Evolution and Religious Creation Myths

by Paul F. Lurquin

Author	: Paul F. Lurquin
Publisher	: Oxford University Press
Total Pages	: 355
Release	: 2007-07-06
Genre	: Social Science
ISBN	: 0199886288

GET BOOK

Relying mostly on modern genetic science, this book exposes how various forms of creationism-including intelligent design-fail to provide testable models for the appearance and evolution of life. On the contrary, science has been very successful in the description of the unguided processes that led to the creation of the universe and one of its consequences, the appearance of life forms, including humans.

Evolution and Religious Creation Myths : How Scientists Respond

by Paul F. Lurquin School of Molecular Biosciences Washington State University

Author	: Paul F. Lurquin School of Molecular Biosciences Washington State University
Publisher	: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages	: 240
Release	: 2007-06-08
Genre	: Education
ISBN	: 0199717966

GET BOOK

Polls show that 45% of the American public believes that humans were created about 10,000 years ago and that evolution is non existent. Another 25% believes that changes in the natural world are directed by a supernatural being with a particular goal in mind. This thinking clashes frontally with scientific findings obtained in the past 150 years. A large portion of the general public espouses the views of creationists and their descendants, and ignores or is unaware of scientific advances. Critical thinking about the natural world within a scientific framework is lacking in the USA and many parts of the world. This manuscript provides a multidisciplinary explanation and defense for the science of evolution (not just Darwinism) as it is being challenged by arguments for "intelligent design" and other creation myths. It draws in the life, physical, and social sciences, and recent studies of human evolution that rely much on the idea of change over time, which is evolution writ large. It puts the evolution/ID issue into international perspective by including opinions held in world religions other than Christianity. It is clearly written and also can easily be used as a guide for those with some science background. The authors make a convincing case that other books do not achieve this as much as they do in this work. The book is written for a whole spectrum of educated people including teachers and teachers in training who are interested in the broad issues of the origins of the universe, life, and humans, and who may not quite grasp the potential magnitude of the negative influence on all of science education of people embracing creationist and ID thinking. This includes high school teachers and people on boards of education and in municipal governments--anyone involved in education. It could be used also in college courses such as "contemporary social issues" and "Science and Society" -- sometimes team taught by sociologists and scientists. The authors show that when they are teleological, dogmatic, or politically inspired, religious and creation myths threaten scientific efforts. The book does not require any extensive knowledge of science. The principle of change over time pervades all of science, from cosmology, to the search for the origin for life, to human physical and cultural evolution. The book educates readers on scientific matters that overwhelmingly support the idea of evolution, not only in the living world, but also in physical and social science. It explains too how evolution -- physical and biological -- is a random, unguided process whose roots can be already found in quantum physics.

How I Changed My Mind About Evolution

by Kathryn Applegate

Author	: Kathryn Applegate
Publisher	: Monarch Books
Total Pages	: 209
Release	: 2016-07-15
Genre	: Religion
ISBN	: 0857217887

GET BOOK

Over two dozen Christian leaders describe how they changed their minds about evolution Perhaps no topic appears as potentially threatening to evangelicals as evolution. The very idea seems to exclude God from the creation the book of Genesis celebrates. Yet many evangelicals have come to accept the conclusions of science while still holding to a vigorous belief in God and the Bible. How did they make this journey? How did they come to embrace both evolution and faith? Here are stories from a community of people who love Jesus and honor the authority of the Bible, but who also agree with what science says about the cosmos, our planet and the life that so abundantly fills it. Among the contributors are Scientists such as: Francis Collins Deborah Haarsma Denis Lamoureux Theologians and philosophers such as: James K. A. Smith Amos Yong Oliver Crisp Biblical scholars such as: N. T. Wright Scot McKnight Tremper Longman III Pastors such as: John Ortberg Ken Fong Laura Truax

Evolution and the Myth of Creationism

by Tim M. Berra

Author	: Tim M. Berra
Publisher	: Stanford University Press
Total Pages	: 218
Release	: 1990
Genre	: Science
ISBN	: 9780804717700

GET BOOK

Gives a description of evolutionary theory and analyzes the arguments of the creationists.

Four Views on Creation, Evolution, and Intelligent Design

by Zondervan,

Author	: Zondervan,
Publisher	: Zondervan Academic
Total Pages	: 240
Release	: 2017-11-21
Genre	: Religion
ISBN	: 0310080983

GET BOOK

Evolution--or the broader topic of origins--has enormous relevance to how we understand the Christian faith and how we interpret Scripture. Four Views on Creation, Evolution, and Intelligent Design presents the current "state of the conversation" about origins among evangelicals representing four key positions: Young Earth Creationism - Ken Ham (Answers in Genesis) Old Earth (Progressive) Creationism - Hugh Ross (Reasons to Believe) Evolutionary Creation - Deborah B. Haarsma (BioLogos) Intelligent Design - Stephen C. Meyer (The Discovery Institute) The contributors offer their best defense of their position addressing questions such as: What is your position on origins - understood broadly to include the physical universe, life, and human beings in particular? What do you take to be the most persuasive arguments in defense of your position? How do you demarcate and correlate evidence about origins from current science and from divine revelation? What hinges on answering these questions correctly? This book allows each contributor to not only present the case for his or her view, but also to critique and respond to the critiques of the other contributors, allowing you to compare their beliefs in an open forum setting to see where they overlap and where they differ.

