God & the Biologist

God & the Biologist PDF Author: Robert James Berry
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biology
Languages : en
Pages : 172

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Book Description
In this book, R. J. Berry, a leading British biologist and geneticist, provides his Christian perspective on key issues of science today such as evolution, the genetic revolution, and environmental concern.

God & the Biologist

God & the Biologist PDF Author: Robert James Berry
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biology
Languages : en
Pages : 172

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Book Description
In this book, R. J. Berry, a leading British biologist and geneticist, provides his Christian perspective on key issues of science today such as evolution, the genetic revolution, and environmental concern.

Return of the God Hypothesis

Return of the God Hypothesis PDF Author: Stephen C. Meyer
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062071521
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 576

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Book Description
The New York Times bestselling author of Darwin’s Doubt presents groundbreaking scientific evidence of the existence of God, based on breakthroughs in physics, cosmology, and biology. Beginning in the late 19th century, many intellectuals began to insist that scientific knowledge conflicts with traditional theistic belief—that science and belief in God are “at war.” Philosopher of science Stephen Meyer challenges this view by examining three scientific discoveries with decidedly theistic implications. Building on the case for the intelligent design of life that he developed in Signature in the Cell and Darwin’s Doubt, Meyer demonstrates how discoveries in cosmology and physics coupled with those in biology help to establish the identity of the designing intelligence behind life and the universe. Meyer argues that theism—with its affirmation of a transcendent, intelligent and active creator—best explains the evidence we have concerning biological and cosmological origins. Previously Meyer refrained from attempting to answer questions about “who” might have designed life. Now he provides an evidence-based answer to perhaps the ultimate mystery of the universe. In so doing, he reveals a stunning conclusion: the data support not just the existence of an intelligent designer of some kind—but the existence of a personal God.

Wired For God?

Wired For God? PDF Author: Charles Foster
Publisher: Hodder
ISBN: 1444722050
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 282

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Book Description
Human religious experiences are remarkably uniform; many can be pharmacologically induced. Recent research into the neurology of religious experience has shown that, when worshipping or praying, a certain part of the brain, apparently dormant during other activities, becomes active. What does all this mean for those of faith and those with none? In this fascinating book barrister Charles Foster takes a survey of the evidence - from shamans to medieval mystics, to out-of-body experiences and epilepsy, via Jerusalem and middle-class Christianity - and assesses its significance. Written in short, accessible chapters, this is a fascinating tour of religious and mystical experiences and their relation to human physiology.

The Language of God

The Language of God PDF Author: Francis Collins
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1847396151
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
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?

Why God Won't Go Away

Why God Won't Go Away PDF Author: Andrew Newberg, M.D.
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 0307493156
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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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.

God's Biologist

God's Biologist PDF Author: David Hay
Publisher: Darton Longman and Todd
ISBN: 9780232528473
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
'Have you ever been aware of, or influenced by a presence or a power, whether you call it God or not, that is different from your everyday self?' Alister Hardy was the Head of the Department of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy in Oxford University from 1946 to 1961 and arguably the best known marine biologist in the world. Yet he was a man who lived an extraordinary double life. At one level, as a zoologist and steadfast Darwinian he was an eminent representative of the scientific revolution that transformed European thought following the Enlightenment. At another deeper level - which for much of the time he felt it necessary to conceal from his colleagues and even his own children - the course of Hardy's life was determined by his intense religious commitment. His entire scientific career was dramatically shaped by his conviction that he was fulfilling a religious vocation he had taken up when he was a young man of eighteen. His integrity would not permit him to discard either science or religion, and the outcome was the creation of a revolutionary approach to the resolution of that celebrated conflict. In this remarkable biography, David Hay shows how Hardy struggled towards, and successfully created, his novel response to the inevitable tensions between the scientific and religious dimensions of his life. As the founder of the Religious Experience Research Unit, he created a huge bank of personal testimony, drawn from the answers of ordinary people to the question posed above. These thoughts of a highly gifted scientist on the nature and importance of the spiritual dimension of human experience are of the greatest relevance to current debates about the validity of religion in a secular age.

Can We Be Good Without God?

Can We Be Good Without God? PDF Author: Robert Buckman
Publisher: Prometheus Books
ISBN: 1615922776
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 278

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Book Description
Recent neurological studies have shown that there are regions of the brain that seem predisposed to create beliefs. Are we hardwired to believe? And if so, why do beliefs sometimes inspire major contributions to society, while on other occasions they precipitate horrendous acts of destruction?In this provocative and stimulating study of the connection between belief and behavior, Dr. Robert Buckman begins by reviewing the history of religious belief, showing the many shared themes among religions of diverse cultures. He then explains little-publicized data from neuroscience on the limbic system and the right-hand temporal lobe of the brain, which when stimulated consistently produces deep-seated spiritual feelings. Recent experiments reveal that this portion of the brain may underlie the development of many common religious beliefs, and perhaps the more aggressive and destructive behaviors associated with some of them. Buckman also summarizes evidence regarding pheromones and their effect on the limbic system, as a possible mechanism for certain types of crowd behavior, whether in a religious or secular context.Finally, considering the long historical relationship between religion and ethics, Buckman asks whether we can develop better, nontheistic belief systems that avoid the destructive aspects of traditional religious beliefs. He then describes ways in which we can become aware of, and perhaps, correct our ôlimbic urgesö when they threaten to lead to destructive behavior. This ambitious work, covering important areas of social anthropology, comparative religion, neurology, and psychology, provides many insights into the mechanisms of belief.Robert Buckman, M.D. (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) is a cancer specialist, professor in the department of medicine at the University of Toronto, the current president of the Humanist Association of Canada, and the author (with Karl Sabbagh) of Magic or Medicine?

God and the New Biology

God and the New Biology PDF Author: Arthur Robert Peacocke
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description


God: The Failed Hypothesis

God: The Failed Hypothesis PDF Author: Victor J. Stenger
Publisher: Prometheus Books
ISBN: 161592003X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 310

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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.

Men of Science, Men of God

Men of Science, Men of God PDF Author: Henry Morris
Publisher: New Leaf Publishing Group
ISBN: 1614582777
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 113

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Book Description
One of the most serious fallacies today is the belief that genuine scientists cannot believe the Bible. BUT THE TRUTH IS that many of the major scientific contributions were made by scientists who were dedicated men of God. In Men of Science, Men of God, Dr. Henry Morris presents 101 biographies and Christian testimonies of scientists who believed in the Bible and in a personal Creator God - scientists who were pioneers and "founding fathers" of modern scientific disciplines.