooperation and interdependence (eg, an ant colony) are as important in nature as conflict.
Roughgarden insists that there need not be any conflict between science and religion, or that they need to be relegated to separate spheres (but see pp. 56, and 83 where she seems to qualify this). "Intelligent design," she believes, invents problems that don't exist, is hard to take seriously, and so is a "non-starter" for mainstream science. She consigns ID to "junk science" along with the many versions of "junk religion." As one might expect, Roughgarden shines when it comes to science, but less so on matters theological and Biblical. But this is still a gem of a little book for those, as she says, who need to come up to speed on the subject for a Sunday school class or school board meeting, and it is heartening for a well-placed biologist like her to publish such an unapologetic confession of Christian faith.
A Well Informed Perspective.......2007-02-03
Overall, I found this book to be good. Her perspective on the biology, geology, and unsolved parts of evolution are excellent. It is fairly familiar as an overview of what evolution is and the general state of the thought. The theology is a bit off at points though it is generally clearer than most academics who attempt to reconcile their discipline with the Bible and the Christian faith in someway. Suppose that's going to depend on your denomination as it informs your theology and what you consider literal and figurative. I am informed by a Reformed Presbyterian perspective, which has significant pockets where evolution can be accomodated to the text of Genesis with not problem. I personally don't take a literal six-days and not necessarily even the old age (YOM) instead of day in sequential order as the author does. I am more inclined to think of Genesis of a framework with parallels between days 1 and 4, 2 and 5, and 3 and 6. Plus, I find her fair and broad as she quotes John MacArthur to the Pope and a variety of theological perspectives (not in much depth and mainly in how they relate their scientific views).
Either way, I think this is a valuable contribution to this dialogue. She's not as hard on atheistic scientists and their dogma as is warranted. I didn't notice a reference to your garden variety clowns like Richard Dawkins or Daniel Dennett, for example, or any criticism of their vitriol and needless antagonism of everything and anything Christian. The lack of a willingness to take the atheist scientists to task is why I gave this book four stars instead of five. It's always easy to rip on the Fundamentalists. But if you're going to take a stand like this you need to rip "the professionals" as well. By casting this discussion into black and white, they're as much a part of the problem as anybody.
For those who want to accept that evolution is a fact that doesn't render Christianity untenable, this will be enjoyable and thoughtful. For people who view science as all there is to know, and the rest as mere speculation, this will not be an enjoyable book. Perhaps you can endlessly rehash 19th century materialistic philosophies, the Scopes Monkey Trial, and Intelligent Design in your own mind as the rest of us continue to think.
Significantly flawed and biased.......2007-01-26
As other reviewers have stated, there are serious problems with the author's theology and science. There are too many flaws to mention, but my opinion - coming from an evolutionary biology student and Christian is that her 30-some years of being away from her faith and teaching evo. bio. show clearly through. Her review of I.D. is one of hatred rather than a cohesive critique. It is my impression that she (and many other evolutionists) do not really understand what irreducible complexity is (or many other ideas and arguments of creationists and I.D., for that matter). Her 'scientific' arguments against I.D. are poor at best. She criticizes I.D. by saying that I.D.'ers do not specifify when "God gives them these structures out of the blue' (in her critique of irreducible complexity and also pokes fun by wondering how these creatures ran around blind for so long. She clearly puts her Christian faith second to her scientific philosophy (that science is a more reliable method of knowing - even about ancient history, than a historical book - the Bible). She doesn't trust the seven loaves of bread event in the Bible to be accurate, but somehow believes (accorcidng to her own statement) that "Jesus lived and died for our sins". She does not state her belief in the Resurrection. Her 'CHristianity' seems to be more about the wisdom of Jesus and the Bible rather than her salvation. So, she does not (based on her own statements - or their lack of depth) follow a theology that most true Christians follow. Many of her 'similarities' between what the Bible says and evolution are extraordinary stretches of the imagination. Finally, she makes a stupid argument that many evolutionists make when defending their theory. That is, that if we allow I.D. or creation to be taught or used in scientific practice, then we might as well forget about science altogether. She wonders if "volcanoes and airplanes" will "go away" if these are taught. Anyone who makes these statements clearly shows a hatred for these ideas (which automatically influences their definition of science, and more importantly, it clearly shows a serious lack of understanding of the philosophy of 'historical science', science in general, the purpose, methods, reasoning, research, and philosophy of creation and I.D., and more). Her four points that she provides for making I.D. 'scientific' have not even been accomplished for evolutionary theory - not even close. Her standards for accepting I.D. as science are much higher than those for evolutionary theory - which shows her bias. For someone who claims to be a Christian, she has an extraordinarily low knowledge of philosophy (as most scientists do) and cannot see her own assumptions, biases, and outright illogical arguments and 'evidence'. This book is only helpful for someone who does not understand biology, evolutionary theory, and philosophy. Don't waste your money.
