Author: C. Stephen Evans Publisher: Oxford University Press ISBN: 0199217165 Category : Language Arts & Disciplines Languages : en Pages : 218
Book Description
Is there such a thing as natural knowledge of God? C. Stephen Evans presents the case for understanding theistic arguments as expressions of natural signs in order to gain a new perspective both on their strengths and weaknesses. Three classical, much-discussed theistic arguments - cosmological, teleological, and moral - are examined for the natural signs they embody. At the heart of this book lie several relatively simple ideas. One is that if there is a God of the kind accepted by Christians, Jews, and Muslims, then it is likely that a 'natural' knowledge of God is possible. Another is that this knowledge will have two characteristics: it will be both widely available to humans and yet easy to resist. If these principles are right, a new perspective on many of the classical arguments for God's existence becomes possible. We understand why these arguments have for many people a continued appeal but also why they do not constitute conclusive 'proofs' that settle the debate once and for all. Touching on the interplay between these ideas and contemporary scientific theories about the origins of religious belief, particularly the role of natural selection in predisposing humans to form beliefs in God or gods, Evans concludes that these scientific accounts of religious belief are fully consistent, even supportive, of the truth of religious convictions.
Author: Robert J. Spitzer Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing ISBN: 0802863833 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 334
Book Description
Responding to contemporary popular atheism, Robert J. Spitzer's New Proofs for the Existence of God examines the considerable evidence for God and creation that has come to light from physics and philosophy during the last forty years. --from publisher description.
Author: Stephen Charnock Publisher: Sovereign Grace Publishers, ISBN: 1589606027 Category : Languages : en Pages : 810
Book Description
The Existence and Attributes of God comprises the first two volumes of the works of Stephen Charnock (1628-1680), an English puritan divine who was highly skilled in philosophy, patristics, Reformed theology, and Biblical languages. These volumes are his abiding monument. They are worthy of being compared with the finest in theology. "When the existence and attributes of God are called into question, to whom else can we better go than to Stephen Charnock'' . . . ''those [things revealed belong to us and to our children forever]. The material that Charnock discusses is firmly founded in the Word of God'' . . . ''Both the Old Testament and the New emphasize these two things: First, we should study the whole revelation, not just some easy or favorite parts of it; secondly, the study of God's attributes is not dry as dust theology, but is practical; that is, it leads to righteousness" (Dr. Gordon H. Clark, from a preface to this great work in a Sovereign Grace edition, 1958). One of the greatest tragedies in these spiritually starved times is the sad fact that most Christians know so very little about their God. It is often said that this is simply because these volumes are exhaustive on the subject. Yet it is clearly filled with sublime expositions of the truth regarding God's existence and attributes. "Charnock displays God's attributes not as impersonal abstractions for the mind to juggle with, but as qualities observable in the concrete actions of the living God of which the Bible speaks. The technical terms and sometimes, arguments of scholastic theology are employed, but always with a Biblical orientation. Charnock has no desire to speculate, but only to declare the works and ways, the nature and character, of the God of the Bible. The substance of his doctrine is characteristically Puritan and representatively Reformed." (Dr. James I. Packer, in The Encyclopedia of Christianity, Volume II, p. 410) The possessor of these rare volumes will be blessed by getting acquainted with the incomparable God, and thereby will reach a higher plane of spiritual enjoyment never attained before. To know Him better is to love Him more.
Author: Dean L. Overman Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield ISBN: 9780742563124 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 272
Book Description
Examines questions in regards to the world's origin, how it functions, and why; and features logical arguments that are supported by physics and theology; and also discusses the relationship between science and religion.
Author: Victor J. Stenger Publisher: Prometheus Books ISBN: 161592003X Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 310
Book Description
Throughout history, arguments for and against the existence of God have been largely confined to philosophy and theology, while science has sat on the sidelines. Despite the fact that science has revolutionized every aspect of human life and greatly clarified our understanding of the world, somehow the notion has arisen that it has nothing to say about the possibility of a supreme being, which much of humanity worships as the source of all reality. This book contends that, if God exists, some evidence for this existence should be detectable by scientific means, especially considering the central role that God is alleged to play in the operation of the universe and the lives of humans. Treating the traditional God concept, as conventionally presented in the Judeo-Christian and Islamic traditions, like any other scientific hypothesis, physicist Stenger examines all of the claims made for God's existence. He considers the latest Intelligent Design arguments as evidence of God's influence in biology. He looks at human behavior for evidence of immaterial souls and the possible effects of prayer. He discusses the findings of physics and astronomy in weighing the suggestions that the universe is the work of a creator and that humans are God's special creation. After evaluating all the scientific evidence, Stenger concludes that beyond a reasonable doubt the universe and life appear exactly as we might expect if there were no God. This paperback edition of the New York Times bestselling hardcover edition contains a new foreword by Christopher Hitchens and a postscript by the author in which he responds to reviewers' criticisms of the original edition.
Author: David C. Lindberg Publisher: Univ of California Press ISBN: 0520908031 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 528
Book Description
Since the publication in 1896 of Andrew Dickson White's classic History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom, no comprehensive history of the subject has appeared in the English language. Although many twentieth-century historians have written on the relationship between Christianity and science, and in the process have called into question many of White's conclusions, the image of warfare lingers in the public mind. To provide an up-to-date alternative, based on the best available scholarship and written in nontechnical language, the editors of this volume have assembled an international group of distinguished historians. In eighteen essays prepared especially for this book, these authors cover the period from the early Christian church to the twentieth century, offering fresh appraisals of such encounters as the trial of Galileo, the formulation of the Newtonian worldview, the coming of Darwinism, and the ongoing controversies over "scientific creationism." They explore not only the impact of religion on science, but also the influence of science and religion. This landmark volume promises not only to silence the persistent rumors of war between Christianity and science, but also serve as the point of departure for new explorations of their relationship, Scholars and general readers alike will find it provocative and readable.
Author: Rebecca Goldstein Publisher: Vintage ISBN: 0307456714 Category : Fiction Languages : en Pages : 530
Book Description
From the author of The Mind-Body Problem: a witty and intoxicating novel of ideas that plunges into the great debate between faith and reason. At the center is Cass Seltzer, a professor of psychology whose book, The Varieties of Religious Illusion, has become a surprise best seller. Dubbed “the atheist with a soul,” he wins over the stunning Lucinda Mandelbaum—“the goddess of game theory.” But he is haunted by reminders of two people who ignited his passion to understand religion: his teacher Jonas Elijah Klapper, a renowned literary scholar with a suspicious obsession with messianism, and an angelic six-year-old mathematical genius, heir to the leadership of an exotic Hasidic sect. Hilarious, heartbreaking, and intellectually captivating, 36 Arguments explores the rapture and torments of religious experience in all its variety.
Author: Richard M. Gale
Author: C. Stephen Evans
Author: Robert J. Spitzer
Author: William Paley
Author: Stephen Charnock
Author: Dean L. Overman
Author: Victor J. Stenger
Author: David C. Lindberg
Author: Gerard Hughes
Author: Rebecca Goldstein