Can religion survive Darwinism? Do scientists entering the lab or heading for the field have to bracket, or reject outright, all religious commitments and convictions? Trenchantly laying out the evidence for natural selection and carefully following and underscoring the themes and theses of Genesis, L. E. Goodman traces the historical and conceptual backgrounds of todaya (TM)s evolution controversies, revealing the deep complementarities of religion and the life sciences. Solidly researched and replete with scientific case studies, vignettes from intellectual history, and thoughtful argument, Creation and Evolution forthrightly exposes the strengths and weaknesses of todaya (TM)s polarized battle camps. Religious and scientific fundamentalisms, Goodman shows, obscure the real biblical message and distort the deepest insights and richest findings of Darwinian science.

Can religion survive Darwinism? Do scientists entering the lab or heading for the field have to bracket, or reject outright, all religious commitments and convictions? Trenchantly laying out the evidence for natural selection and carefully following and underscoring the themes and theses of Genesis, L. E. Goodman traces the historical and conceptual backgrounds of todaya (TM)s evolution controversies, revealing the deep complementarities of religion and the life sciences. Solidly researched and replete with scientific case studies, vignettes from intellectual history, and thoughtful argument, Creation and Evolution forthrightly exposes the strengths and weaknesses of todaya (TM)s polarized battle camps. Religious and scientific fundamentalisms, Goodman shows, obscure the real biblical message and distort the deepest insights and richest findings of Darwinian science.

In recent decades, a new scientific approach to understand, explain, and predict many features of religion has emerged. The cognitive science of religion (CSR) has amassed research on the forces that shape the tendency for humans to be religious and on what forms belief takes. It suggests that religion, like language or music, naturally emerges in humans with tractable similarities. This new approach has profound implications for how we understand religion, including why it appears so easily, and why people are willing to fight-and die-for it. Yet it is not without its critics, and some fear that scholars are explaining the ineffable mystery of religion away, or showing that religion is natural proves or disproves the existence of God. An Introduction to the Cognitive Science of Religion offers students and general readers an accessible introduction to the approach, providing an overview of key findings and the debates that shape it. The volume includes a glossary of key terms, and each chapter includes suggestions for further thought and further reading as well as chapter summaries highlighting key points. This book is an indispensable resource for introductory courses on religion and a much-needed option for advanced courses.

This study is a new look at the question of how God can act upon the world, and whether the world can affect God, examining contemporary work on the metaphysics of causation and laws of nature, and current work in the theory of knowledge and mysticism. It has been traditional to address such questions by appealing to God's omnipotence and omniscience, but this book claims that this is useless unless it can be shown how these two powers "work." Instead of treating the familiar problems associated with omnipotence and omniscience, this book asks directly whether, and how, causal interactions between God and His world could occur: both between God and the physical world (miracles) and between God and other minds (mystical experience), as well as between the world and God (divine perception). Fales examines current thinking (which is diverse) about the very nature of causation, laws of nature, and agency.

Signs of God reveals why discussion of the nature of miracles is of central rather than marginal importance where belief in God is concerned. Miracles cannot be shunted to one side as an embarrassing hangover from a 'pre-scientific age'. Miracles have played an important role in the history of all the major world religions, and many religious believers claim that they continue to do so. Yet they have also been criticized from a philosophical viewpoint as incompatible with a belief in laws of nature, and those who seek to have their religious beliefs properly attuned to the modern world often prefer to do without them. This accessible book examines the nature of miracles both in philosophical and historical terms, and concludes that, whether or not miracles happen, it is difficult to see how religious belief could survive without them.

Precocious and sometimes marginalized Klaus Bockmuehl's insights regarding the Spirit's agency in Christian Ethics, and therefore in our daily Christian experiences, have renewed import, now. This is an exceptional book, it introduces us for the first time to a much-neglected thinker. It also equips us with an understanding of how the Church can live ethically in power, through its relationship with the Father. In both respects it has much to offer its reader and the wider contemporary church.

Centuries before anyone could make sense of these fantastic warnings, the prophets declared that the mysteries of Revelation would not be understood until the Last Days. Verse by verse and chapter by chapter, Jack Van Impe, reviews John's portrait of history's final claims.

