God And Evidence

In the modern age science has been winning its centuries—old battle with religion for the mind of man. The evidence has long seemed incontrovertible: Life was merely a product of blind chance—a cosmic roll of an infinite number of dice across an eternity of time. Slowly, methodically, scientists supplied answers to mysteries insufficiently explained by theologians. Reason pushed faith off into the shadows of mythology and superstition, while atheism became a badge of wisdom. Our culture, freed from moral obligation, explored the frontiers of secularism. God was dead. "Glynn's arguments for the existence of God put the burden of disproof on those intellectuals who think that the question has long since been settled." — Andrew M. Greeley But now, in the twilight of the twentieth century, a startling transformation is taking place in Western scientific and intellectual thought. At its heart is the dawning realization that the universe, far from being a sea of chaos, appears instead to be an intricately tuned mechanism whose every molecule, whose every physical law, seems to have been design from the very first nanosecond of the big bang toward a single end—the creation of life. This intellectually and spiritually riveting book asks a provocative question: Is science, the long-time nemesis of the Deity, uncovering the face of God? Patrick Glynn lays out the astonishing new evidence that caused him to turn away from the atheism he acquired as a student at Harvard and Cambridge. The facts are fascinating: Physicists are discovering an unexplainable order to the cosmos; medical researchers are reporting the extraordinary healing powers of prayer and are documenting credible accounts of near-death experiences; psychologists, who once considered belief in God to be a sign of neurosis, are finding instead that religious faith is a powerful elixir for mental health; and sociologists are now acknowledging the destructive consequences of a value-free society. God: The Evidence argues that faith today is not grounded in ignorance. It is where reason has been leading us all along.

There have always been challenges to belief in God as he is revealed in the Bible and each new year seems to add more questions to the doubter's arsenal. In Evidence for God, leading apologists provide compelling arguments that address the most pressing questions of the day about God, science, Jesus, the Bible, and more, including Is Intelligent Design really a credible explanation of the origins of our world? Did Jesus really exist? Is Jesus really the only way to God? What about those who have never heard the gospel? Is the Bible today what was originally written? What about recently publicized gospels that aren't in the Bible? and much more

Dr Francis S. Collins, head of the Human Genome Project, is one of the world's leading scientists, working at the cutting edge of the study of DNA, the code of life. Yet he is also a man of unshakable faith in God. How does he reconcile the seemingly unreconcilable? In THE LANGUAGE OF GOD he explains his own journey from atheism to faith, and then takes the reader on a stunning tour of modern science to show that physics, chemistry and biology -- indeed, reason itself -- are not incompatible with belief. His book is essential reading for anyone who wonders about the deepest questions of all: why are we here? How did we get here? And what does life mean?

Does God exist? Which is true? Evolution, creation...or both? Are we no more than meaningless collisions of molecules? Or do we owe our existence to a Creator, who has willed us (and everything else) into being, and who has a plan and purpose for our lives? The Reality of God addresses these all-important questions by providing an introductory overview of key scientific evidence, philosophical reasons, and insights drawn from human nature demonstrating God’s existence. In simple, accessible language, and well-supported by scientific experts, author Steven Hemler guides the reader through the most compelling evidence for the existence of God. Hemler shows how natural sciences such as biology, chemistry and physics far from disproving religious belief suggest and reveal the existence of a Creator at every turn. Those seeking sound reasons and credible science supporting belief in God will cherish this easy-to-read book. The Reality of God provides: • An opportunity to address doubts about God’s existence • Persuasive reasons for belief • Arguments showing the compatibility of faith and reason • Answers to the evolution vs. creation debate The Reality of God puts forth in layman’s terms how science and the natural world point to God’s existence. Anyone seeking answers to life’s deepest question will find in author Steven Hemler an indispensable guide.

The “holy grail” of physics is quantum gravity, often called the theory of everything. But any scientific theory will be incomplete without the God of the Bible. Physicists claim the cosmos began with a big bang created from nothing. But the word nothing is meaningless in physics. Furthermore, the big bang is an impenetrable barrier to whatever preceded it. In addition, a finite cosmos cannot contain within itself an explanation for its own existence. To claim we are here by accident explains nothing and leads to a logical dead end. The cause of the universe is information in the form of mathematical laws left behind for science to discover. The fundamental properties of these laws have the same attributes as the Supreme Lawgiver of Genesis. An intelligible cosmos is unmistakable evidence the Creator is an Intelligent Mind. The Creator’s Voice is a valid scientific theory confirming the truth of Genesis; God spoke the laws creating the universe out of nothing, creatio ex nihilo. The foundation of the universe is ethereal cosmic waves which interact according to the laws to create and sustain the illusion of reality we experience. Space, time, energy and matter are made from quantum information; nothing else is needed. By a process of elimination, God is the only possible explanation for everything we know. The human mind is evidence consciousness is endemic to the cosmos. Cosmic waves interact with the human mind in mysterious ways. The cosmos relates to humans more like a great Mind than a mindless machine. The god-like nature of the human mind is evidence; we are made imago Dei. Even if God is included in a scientific theory, it means little unless it can be shown God is a real Being, alive, present in the world and relevant to our lives.

God and Evidence presents a new set of compelling problems for theistic philosophers. The problems pertain to three types of theistic philosopher, which Lovering defines here as 'theistic inferentialists,' 'theistic non-inferentialists,' and 'theistic fideists.' Theistic inferentialists believe that God exists, that there is inferential probabilifying evidence of God's existence, and that this evidence is discoverable not simply in principle but in practice. Theistic non-inferentialists believe that God exists, that there is non-inferential probabilifying evidence of God's existence, and that this evidence is discoverable not simply in principle but in practice. Theistic fideists believe that God exists, that there is no discoverable probabilifying evidence (inferential or non-inferential) of God's existence, and that it is nevertheless acceptable-morally if not otherwise-to have faith that God exists. Lovering argues that each type of theistic philosopher faces a problem unique to his type and that they all share two particular problems. Some of these problems take us down an entirely new discursive path; others down a new discursive path branching off from an old one.

Does God exist? Did a Master Designer create our universe, or did life spontaneously evolve? Can science retain objectivity in the search for truth while allowing for the possibility that God exists? Does it make any difference? Ariel A. Roth, scientist and Christian believer, examines key issues related to the God question: * the intricate organization of matter in the universe * the precision of the forces of physics * the complexity of the eye and the brain * the elaborate genetic code * the disparity between the fossil record and the vast amount of time necessary for evolution Faced with so much evidence that seems to require a God in order to explain what we find in nature, why does the scientific community remain silent about God? Hypotheses and speculations that attempt to fit data into a predetermined conclusion abound. What overriding influence prevents scientists from following the data of nature wherever it may lead?

Alister McGrath and Joanna Collicutt McGrath present a reliable assessment of The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, famed atheist and scientist, and the many questions this book raises--including, above all, the relevance of faith and the quest for meaning.