Download or read book A Friendly Letter to Skeptics and Atheists written by David G. Myers and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2008-12-02 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Friendly Letter to Skeptics and Atheists helps readers—both secular and religious—appreciate their common ground. For those whose thinking has moved from the religious thesis to the skeptical antithesis (or vice versa), Myers offers pointers to a science-respecting Christian synthesis. He shows how skeptics and people of faith can share a commitment to reason, evidence, and critical thinking, while also embracing a faith that supports human flourishing—by making sense of the universe, giving meaning to life, connecting us in supportive communities, mandating altruism, and offering hope in the face of adversity and death.
Download or read book A Sceptic s Guide to Atheism written by Peter S Williams and published by Authentic Media Inc. This book was released on 2013-09-01 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is an accessible response to the contemporary anti-God arguments of the 'new atheists' (Dawkins, Dennett, Harris, Hitchens, Grayling, etc). Atheism has become militant in the past few years, with its own popular mass media evangelists such as Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett. In this readable book, Christian philosopher Peter S. Williams considers the arguments of the 'new atheists' and finds them wanting. Williams explains the history of atheism and responds to the claims that: 'belief in God causes more harm than good'; 'religion is about blind faith and science is the only way to know things'; 'science can explain religion away'; 'there is not enough evidence for God'; 'the arguments for God's existence do not work'. Williams argues that belief in God is more intellectually plausible than atheism.
Download or read book After the New Atheist Debate written by Phil Ryan and published by University of Toronto Press. This book was released on 2014-01-01 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on the social sciences, philosophy, and theology, Ryan examines the claims of the New Atheists and of their various religious and secular opponents and finds both sides wanting.
Download or read book Teaching the Tradition written by John J. Piderit and published by Oxford University Press on Demand. This book was released on 2012-02-14 with total page 491 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Catholic intellectual tradition is broad, and covers a wide array of academic disciplines. In their book, John Piderit, Melanie Morey, and their contributors take a disciplinary approach to the Catholic intellectual tradition. Each chapter focuses on one academic discipline or major that is taught at the undergraduate level in most colleges or universities, including English literature, political theory, psychology, business economics, and law.
Download or read book Born Believers written by Justin L. Barrett and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-03-20 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Infants have a lot to make sense of in the world: Why does the sun shine and night fall; why do some objects move in response to words, while others won’t budge; who is it that looks over them and cares for them? How the developing brain grapples with these and other questions leads children, across cultures, to naturally develop a belief in a divine power of remarkably consistent traits––a god that is a powerful creator, knowing, immortal, and good—explains noted developmental psychologist and anthropologist Justin L. Barrett in this enlightening and provocative book. In short, we are all born believers. Belief begins in the brain. Under the sway of powerful internal and external influences, children understand their environments by imagining at least one creative and intelligent agent, a grand creator and controller that brings order and purpose to the world. Further, these beliefs in unseen super beings help organize children’s intuitions about morality and surprising life events, making life meaningful. Summarizing scientific experiments conducted with children across the globe, Professor Barrett illustrates the ways human beings have come to develop complex belief systems about God’s omniscience, the afterlife, and the immortality of deities. He shows how the science of childhood religiosity reveals, across humanity, a “natural religion,” the organization of those beliefs that humans gravitate to organically, and how it underlies all of the world’s major religions, uniting them under one common source. For believers and nonbelievers alike, Barrett offers a compelling argument for the human instinct for religion, as he guides all parents in how to effectively encourage children in developing a healthy constellation of beliefs about the world around them.
Download or read book The God Debates written by John R. Shook and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2011-08-02 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The God Debates presents a comprehensive, non-technical survey of the quest for knowledge of God, allowing readers to participate in a debate about the existence of God and gain understanding and appreciation of religion?s conceptual foundations. Explains key arguments for and against God's existence in clear ways for readers at all levels Brings theological debates up to the present with current ideas from modernism, postmodernism, fideism, evidentialism, presuppositionalism, and mysticism Updates criticism of theology by dealing with the latest terms of the God debates instead of outdated caricatures of religion Helps nonbelievers to learn important theological standpoints while noting their shortcomings Encourages believers and nonbelievers to enjoy informed dialogue with each other Concludes with an overview of religious and nonreligious worldviews and predictions about the future of faith and reason
Download or read book Opening Paul s Letters written by Patrick Gray and published by Baker Books. This book was released on 2012-03 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An experienced teacher provides an accessible textbook on the Pauline letters that orients beginning students to the genre in which Paul writes.