Thank God for Evolution

by Michael Dowd

Author	: Michael Dowd
Publisher	: Penguin
Total Pages	: 452
Release	: 2008
Genre	: Religion
ISBN	: 9780670020454

GET BOOK

Presents a philosophy that unifies evolution and religion, discussing evolution as a divine process, how to use insights derived from evolution to improve spiritual life, and how to work for systemic change within this framework.

The Language of God

by Francis Collins

Author	: Francis Collins
Publisher	: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages	: 227
Release	: 2008-09-04
Genre	: Science
ISBN	: 1847396151

GET BOOK

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?

Media and Science-Religion Conflict

by Thomas Aechtner

Author	: Thomas Aechtner
Publisher	: Routledge
Total Pages	: 257
Release	: 2020-01-22
Genre	: Religion
ISBN	: 1000030717

GET BOOK

This book examines why the religion-science skirmishes known as the Evolution Wars have persisted into the 21st century. It does so by considering the influences of mass media in relation to decision-making research and the Elaboration Likelihood Model, one of the most authoritative persuasion theories. The book’s analysis concentrates on the expression of cues, or cognitive mental shortcuts, in Darwin-sceptic and counter-creationist broadcasts. A multiyear collection of media generated by the most prominent Darwin-sceptic organizations is surveyed, along with rival publications from supporters of evolutionary theory described as the pro-evolutionists. The analysed materials include works produced by Young Earth Creationist and Intelligent Design media makers, New Atheist pacesetters, as well as both agnostic and religious supporters of evolution. These cues are shown to function as subtle but effective means of shaping public opinion, including appeals to expertise, claims that ideas are being censored, and the tactical use of statistics and technical jargon. Contending that persuasive mass media is a decisive component of science-religion controversies, this book will be of keen interest to scholars of Religion, Science and Religion interactions, as well as researchers of Media and Communication Studies more generally.

Evolution: Scripture and Nature Say Yes

by Denis Lamoureux

Author	: Denis Lamoureux
Publisher	: Zondervan
Total Pages	: 209
Release	: 2016-11-15
Genre	: Religion
ISBN	: 0310526450

GET BOOK

Christians throughout history have believed that God reveals himself both through Scripture and nature. The metaphor of God’s Two Books is often used to represent these two divine revelations. The Book of God’s Words is the Bible. Scripture reveals inerrant spiritual truths. These include, the God of Christianity is the Creator of the heavens and the earth, the creation is very good, and only humans are created in the Image of God (Gen. 1:1, 27, 31). The Book of God’s Works is the physical world. Nature declares God’s glory, eternal power, and divine nature (Ps. 19:1; Rom. 1:20). Through the gift of science, our Creator has blessed us with the ability to explore and understand the structure, operation, and origin of his creation. Together God’s Two Books offer us a complementary divine revelation of who created the world and how he created it. A majority of Americans view science and religion as being in conflict, according to the Pew Research Center. Christians and non-Christians alike share this view, yet if this perceived conflict misrepresents the relationship between modern science and Christian faith, then it is both unhelpful and unnecessary today. In Evolution: Scripture and Nature Say Yes, theologian and scientist Denis O. Lamoureux reviews several options for embracing biblical Christianity and findings of science, including biological evolution. Holding to a high view of Scripture alongside an expert appreciation for scientific discovery, Lamoureux further outlines a way to understand passages referring to the natural world in the Bible and also demonstrates how modern science can point toward God. Lamoureux shares his own story along the way, recounting struggles many readers will relate to on his journey toward PhDs in both theology and biology and a fruitful relationship between the two. Topics in this book include: A biblical model of intelligent design in nature based on Psalm 19 and Romans 1. Examination of the ancient science in Scripture, such as a flat earth and 3-tier universe. Comparison of different Christian views on origins—young earth creation, progressive creation (old earth creation), and evolutionary creation. Criticisms of the atheistic interpretation of evolution held by Richard Dawkins and his belief that intelligent design is merely an illusion. Galileo’s peaceful relationship between Scripture and nature, including his view that “the intention of the Holy Spirit [in the Bible] is to teach us how one goes to heaven, and not how heaven goes.” Darwin’s religious beliefs and evidence of the impact that intelligent design had on him throughout his life, along with his claim, “It seems to me absurd to doubt that a man may be an ardent Theist [personal God] and an evolutionist.” Believers wanting to honor God’s Two Books—Scripture and Nature—faithfully and without conflict will find an excellent introduction in Evolution: Scripture and Nature Say Yes.