The Language of Science and Faith: Straight Answers To Genuine Questions

Religion & Spirituality

Collins, Francis S.

Giberson, Karl W.

Christian Books & Bibles

SPCK Publishing

The Anointed: Evangelical Truth in a Secular Age

American evangelicalism often appears as a politically monolithic, textbook red-state fundamentalism that elected George W. Bush, opposes gay marriage, abortion, and evolution, and promotes apathy about global warming. Prominent public figures hold forth on these topics, speaking with great authority for millions of followers. Authors Stephens and Giberson, with roots in the evangelical tradition, argue that this popular impression understates the diversity within evangelicalism―an often insular world where serious disagreements are invisible to secular and religiously liberal media consumers. Yet, in the face of this diversity, why do so many people follow leaders with dubious credentials when they have other options? Why do tens of millions of Americans prefer to get their science from Ken Ham, founder of the creationist Answers in Genesis, who has no scientific expertise, rather than from his fellow evangelical Francis Collins, current Director of the National Institutes of Health?
Exploring intellectual authority within evangelicalism, the authors reveal how America’s populist ideals, anti-intellectualism, and religious free market, along with the concept of anointing―being chosen by God to speak for him like the biblical prophets―established a conservative evangelical leadership isolated from the world of secular arts and sciences.
Today, charismatic and media-savvy creationists, historians, psychologists, and biblical exegetes continue to receive more funding and airtime than their more qualified counterparts. Though a growing minority of evangelicals engage with contemporary scholarship, the community’s authority structure still encourages the “anointed” to assume positions of leadership.

History

Stephens, Randall J.

Americas

Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press

Species of Origins: America's Search for a Creation Story (American Intellectual Culture)

In Species of Origins, Karl W. Giberson and Donald A. Yerxa examine America's controversial conversation about creation and evolution. While noting that part of the discord stems from the growing cultural and religious diversity of the United States, they argue powerfully that the real issue is the headlong confrontation between two seemingly incompatible worldviews upon which millions of Americans rely: modern naturalistic science and traditional Judeo-Christian religions.

Yerxa, Donald A.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

"In Species of Origin, Karl W. Giberson and Donald A. Yerxa argue that creation stories are an essential part of every culture because they explain how the world came to be and help answer questions about humanity's role in the larger whole. Despite their importance, however, Americans have not been able to agree on a common creation story since the late nineteenth century. Giberson and Yerxa examine the controversial debates surrounding creation and explain that while part of the discord stems from the growing cultural and religious diversity of the United States, most of the disagreement flows from two competing and distinct worldviews upon which Americans relymodern naturalistic science and traditional JudeoChristian religions. This conflict between science and religion, they argue, is at the root of America's ongoing search for its origins. Giberson and Yerxa expertly delve into this search and America's varied creation mythsmyths that the authors dub the species of origins."

Science & Math

A scientist and former evangelical argues that holding onto a belief in a literal, historical Adam has forced many Christians to reject science and become intellectually isolated from the modern world. The Bible’s first man stands at the center of a crisis that is shaking much of Christianity. In the evangelical world, scholars have been ostracized and banished from their academic communities for endorsing a modern scientific understanding of the world, even as they remained strong Christians. Self-appointed gatekeepers of traditional theology demand intellectual allegiance to an implausible interpretation of the Genesis creation story, insisting that all humanity must be descended from a single, perfect human pair, Adam and Eve. Such a view is utterly at odds with contemporary science. It wasn’t always this way. Karl Giberson spotlights the venerable tradition of Christian engagement with new knowledge and discoveries. When global exploration, anthropology, geology, paleontology, biblical studies, and even linguistics cast doubt on the historicity of Adam and his literal fall into sin, Christians responded by creatively reimagining the creation story, letting Adam “evolve” to accommodate his changing context. Even conservative evangelical institutions until recently encouraged serious engagement with evolutionary science, unhindered by the straitjacket of young-earth creationism, intelligent design, or other views demanding that Adam be a historical figure. Giberson calls for a renewed conversation between science and Christianity, and for more open engagement with new scientific discoveries, even when they threaten central doctrines. Christians should not be made to choose between their faith and their understanding of the universe. Instead, as Giberson argues, they should follow in the once robust tradition of exploring science openly within the broad contours of Christian belief.

Saving the Original Sinner: How Christians Have Used the Bible's First Man to Oppress, Inspire, and Make Sense of the World

Biographies & Memoirs

Community & Culture

Beacon Press

Literature & Fiction

History & Criticism

Like detectives sleuthing out the greatest mystery of all, scientists over the centuries have uncovered clues about the structure and origins of the universe. The work of Galileo, Newton, Einstein, and a host of other tenacious researchers and thinkers reveals a cosmos of almost unimaginable wonder and beauty. If we then honestly follow the evidence of science wherever it leads, where do we end up? Karl Giberson takes us on a fascinating guided tour of planets and protons, galaxies and gamma rays. We discover that if gravity were slightly stronger, neutrons a tiny bit lighter, the size of our sun somewhat larger or a dozen other factors altered by fractions, there would be no life. The author shows that for many observers, even those who do not embrace religious faith, all of this looks suspiciously like the expression of a grand plan--a cosmic architecture capable of both supporting life such as ours, and inspiring observers like us to seek out hints of a creator. Join this cosmic expedition and discover the wonder of it all.

The Wonder of the Universe: Hints of God in Our Fine-Tuned World

Christians affirm that everything exists because of God--from subatomic quarks to black holes. Science often claims to explain nature without including God at all. And thinking Christians often feel forced to choose between the two. But the good news is that we don't have to make a choice. Science does not overthrow the Bible. Faith does not require rejecting science. World-renowned scientist Francis Collins, author of The Language of God, along with fellow scientist Karl Giberson show how we can embrace both. Their fascinating treatment explains how God cares for and interacts with his creation while science offers a reliable way to understand the world he made. Together they clearly answer dozens of the most common questions people ask about Darwin, evolution, the age of the earth, the Bible, the existence of God and our finely tuned universe. They also consider how their views stack up against the new atheists as well as against creationists and adherents of intelligent design. The authors disentangle the false conclusions of Christians and atheists alike about science and evolution from the actual results of research in astronomy, physics, geology and genetics. In its place they find a story of the grandeur and beauty of a world made by a supremely creative God.

The Language of Science and Faith: Straight Answers to Genuine Questions

Religious Studies

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