Download or read book The Doubters Club Good Faith Conversations with Skeptics Atheists and the Spiritually Wounded written by Preston Ulmer and published by NavPress. This book was released on 2021-09 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is it possible to grow in our Christian faith without engaging the doubter or the skeptic? And if growing in our faith means growing closer to the doubter, how do we do that without compromising what we believe to be true?
Download or read book Life God and Other Small Topics written by Eric Metaxas and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2011-10-13 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is for the seeker in all of us, the collector of wisdom, and the person who asks, “What if?” from the author of Bonhoeffer, Miracles, and Martin Luther The Greek philosopher Socrates famously said that “the unexamined life is not worth living.” Using this as a starting point, Eric Metaxas created a forum encouraging successful professionals to actively think about life’s bigger questions. Thus, Socrates in the City was born. First presented to standing-room-only crowds in New York City and written by luminaries such as Dr. Francis Collins, Sir John Polkinghorne, and Os Guinness, these original essays grapple with extraordinary topics from “Making Sense out of Suffering” to “Belief in God in an Age of Science.” No question is too big—in fact, the bigger, the better—because nowhere is it written that finding the answers to life’s biggest questions shouldn’t be exciting and even, perhaps, fun.
Download or read book The Skeptical Inquirer written by and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Religion written by Christian Smith and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2019-03-26 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A groundbreaking new theory of religion Religion remains an important influence in the world today, yet the social sciences are still not adequately equipped to understand and explain it. This book advances an innovative theory of religion that goes beyond the problematic theoretical paradigms of the past. Drawing on the philosophy of critical realism and personalist social theory, Christian Smith explores why humans are religious in the first place—uniquely so as a species—and offers an account of secularization and religious innovation and persistence that breaks the logjam in which religious scholarship has been stuck for so long. Certain to stimulate debate and inspire promising new avenues of scholarship, Religion features a wealth of illustrations and examples that help to make its concepts accessible to readers. This superbly written book brings sound theoretical thinking to a perennially thorny subject, and a new vitality and focus to its study.
Download or read book Real Scientists Real Faith written by R J Berry and published by Monarch Books. This book was released on 2012-11-20 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The science / faith debate rages on. Yet many leading scientists have an active Christian faith. Here 17 scientists, all esteemed by their peers, tackle two questions: What difference their faith makes to their scientific practice; and What difference their science makes to their understanding of their faith. Contributors include: Francis Collins, Director, Human Genome Project Joan Centrella, Chief of the Gravitational Astrophysics Laboratory, NASA Bob White, Professor of Geophysics, University of Cambridge Alister McGrath, Professor of Theology, King's College London, and molecular biologist Wilson Poon, Professor of Physics, University of Edinburgh
Download or read book Coming to Faith Through Dawkins written by Alister McGrath and published by Kregel Publications. This book was released on 2023-08-29 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Richard Dawkins = Christian evangelist? Editors Denis Alexander and Alister McGrath gather other intelligent minds from around the world to share their startling commonality: Richard Dawkins and his fellow New Atheists were instrumental in their conversions to Christianity. Despite a wide range of backgrounds and cultures, all are united in the fact that they were first enthusiasts for the claims and writings of the New Atheists. But each became disillusioned by the arguments and conclusions of Dawkins, causing them to look deeper and with more objectivity at religious faith. The fallacies of Christianity Dawkins warns of simply don't exist. Spending time in this fascinating and powerful book is like being invited to the most interesting dinner party you've ever attended. Listen as twelve men and women from five different countries across a variety of professions--philosophers, artists, historians, engineers, scientists, and more--explain their journeys from atheism to faith. In the end, you may come away having reached the same conclusion: authentic Christian faith is in fact more intellectually convincing and rational than New Atheism. "Lucid as well as exhilarating and wide-ranging." --Rupert Shortt, Von Hügel Institute, University of Cambridge, and author of God Is No Thing "Many people, including nonbelievers like me, have found Dawkins's strident atheism upsetting to the point of offensive. I would never have thought that--as Coming to Faith Through Dawkins shows in wonderful detail--for some, Dawkins's rantings were the spur to Christian faith." --Michael Ruse, Professor of Philosophy Emeritus, University of Guelph, Ontario "This is a novel book: real-life stories of people who have actually come to faith, not in spite of but through Richard Dawkins. It must be his own worst nightmare!" --William Lane Craig, Houston Christian University