Leading spiritual teacher John Philip Newell reveals how Celtic spirituality, listening to the sacred around us and inside of us, can help to heal the earth, overcome our conflicts and reconnect with ourselves. Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul offers a new spiritual foundation for our lives, once centered on encouragement,guidance and hope for creating a better world. Sharing the long hidden tradition of Celtic Christianity, explaining how this earth-based spirituality can help us rediscover the natural rhythms of life and deepen our spiritual connection with God, with each other and with the earth. Newell introduces some of Celtic Christianity's leading practitioners, both saints and pioneers of faith, whose timeless wisdom is more necessary than ever, including: Pelagius, who shows us how to look beyond sin to affirm our sacredness as part of all God's creation and courageously stands up for our principles in the face of oppression. Brigid of Kildare, who illuminates the interrelationship of all things and reminds us of the power of the sacred feminine to overcome those seeking to control us. John Muir, who encourages us to see the holiness and beauty of wilderness and what we must do to protect these gifts. Teilhard de Chardin, who inspires us to see how science, faith, and our future tell one universal story that beings with sacredness.

In Consciousness and the Existence of God, J.P. Moreland argues that the existence of finite, irreducible consciousness (or its regular, law-like correlation with physical states) provides evidence for the existence of God. Moreover, he analyzes and criticizes the top representative of rival approaches to explaining the origin of consciousness, including John Searlea (TM)s contingent correlation, Timothy Oa (TM)Connora (TM)s emergent necessitation, Colin McGinna (TM)s mysterian "naturalism," David Skrbinaa (TM)s panpsychism and Philip Claytona (TM)s pluralistic emergentist monism. Moreland concludes that these approaches should be rejected in favor of what he calls "the Argument from Consciousness."

One of this century's most eminent theologians addresses the eternal questions of the relationship of good and evil, linking the story of Job to the lives of the poor and oppressed of our world.

"My road to atheism was paved by science...ironically, so was my later journey to God." Journalist and award-winning author of The Case for Christ Lee Strobel examines the idea that science isn't the enemy of faith, but that it provides a solid foundation for belief in God. New scientific discoveries point to the incredible complexity of our universe, a complexity best explained by the existence of a Creator. This six-session video study (DVD/digital video sold separately) invites participants to encounter the evidence of a Creator. Join Strobel in reexamining the theories that once led him away from God. Pastors, small group leaders, and individuals seeking resources that answer tough questions about the existence of God and the claims of rationality will find compelling answers in The Case for a Creator study, investigating probing questions like: Where do science and faith overlap or agree? As a form of knowledge, what are the weaknesses of science and rationality? How much can I depend on science while still have a thriving faith? Is faith in God ever based on rationality? Sessions include: Science and God Doubts about Darwinism The Evidence of Cosmology The Fine-tuning of the Universe The Evidence of Biochemistry The DNA and the Origin of Life Designed for use with the Case for a Creator Revised Video Study 9780310699606 (sold separately).

In Consciousness and the Existence of God, J.P. Moreland argues that the existence of finite, irreducible consciousness (or its regular, law-like correlation with physical states) provides evidence for the existence of God. Moreover, he analyzes and criticizes the top representative of rival approaches to explaining the origin of consciousness, including John Searle's contingent correlation, Timothy O'Connor's emergent necessitation, Colin McGinn's mysterian "'naturalism," David Skrbina's panpsychism and Philip Clayton's pluralistic emergentist monism. Moreland concludes that these approaches should be rejected in favor of what he calls "'the Argument from Consciousness."

The issue of whether or not there is a God is one of the oldest and most widely disputed philosophical questions. It is a debate that spreads far across the range of philosophical questions about the status of science, the nature of mind, the character of good and evil, the epistemology of experience and testimony, and so on. In this book two philosophers, each committed to unambiguous versions of belief and disbelief, debate the central issues of atheism and theism. Smart opens the debate by arguing that theism is philosophically untenable and seeks to explain metaphysical truth in the light of total science. Haldane continues the discussion by affirming that the existence of the world, and the possibility of our coming to have knowledge of it, depend upon the existence of a creating, sustaining, personal God. This is followed by replies, where each philosopher has the chance to respond and to defend his position. This second edition contains new essays by each philosopher, responding to criticisms and building on their previous work.