Book Description
Personal, poetic, and anchored by research, Faith, Madness, and Spontaneous Human Combustion is a provocative look at the startling ways in which modern science shapes our identities.At the heart of modern medical science lies the soul of self-perception. In this book, scientist and poet Gerald Callahan reveals what science has uncovered, sometimes unwittingly, about us-where we begin, how we grow, why we die, and what comes afterward. An immunologist, Callahan dissects the immune system to reveal its most intimate underpinnings-the selves hidden inside our thymuses, the pieces of others lodged in our lymph nodes, the gift of human death, and the fires that burn inside our bodies. From the seemingly sterile voice of science come the words that define each of us. We are singular men and women only because we have immune systems. When immune systems fail, people disappear, and in their places arise communities of living things. Buried inside our genes and our lymphocytes science has found faith and love, madness, and the fierceness of human beings.In Faith, Madness, and Spontaneous Human Combustion, Callahan uses research and personal anecdotes to examine these complex issues, proving ultimately that rigorous scientific facts can be intensely intimate.
Customer Reviews:
Poetry, immunology, and faith.......2006-07-14
This book, written in a beautiful, almost poetic prose, is engrossing, informative, and covered commonalities of the immune system, human behavior, genetics, family relations, faith, reason and science. I particularly liked the parallels between paranoia and immune system. In paranoia, the mind views almost everything as a threat, and may even inflict damage on innocent parties. In the latter the body attacks itself and other non-threats, causing injury to itself. Also, the details on how the immune system "remembers" and how the various organs police the system was fascinating. Not all of the personal family story snippets tied strongly to the central theme, but all were excellent writing and emotionally powerful. Anyone wanting to expand their horizons and view the world from a unique viewpoint could do well to read Callahan's fine book.
Who would've thought?.......2006-07-09
I didn't know a darn thing about the immune system, and it wasn't high on my list of must-research material, but this book is the best one I've read this year. What an amazing book! Absolutely fascinating -- and not just for science minded folks.
Stimulating, educational & almost mystical, EXCELLENT.......2006-03-19
Callahan is that genre of author I like to describe as "scientifically based mystic." Scientist in that, true to his craft, he primarily uses the scientific method to probe the answers to life in the biological sense. Mystic in that he recognizes that science can provide many wonderful answers and statistics, but seldom the "meta" answers man has yearned for since we can remember.
"Who am I?" and "What is my place in the universe?" are questions seldom answered satisfactorily by science, and more comfortably by religion. Using his considerable experience and knowledge in the science of immunology, Callahan tackles these questions in a much different way then most scientists would, yet without an appeal to religiosity. Always with a healthy respect for the unknown, unseen and unknowable, Callahan deftly explores the hidden relationships between ourselvs, our parents and every other living thing comprising life.
He'll make you think in ways you possibly haven't thought before, and even tug at your heartstrings while recounting intensly personal stories experienced by us all. Highly recommended.
Creepy, I skipped the morose stuff........2005-10-25
This book oddly jumped between an interesting view of the human body and, in particular, the immune system, to creepy and morbid personal memories of the author. Ick.
Somebody finally found a balance.......2005-02-27
I call "Faith, Madness..." scientific poetry. It is a work of humanity, written in earnest, baring its flaws and uncertainty to reveal a possible truth about WHY and maybe more importantly HOW we are what we are. Callahan weaves snippets of insightful, passionate prose with personal ancedote to illustrate his theory that our immune systems help to define our individuality. I have been touched by this book. Not only does it speak to my thirst for scientific understanding but it lightly stroked my sense of spirituality. Science books like this don't come around very often.