Download or read book Psychology and Christianity written by Eric L. Johnson and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2009-08-20 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How are Christians to understand and undertake the discipline of psychology? This question has been of keen interest (and sometimes concern) to Christians because of the importance we place on a correct understanding of human nature. Psychology can sometimes seem disconnected from, if not antithetical to, Christian perspectives on life. How are we to understand our Christian beliefs about persons in relation to secular psychological beliefs? This revised edition of a widely appreciated Spectrum volume now presents five models for understanding the relationship between psychology and Christianity. All the essays and responses have been reworked and updated with some new contributors including the addition of a new perspective, the transformative view from John Coe and Todd Hall (Biola University). Also found here is David Powlison (Westminster Theological Seminary) who offers the biblical counseling model. The levels-of-explanation model is advanced by David G. Myers (Hope College), while Stanton L. Jones (Wheaton College) offers an entirely new chapter presenting the integration model. The Christian psychology model is put forth by Robert C. Roberts (Baylor University) now joined by Paul J. Watson (University of Tennesee, Chattanooga). Each of the contributors responds to the other essayists, noting points of agreement as well as problems they see. Eric L. Johnson provides a revised introduction that describes the history of Christians and psychology, as well as a conclusion that considers what might unite the five views and how a reader might evaluate the relative strengths and weaknesses of each view. Psychology and Christianity: Five Views has become a standard introductory textbook for students and professors of Christian psychology. This revision promises to keep it so. Spectrum Multiview Books offer a range of viewpoints on contested topics within Christianity, giving contributors the opportunity to present their position and also respond to others in this dynamic publishing format.
Download or read book Why Science and Faith Belong Together written by Malcolm A. Jeeves and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2021-02-25 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As we try to understand ourselves and the world we live in, all too often we look first to science--and then, if gaps remain in our understanding, we try to fill the gaps with reference to God and our faith. Such a "god-of-the-gaps" approach has a long history and is sadly alive and well today. This book was written to provide an alternative approach, posing this basic question: How can educated Christians maintain their intellectual honesty and, at the same time, be faithful both to Scripture and to science? This book provides examples of some of the liveliest "science vs. faith" issues today and suggests ways to think constructively about each of them.
Download or read book God through Cosmic Lenses written by Victor Folkert and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2022-08-30 with total page 171 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why does the universe exist? What is the source of human personality? Why do people suffer and die? Do humans really have free will? Is evil real, and can it be overcome? Does humanity have a future? If God exists, how can he be known? Throughout history, people have explored questions like these through lenses of philosophy, theology, and science. Discoveries in the last hundred years have transformed the way scientists view the universe. Quantum physicists envision mysteries of quantum fields, indeterminacy, and unseen quarks and bosons. Astronomers perceive a big bang, an expanding universe, and space-time relativity. Cosmologists speculate about string theory, higher dimensions, and observer-created reality. Drawing from quantum physics, cosmology, mathematics, theology, and the Bible, God through Cosmic Lenses offers fresh perspectives on age-old human questions of God, reality, and human life. Simple language and analogies make complex concepts accessible to all, and quotations and stories add a human perspective to abstract ideas.
Download or read book Judgment Great News or Dreaded Dilemma written by Gordon Kainer and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2014-09-23 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No biblical theme raises more fear or discouragement among Adventists than God's judgments, especially the pre-advent judgment. However, there is great news! The author reveals how our fear disappears when we accept Jesus, the righteous One, as our Substitute in the judgment. Learn how God's judgment illustrates His purpose of universal restoration and vindication in the context of His covenant, grace, and justification. Through a loving God's offer of justification by faith we can stand confidently in the judgment with Christ our Advocate. Discover joy in salvation by faith in Christ alone, that the pre-advent judgment is Christ-centered, not man-centered; it is not what you have done but what He has done for you! Judgment does not question your decision to accept Christ's sacrifice; it validates the decision you've already made! Finally, readers will find peaceful assurance that eternity won't begin until every human question has been answered to our satisfaction in the judgment.