Conversations matter. Yet, recently, good conversations about faith have been increasingly squeezed out of the public sphere. Seeking to reopen the debate, Justin Brierley began to invite atheists and sceptics on to Premier Christian Radio to air arguments for and against the Christian faith. But how has ten years of discussion with atheists affected the presenter's faith? Reflecting on conversations with Richard Dawkins, Derren Brown and many more, Justin explains why he still finds Christianity the most compelling explanation for life, the universe and everything. And why, regardless of belief or background, we should all welcome the conversation. 'Beautifully written, brilliantly argued, Justin's book will thrill Christians and challenge atheists.' R. T. Kendall, author and pastor 'Justin has that happy knack of being able to get people of diametrically opposed opinions debating the big issues.' John Lennox, Professor of Mathematics, University of Oxford

Traces the interior, evolutionary movement of biblical moments and movements of Genesis, Exodus, Judgement, Incarnation and Apocalypse by meditating on speech and silence in the biblical text of the Old Testament, or Torah. This profoundly moving meditation by a Christian dialectical theologian finds a home in the classical academic literature of Judaism, by virtue of the author's emphasis on the search for words to express man's encounter with the living God. Jacob Neusner, Series Editor, in his new preface, states that, "Judaism in the Torah claims to possess these words." He considers Altizer's work to be a continuation of the legacy of Abraham Joshua Heschel. Originally published by Harper & Row in 1977, this edition contains a new introduction by the author.

Paul Helm presents a new, expanded edition of his much praised 1988 book Eternal God , which defends the view that God exists in timeless eternity. This is the classical Christian view of God, but it is claimed by many theologians and philosophers of religion to be incoherent. Paul Helm rebuts the charge of incoherence, arguing that divine timelessness is grounded in the idea of God as creator, and that this alone makes possible a proper account of divine omniscience. He develops some of the consequences of divine timelessness, particularly as it affects both divine and human freedom, and considers some of the alleged problems about referring to God. The book thus constitutes a unified treatment of the main concepts of philosophical theology. Helm's revised edition includes four new chapters that develop and extend his account of God and time, taking account of significant work in the area that has appeared since the publication of the first edition, by such prominent figures as William Lane Craig, Brian Leftow, and Richard Swinburne. This new discussion takes the reader into further areas, notably timelessness and creation and the nature of divine causality.

How can we reconcile belief in God and Darwinism, divine action and an evolutionary world? The first book of its kind, this Reader represents the diversity of views which surround the interaction of evolutionary theory and the Christian tradition.

Ideal for students with no previous knowledge of the field, the book introduces the methodologies of the study of science and religion, and evolutionary biology, and presents the views of influential thinkers from a variety of disciplines, including:

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• the natural sciences
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• history
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• theology
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• philosophy.

From current scientific developments to contemporary philosophical perspectives, Darwin to Dawkins, Creationism to Intelligent Design, God and Evolution highlights neglected but important views, such as those of feminist scholars, and contemporary revisionists, as well as some of the best known writers in the field.

After an introduction describing the current situation, this book attempts to sketch out the contours of questions currently asked about God, to open up windows on the infinite, to get to the heart of the Christian confession about God and in the midst of pluralism of religions and agnostic culture to try and work out a way of thinking about God. The author writes: "I have learned that it is good to speak about God with some caution; not, however at the periphery of thought but from within, from the heart of our economic, legal, psychological and philosophical ideals. The book is an account of my own personal theological question. What have I found? That the questions about God open our eyes to God the Eternal One, the Most High, as a question to us." The question of God is the basis of all theology, although this does not coincide with faith or piety. The title of this book may therefore be seen as a personal plea; it is impossible to talk about God without defining one's own position.

According to the doctrine of the Trinity, the Father, Son, and Spirit are supposed to be distinct from each other, and yet be one and the same God. As if that were not perplexing enough, there is also supposed to be an internal process of production that gives rise to the Son and Spirit: the Son is said to be 'begotten' by the Father, while the Spirit is said to 'proceed' either from the Father and the Son together, or from the Father, but through the Son. One might wonder, though, just how this sort of divine production is supposed to work. Does the Father, for instance, fashion the Son out of materials, or does he conjure up the Son out of nothing? Is there a middle ground one could take here, or is the whole idea of divine production simply unintelligible? In the late 13th and early 14th centuries, scholastic theologians subjected these questions to detailed philosophical analysis, and those discussions make up one of the most important, and one of the most neglected, aspects of late medieval trinitarian theology. This book examines the central ideas and arguments that defined this debate, namely those of Henry of Ghent, John Duns Scotus, and William Ockham. Their discussions are significant not only for the history of trinitarian theology, but also for the history of philosophy, especially regarding the notions of production and causal powers.