Book Description
Materials drawn from The Face That Demonstrates The Farce of Evolution (ISBN 0-8499-4272-1) Today's generation is bombarded with theories about humankind and its origins. The danger for Christians lies in the wealth of misinformation and miscommunication about simple biblical truths such as:
- How and when the world began
- Whether humans are unique or merely a happenstance of evolution
- The distinction between humankind and other living creatures
- The evolution of life on this planet
- The spiritual dimensions of the human soul
Hank Hanegraff keeps Christians from falling prey to corrupting scientific speculation about the origins of life and reminds us that we are God's creation. This common sense approach puts the concept of evolution in the grasp of everyday Christians and reminds us that ultimately the key to our purpose in this life comes from understanding whose we are and who created us.
Customer Reviews:
Basic Refutation.......2007-01-26
As a Christian, I've read my share of evolution-refuting books. This book is small. It's not in depth. But considering its miniature size, it still makes some very good points and poses challenging questions. It manages to pack a decent amount of information into a small package. However, if you're looking for a dig-deep, in-depth analysis and refutation of evolution, try one of McDowell's 800 page books instead.
Religious myths versus scientific arguments.......2006-09-21
Hank is committed to the idea that Genesis, itself composed of competing tribal legends from the Bronze Age, somehow contains scientific statements. His religious faith compels him to reject the preponderance of scientific evidence in favor of evolution.
Useful scientific books that discuss evolution without religious bias include
Brian Charlesworth, Evolution, A Very Short Introduction (contains an excellent bibliography)
Simon Morris, The Crucible of Creation
Richard Leakey, Origins Reconsidered
Edward J. Larson, Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory
Yeah, And Gravity's Not Real Either!.......2004-08-26
Hank Hanegraaff, "Bible Answer Man," is reduced to little more than a Christian typist in this ultra-thin (in pages, scope and intelligence) collection of misinformation, out-of-context quoting and outright duplicity. Having no coherent theories of his own, Hanegraaff's book is nothing more than endless citations of Christian "scientists'" published, absurd evolution-bashing hypotheses. He cites renown pseudoscientist and creationist idiot Duane T. Gish (universally disputed, debunked and disregarded in the legitimate scientific community) no less than 25 times. And Hanegraaff's references to actual scientific theorists, such as Gould, et al, are constantly filtered through Gish's and other Creationist morons' truth-concealing works. Let's leave science to the scientists.
What the evolutionists DON'T want you to know!.......2004-03-18
Exactly as advertised, this "impact-sized" book equips you to easily absorb and recall the strongest arguments against naturalism and evolution. Void of filler and unnecessary content, this is the "best of the best" presented in Hank's easy to remember style. Don't let the compact size (or ridiculous review) fool you. The content is solid. Well done!
Useful book in Hank's Excellent series.......2003-09-04
Like the other books in this series (Prayer of Jesus, The Covering, The Third Day), it is concise and packed with info. Great resource and makes a great gift or something to give skeptics.
While Hank makes many valid points, skeptics might take it more seriously if he didn't so heavily reference young-earth creationists. Young-earthism is probably one of the biggest stumbling blocks for skeptics and Christians. It is unbiblical and unscientific. Hank often rebukes young-earthers for their emotional tactics, but never addresses the fact that they pose one of the greatest apologetic problems for Christianity. For more on this see Hugh Ross' "Creation & Time," Don Stoner's "A New Look at an Old Earth" and Darrick Dean's "Is the Truth Out There?"
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Monitoring Ecological Impacts: Concepts and Practice in Flowing Waters
Barbara J. Downes ,
Leon A. Barmuta ,
Peter G. Fairweather ,
Daniel P. Faith ,
Michael J. Keough ,
P. S. Lake ,
Bruce D. Mapstone , and
Gerry P. Quinn
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
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Methods in Stream Ecology, Second Edition
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ASIN: 0521771579 |
Book Description
Monitoring Ecological Impacts provides the tools needed to design assessment programs that can reliably monitor, detect, and allow management of human impacts on the natural environment. The procedures described are well-grounded in inferential logic, and the statistical models needed to analyse complex data are given. Step-by-step guidelines and flow diagrams provide clear and useable protocols which can be applied in any region of the world, a wide range of human impacts, and any ecosystem. In addition, real examples are used to show how the theory can be put into practice.
Book Description
Darwinian theories of the universe, although mostly rejected by evangelical Christians, have still found their way into creation theology. A concept such as evolutionist creation has watered down much of the Bible's teaching in order to reconcile with popular tenants of science. The whole controversy swirls around the age of the universe.
Dr. Kurt Wise, an associate professor of science and director of the Center for Origins Research and Education at Bryan College, shows from solid biblical teachings and scientific confirmation why young universe creation is correct. Beginning with God and His Word as the standard, Wise demonstrates how the biblical witness teaches that the age of the universe is not as old as Darwinian theory would contend. He also demonstrates how all issues raised by evolutionists can be answered not only by the Bible, but also by scientific data and research, nailing shut macroevolution's coffin.
Customer Reviews:
An Introduction to the Beliefs and Science of YECism.......2007-01-21
Despite its negative aspect, I give this book 5 stars since it is one of the few quality YEC works out there and explains and defends the position quite well. The negative aspect is not enough for me to take a star off the rating.
Positive:
a.) It's easily readable but not dumbed-down.
b.) I love the fact that he starts with God and the Scriptures. Too often, people uncritically accept human autonomy in order to determine their world and life view. Once the colorful wrapping is removed, "Free-Thinker"-ism is no less dogmatic than organized religious belief. That is, it is certainly not devoid of the major presuppositions that everyone brings to their experiences. Although it is the "spirit of the age", history has shown that it is folly to base one's epistemology on science.
c.) It includes a nice discussion of presuppositions in scientific theories. Many people pretend or believe that what scientists say is simply a "brute fact". In reality, the empirical process goes from data to a theory that tries to explain the data.
d.) It goes through a defense of YECism, and not only does he show how YECism can validly reinterpret the evidence to fit Scripture, but also shows that YECism fits the evidence better than other theories. This is especially true when it comes to baraminology. Baraminology explains the strong evidence that a few species are related to each other (and likely had a common ancestor) while explaining the strong evidence that most of life is unrelated (except through its Creator). Rather than being one large tree, life is more like an orchard.
e.) He explains that Creationists still have a lot of research to do with respect to the evidence that doesn't quite fit YECism.
Negative:
Wise states: "If God provided man with everything he needed in order to come to God by logic and/or physical evidence, man would be able to come to Him without faith" (p.13). There are several problems with this statement: 1.) In Romans 1 and elsewhere, it is stated that the existence of God is obvious to everyone, but that men suppress this obvious truth due to their sinful nature. It is God's *promises* that are to be accepted on faith (i.e. belief in something that is hoped for but not seen and this belief can be confirmed by evidence or deductive logic), not His existence. 2.) Many people have seen God and His wondrous works. Do they need to accept God's existence on faith? Take, for example, Adam and Eve. Both had seen God and His wonders, and Adam had seen God make Eve out of his rib. However, the reason that they sinned was that they doubted and disbelieved in God's promises, not His existence.
Please Read The Book .......2005-08-22
Whatever your beliefs, atheistic or theistic 'evolution', it really is worth reading this book and reflecting. Unfortunately some reviewers appear to have failed to either read or reflect. The fact that animals of a certain type change over time into different forms reflects observation. That animals change from 'simpler forms' to 'more complex ones' from one progenitor of everything through to the homo sapiens form of man is a theory. Kurt Wise is quite clear on what he believes to have happened. To those who believe that the Bible is quite happy with carnivorous animals always existing, you have to ask how a world where a human could be attacked and devoured by a fierce carnivore could be 'very good'. Also the restitution at the end envisages the lion lying down with the lamb and children able to play safely with snakes. None of this makes any sense if all these things were the same as now before the fall with 'nature red in tooth and claw'. Kurt Wise also refers to climate and weather systems as well as earthquakes and volcanos. Can an evangelical Christian believe that the violent destructive 'natural disasters' (which kill many many thousands of people) were part of a 'very good' original creation? The views on ice covering, polar magnetic change and distribution of peoples and languages are fascinating and deserve great thought not tacit dismissal. To the reviewer who claimed that it has taken 2000 years to change from Latin to modern Latin based languages, I suggest more study of the history of languages and more study of Kurt Wise's book. There really are no sound theories for the development of the completely different groups of languages other than the direct intervention of God as in the scriptural Tower of Babel.