The question of the nature of God's foreknowledge and how that relates to human freedom has been pondered and debated by Christian theologians at least since the time of Augustine. And the issue will not go away. More recently, the terms of the debate have shifted, and the issue has taken on new urgency with the theological proposal known as the openness of God. This view maintains that God's knowledge, while perfect, is limited regarding the future inasmuch as the future is "open" and not settled. This Spectrum Multiview volume provides a venue for well-known proponents of four distinct views of divine foreknowledge to present their cases: Gregory A. Boyd of Bethel College presents the open-theism view. David Hunt of Whittier College weighs in on the simple-foreknowledge view. William Lane Craig of Talbot School of Theology takes the middle-knowledge view. Paul Helm of Regent College, Vancouver, presents the Augustinian-Calvinist view. All four respond to each of the other essayists, noting points of agreement and disagreement. Editors James K. Beilby and Paul R. Eddy introduce the contemporary debate and also offer a conclusion that helps you evaluate the relative strengths and weaknesses of each view. The result is a unique opportunity to grapple with the issues and arguments and frame your own understanding of this important debate. 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.

Theories of generosity, or gift giving, are becoming increasingly important in recent work in philosophy and religion. Stephen Webb seeks to build on this renewed interest by surveying a distinctively modern and postmodern approach to the issue of generosity, and then developing a theological framework for it.

Brian Leftow offers a theory of the possible and the necessary in which God plays the chief role, and a new sort of argument for God's existence. It has become usual to say that a proposition is possible just in case it is true in some 'possible world' (roughly, some complete history a universe might have) and necessary just if it is true in all. Thus much discussion of possibility and necessity since the 1960s has focussed on the nature and existence (or not) of possible worlds. God and Necessity holds that there are no such things, nor any sort of abstract entity. It assigns the metaphysical 'work' such items usually do to God and events in God's mind, and reduces 'broadly logical' modalities to causal modalities, replacing possible worlds in the semantics of modal logic with God and His mental events. Leftow argues that theists are committed to theist modal theories, and that the merits of a theist modal theory provide an argument for God's existence. Historically, almost all theist modal theories base all necessary truth on God's nature. Leftow disagrees: he argues that necessary truths about possible creatures and kinds of creatures are due ultimately to God's unconstrained imagination and choice. On his theory, it is in no sense part of the nature of God that normal zebras have stripes (if that is a necessary truth). Stripy zebras are simply things God thought up, and they have the nature they do simply because that is how God thought of them. Thus Leftow's essay in metaphysics takes a half-step toward Descartes' view of modal truth, and presents a compelling theist theory of necessity and possibility.

This book makes a major contribution to contemporary theological and philosophical debates, bridging scriptural and metaphysical approaches to the triune God.
Bridges the gap between scriptural and metaphysical approaches to biblical narratives.
Retrieves Aquinas's understanding of theology as contemplative wisdom.
Structured around Aquinas's treatise on the triune God in his 'Summa Theologiae'.
Argues that intellectual contemplation is part of a broader spiritual journey towards a better understanding of God.
Contributes to the current resurgence of Thomistic theology in both Protestant and Catholic circles.

The late Cornelius Ernst once said that Aquinas' 'Five Ways' were 'an attempt to show how we may go on speaking of God in the ordinary world'. Nicholas Lash shows how the main contours of the Christian doctrine of God may be mapped onto principal features of our culture and its predicaments. After an introductory chapter on 'the question of God today', Nicholas Lash considers - in chapters entitled 'globalisation and holiness', 'cacophony and conversation' and 'attending to silence' - three dimensions of our contemporary predicament: globalisation, a crisis of language, and the pain and darkness of the world, in relation to the doctrine of God as Spirit, Word, and Father.