Articulate anti-science for Biblical literalists........2005-08-17
Those who insist upon using Biblical literalism to martial support their own preferred view of the "end times" will probably enjoy this book, as it appears to have been written with them in mind.
However, those who understand that empirical validation is a necessary condition for truth (in its most useful sense of "reliable knowledge") will probably gag on much of what Dr. Wise has to say.
Something to "Ponder".......2005-07-26
I've read Wise before, and wisely at that. It's one thing to throw around the doctoral degrees you might have achieved, Dr. Ponder, and the wonderful missionary work is admirable if heartfelt. But for a master of linguistics who argues that it takes thousands of years for languages to evolve, so to speak, I am faced with the idea that despite your missionary work, you lack faith. While languages evolve, there was an event, according to the Bible, which transpired at the Tower of Babel. Are you familiar with it, or have your degrees muddied your own waters? I believe that Jesus Himself said in John 5:47- "For if you can't believe what Moses wrote of, how will you ever believe what I say?" Jesus, in that one statement, authenticated the writings of Moses. Frankly, I'm not as concerned with the age of the earth as I used to be. However God did it, God did it. Still, based on the evidence stacked against an old earth, I believe it is a young earth. Furthermore, we cannot hope, with infantile minds, to try and understand the power and creative handywork of the King of the Universe by things we think we've grasped on a collegiate level. Wise is wise, and I believe it's better to be wise than ponder.
Excellent Treatment of a Bewildering View.......2005-04-27
I respect Dr. Wise's credentials, having done my own doctoral work at Stanford, Yale and Georgetown. I also understand his orientation in that I have been a Christian missionary, as has my wife. All that notwithstanding, it is simply bewildering that a person capable of a Harvard doctorate can believe something so monumentally improbable as that dinosaurs and humans lived quite close together in time. I think this owes to a heavily indoctrinated limbic system (mid-brain) that exerts strong emotional control over what Wise's cerebral cortex is able to process. No one would prefer a 6,000-year-old earth more than I, since my church prefers that scenario. But it makes no sense to cram such extensive geological, anthropological, etc., processes into a 6,000-year timeframe. Even the thousands of languages currently spoken could not have developed in only 6,000 years, 2,000 years having been required to produce only a very few languages out of spoken Latin.
Also, the 6,000-year concept comes from the Bible, and only a relatively rudimentary knowledge of history is necessary to know that the Bible stories of creation were back-dated stories concocted by much later "committee work." (See books such as Who Wrote the Bible, and Who Wrote the New Testament to understand how the Bible was put together.) The point is that the belief in a 6,000-year-old earth is an arbitrary concoction, as is adequately explained by the Documentary Hypothesis.
Despite the above comments, however, I think that Wise's book deserves five stars because it is an outstanding presentation of the point of view he takes -- as dramatically improbable as that point of view seems to me.
Book Description
An accessible, multifaceted critique of the latest incarnation of creationism-"intelligent design"-from a team of legal, education, religion, and science experts More than eighty years after the Scopes trial, creationism is alive and well. Through local school boards, politicians, strategic court cases, and well-funded organizations, a strong movement has developed to encourage the teaching of "intelligent design" as a viable theory alongside evolution in science classes. Now, in Not in Our Classrooms, parents and teachers, as well as other concerned citizens, have a much-needed tool to argue against teaching intelligent design as science. In clear and lively essays, a team of experts describe not only the history of the intelligent design movement and the lack of scientific support for its claims, but also the religious, legal, and pedagogical problems that proposals to teach this idea in the public schools bring in their wake. Not in Our Classrooms is essential reading for anyone concerned about the teaching of this religious theory as science in the classrooms of our public schools.
Customer Reviews:
Praise for the book..........2007-06-11
...and a rebuttal to "The Professor"
This book nails the debate on the head of the nail. Ms. Scott and Mr. Branch have done a wonderful job of laying out the factual reasons why I.D. is false as science. But even better, in an attempt to counter-point the books contents, we actually are allowed to see another reviewer lay out the very arguments that have no merit. Normally, I ignore such attempts at blatant falsehoods, but I think in this case it is worthwhile in order to better underscore why - and why the book he attempts to slander causes him to engage in this rather blatant exercise.
The "professor" starts his argument by claiming the book contains misleading and flat-out wrong information by claiming "the oft cited claim that ID has not produced any science or has not published in the peer reviewed literature ". The truth is there is no peer reviewed material available to be found, except wherein it is pointed out that ID has no merit. Further, ID has contributed NOTHING to science. The Discovery Institute itself has publicly admitted it has produced nothing.
The Professor goes on to show how transparent his false argument is by adding: "In my work in the area of cell biology research, we in fact proceed on the assumption that the cell was designed and asked the question "how was it designed, i.e. how does it work" often assuming that the mechanisms we are researching are ingeniously designed." This is a blatant falsehood...no \where in biology will you find any self-respecting scientist who will make this claim - it is counter to the basic premise of the scientific method, where EVERYTHING is in question. Such an assumption as the Professor claims would never happen, because it demands that you make a conclusion before you examine the phenomena!
I could go on, but the point is "the professor" makes a number of unsubstantiated claims that anyone with a passing understanding of science regarding how scientists behave is false. He offers nothing actual, cites to nothing published (because, as I pointed out above, there has been NOTHING of a peer reviewed nature published) and essentially engages in a hand wave to support his claims.
He finishes with the claim that ID advocates are in the closet. This is the most transparent of falsehoods - scientists love nothing better than proving other scientists wrong. If there were any merit to ID, you would see many scientists out there showing why.
To close, I apologize to any who find my response outside of the norm for an [...] review, but I feel very strongly about letter people such as "the professor" spread these falsehoods without some objection. The real bottom line: educate yourself. Learn why science works as it does. Once you do, it becomes rather easy to understand why these people are selling you snake oil.
An Important Primer On Explaining Why "Intelligent Design" Shouldn't Be Taught In Our Schools.......2007-05-15
Eugenie Scott and her colleague Glenn Branch - who are both from the National Center for Science Education - deserve ample praise for editing this terse, yet quite insightful, primer that explains what "Intelligent Design" is, and why it shouldn't be taught in our schools. Scott, Branch and several other writers ranging from other scientists to educators and lawyers, not only review the history of the so-called "Intelligent Design" movement from both a legal and educational perspective, but also demonstrate that this "scientific" idea is not scientific, but rather, a cleverly designed revision of "scientific creationism" which thinly disguises its religious origins. In short, "Intelligent Design" is nothing more than a Fundamentalist Protestant Christian religious idea masquerading as science, and one that is still receiving ample financial and intellectual support from the Seattle, Washington-based Discovery Institute. This terse book remains timely and important, inspite of the harsh verdict rendered against Intelligent Design by Republican Federal Judge John Jones in the Kitzmiller vs. Dover Board of Education trial (He ruled that "Intelligent Design" was a religious doctrine masquerading as science.), because staunch advocates like fellow Amazon.com customer reviewer "The Professor", Michael Behe and William Dembski refuse to acknowledge the intellectual bankruptcy of their pseudoscientific idea (Moreover, distinguished conservative pundits like Charles Krauthammer and George Will echoed Judge Jones' ruling, by concurring with him in published newspaper columns, noting that "Intelligent Design" wasn't scientific.). Eugenie Scott begins this book with a fine overview of the history of the Intelligent Design movement, and explains in clear, concise English why Intelligent Design isn't scientific, using much of the same logic which I have used in my own Amazon.com customer review of the "Intelligent Design" textbook "Of Pandas and People" (It was originally a textbook which purportedly offered a scientific rationale for "scientific creationism"; later editions have shifted emphasis to support instead "Intelligent Design". The history of this book's origins was noted during the Kitzmiller vs. Dover Board of Education trial, and was an acute source of embarassment for "Intelligent Design" advocates.). Glenn Branch's essay which closes this volume is a well-reasoned, passionate plea explaining how the average citizen can help defeat ongoing efforts to introduce the teaching of "Intelligent Design" in American primary, intermediate and secondary school classrooms. If you don't think that "Intelligent Design" is a serious threat to ensuring first-rate scientific education in American schools, then you must buy this terse book.
Science vs. Pseudoscience.......2007-04-05
Despite the Kitzmiller (2005) decision where expert witnesses for Intelligent Design were clearly shown to have lied on the witness stand and stated that astrology is science, the Discovery Institute continues to try to push religion into public schools.
Eugenie Scott and the National Center for Science Education clearly state that "belief" compared to "evidence" is not science and that science, as taught and modeled in K-12 and university classrooms must be robust, reproducible, falsifiable, testable, peer-reviewed and based on evidence, not belief. The Discovery Institute that promotes Intelligent Design is producing textbooks, DVDs and other media in an effort to push religious belief into public schools -often these books and DVDs are poorly written or produced imitations of existing robust and credible science materials.
A Good Primer For Any Concerned Citizen.......2007-02-28
"Not In Our Classrooms" is a concise (152 pages) and thorough collection of essays explaining why pseudoscience based on religious beliefs has no place in public science education. Eugenie Scott begins by showing the ironic evolution of creationism to "intelligent design" within the fundamentalist community, but the book does not concern itself merely with court defeats incurred by the religious right in the U.S. Including writings from theologians like Ted Peters and noted science writers Nick Matzke, Glenn Branch and Dr. Paul Gross, "Not In Our Classrooms" ends on a positive note, showing how citizens can become involved in protecting the integrity of science education in public schools.
Vital need to educate students and the public about anti-evolutionary propaganda .......2007-02-25
If it IS NOT obvious to you that the teaching of "intelligent design" doesn't belong in public schools in the U.S., you should read this book: it will help you to understand what a big mistake you would be making if you support the "intelligent design" movement and how you are being manipulated.
If it IS obvious to you that the teaching of "intelligent design" doesn't belong in public schools in the U.S., you should read this book: it will help you understand how well-organized and persistent the misguided effort is to undermine science education. The trickiness of the anti-evolution forces is very high. This book like this will guide you so you may be fooled by phony arguments such as about "fairness". "Intelligent design" efforts are also just one step toward undermining religious freedoms in this country.
People with good intentions are being manipulated by their religous leaders to believe that evolutionary theory and facts are inconsistent with religous truths. The level of manipulation is very high. Most of us are not scientists and may be fooled by carefully constructions scientific-like arguments.
Accepting evolutionary theory and facts DOES NOT make someone an atheist or immoral. As you will find in this book, it is not only possible to be a good Christian and accept evolution, it is the only way to be a healthy Christian and American.
This short book explains the scientific basis of the theory and facts of evolution, how some religous organizations are consciously attempting to subvert the U.S. Constitution in order to play on people's good intentions to make them believe that evolutionary teaching is contrary to healthy religous faith, what legal decisions have been made to date and how you can join in acting to stop this ongoing threat to our nation's future.
Books:
- Contemporary Issues in Bioethics (with InfoTrac )
- Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things
- Death Valley and the Northern Mojave: A Visitor's Guide
- Development of the Nervous System, Second Edition
- Discovering Genomics, Proteomics and Bioinformatics (2nd Edition) (The Genetics Place Series)
- Doubly Labelled Water - Theory and Practice
- Essential Cell Biology, Second Edition
- Evolution and Ecology of the Organism
- Evolution for Everyone: How Darwin's Theory Can Change the Way We Think About Our Lives
- Evolutionary Games and Population Dynamics
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- The Last Tycoons: The Secret History of Lazard Frères & Co.
- Night Tales: Night Shift & Night Shadow
- `Fingerprints' of Climate Change - Adapted Behaviour and Shifting Species Ranges
- How to do your Student Project in Chemistry
- History: Fiction or Science
- OBJECTION!: HOW HIGH-PRICED DEFENSE ATTORNEYS, CELEBRITY DEFENDANTS, AND A 24/7 MEDIA HAVE HIJACKED
- Quick and Easy Diabetic Recipes: Delicious Ways to Control Diabetes
- The Antiquities of Athens; and Other Monuments of Greece: As Measured and Delineated by the authors
- Fabled Cities of Central Asia: Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva
- Unconjugated Pterins In Neurobiology
The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief
God's Universe
Evolution and Christian Faith: Reflections of an Evolutionary Biologist
Finding Darwin's God: A Scientist's Search for Common Ground Between God and Evolution (P.S.)
Perspectives on an Evolving Creation
