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The Language of God: A Scientist Presents…
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The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief (2006)

by Francis S. Collins

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2,536555,788 (3.78)26
Excellent book. Although I have my disagreements with Collins on some of the things discussed in the book, it is an excellent window into how a scientist, who is also a Christian, is able to come to terms with both science and religion. ( )
  bness2 | May 23, 2017 |
Showing 1-25 of 55 (next | show all)
Francis S. Collins’s The Language of God dealt with life’s profound questions. The author who is a Christian scientist endeavored to answer these mysteries people tend to ask. This involved some knowledge in physics, biology, and theology. Since his training was in medical school lots were said about the biological approach. On theology he relied heavily on the writings of English religious scholar C. S. Lewis for answers about the Christian faith.
A theme throughout the book was Collins’s belief in the moral law. An understanding that universally people regardless of their ethnicity, religion, or nationality subscribed to the tenets of what was right and wrong. The author used this argument along with other scientific data to support the premise in a God that was in and outside of nature. Nevertheless, he thought that it was up to every individual to figure out their spiritual path.
Collins had no problems with Darwin’s evolution, and said that the genome project provided further proof. He wrote about some genes that were responsible for individuals being susceptible to certain diseases like breast cancer and heart disease - those that so far scientists have decoded. This scientific data was supported by quotations from scripture.
Concerning if religion could be compatible with science, he was positive. Collins stated that there were many scientists who were also religious. The author also did not think much of the arguments of atheists like the British Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris. He wrote that their arguments based only on evolution did not solve the mystery concerning if there existed a supreme being. In this book the author presented his evidence by covering the whole sweep of history since the inception of this debate. ( )
  erwinkennythomas | Aug 12, 2023 |
A good display of personal reasons for belief and theism. Although it is always interesting to hear about a prime scientist, against the status quo that does not allow to speak out loud about the topic (usually), the importance of the topic could have been better treated. ( )
  Mandrilillo99 | Jul 24, 2022 |
It is surely a wonderful book to read and to re-read.It has established a new perspective about faith which many like me might find a logical articulation of our own thinkings.In that sense a mind opener.Also is a very informative book about gentics,philosophy etc. ( )
1 vote Linnabraham | Jan 6, 2022 |
A fascinating discussion about the ability of a passionate believer and practitioner of science to also be a passionate believer in God and his journey from agnostic to atheist to theist. Dr. Collins addresses the similarities in multiple cultures and religions regarding ethics. Most of the discussion was about the acceptance of evolution, as described by Darwin, as being perfectly consistent with a belief in a God who is present in our lives. This is termed "theistic" evolution. The strongest part of the argument for God's participation in our development is the Moral Law, which appears to be given only to Man, not to other forms of life. Although this God-given attribute is often broken by religious and nonreligious people alike, he states this shows our lack of perfection and knowledge, not the absence of God.

Dr. Collins also discusses various parts of the Bible — some if it being historical and some of it (e.g., Genesis) being allegorical. As a Christian, he is naturally drawn to the New Testament and makes an argument for the resurrection of Jesus. Not being a Christian myself, I did not quite understand that part, but it was still very interesting.

At the end of the book, he has a section on bioethics. While interesting, there are many topics he didn’t discuss. He was careful not to weigh in on the question of whether life begins at conception and the debate about abortion. Because I would like to know the views of one of our top scientists and self-proclaimed theists, I was disappointed but perhaps that is really an entire book in itself. For that the book lost half a star, but it is obviously still a very worthwhile and fascinating read. ( )
  krazy4katz | Nov 14, 2021 |
This book is a must for those who doesn't see clearly that science and religion comes hand in hand. ( )
1 vote t_berci | Sep 16, 2021 |
If we consider a spectrum from fundamentalist Christianity to the scientifically-rooted atheism Collins conceives, with the middle comprised on-the-fencers, I believe this book will do more to give meaningful pause to the fundamentalists through the fencers (and perhaps a bit beyond, to the on-the-fencers with a scientific bent); but those in the other stretch of the spectrum will probably only find the same faith-based arguments they've grown accustomed to dismissing. Spoiler: Collins's main argument is based largely on C. S. Lewis's conception of the Moral Law within all of us (in fact, one would do well to read Lewis's [b:Mere Christianity|11138|Mere Christianity|C.S. Lewis|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1468102872s/11138.jpg|801500] to fully understand Collins's perspective), though Collins does drop in some great little nuggets for thought (especially around the inexplicable First Cause and some of the interesting points of the Intelligent Design school of thought). In the end, the dialogue between the two polarities, under the banner of reconciliation, is a necessary one. ( )
  chrisvia | Apr 29, 2021 |
Big disappointment. Collins believes in God, but does it believe in creationism. He believes in “theistic evolution.” ( )
  lynngood2 | Nov 30, 2020 |
The author, Francis Sellers Collins, is an American physician-geneticist who discovered the genes associated with a number of diseases and led the Human Genome Project. He is director of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Despite the subtitle of this book, Collins presents little in the way of actual evidence for belief in God; rather, he asserts the somewhat less ambitious argument that science and religion are not incompatible and that belief in God is not necessarily irrational.

His principal reason for believing that God exists is the prevalence of what he calls the “Moral Law.” Collins asserts, “the concept of right and wrong appears to be universal among all members of the human species (though its application may result in wildly different outcomes).” Collins borrows the concept and the vocabulary of the Moral Law from C. S. Lewis, but idea strongly resembles what Aquinas called “natural law.” Interestingly, Aquinas did not assert that natural law implied the existence of God; rather, he saw natural law as a natural (naturally) consequence of people living together in society. Collins, on the other hand, finds his Moral Law exceedingly difficult to account for as a result of evolution, and hence in need of some extra-scientific (supernatural?) explanation.

[Here Collins elides over the huge field of scientific study into evolutionary biological altruism; that is, the phenomenon of individual organisms behaving in a way that benefits others of its group, at a cost to themselves. By behaving thusly, the altruistic organism reduces the number of offspring it is likely to produce itself, but boosts the number that other similar organisms are likely to produce. Yet somehow, this trait is reproduced continually. As the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy points out, altruistic behavior is common throughout the animal kingdom,]

Collins also argues that modern cosmology points toward something like the Creator described in Genesis. He states: “The Big Bang cries out for a divine explanation. It forces the conclusion that nature had a defined beginning. I cannot see how nature could have created itself. Only a supernatural force that is outside of space and time could have done that.”

He does not seem to be aware that David Hume showed that the concept of ‘cause’ is an empirical one that does not necessarily apply to the process of bringing something into existence ex nihilo.

Collins also argues that the anthropic principle points to God’s existence. The anthropic principle observes that human life could have evolved only in a particular type of universe. The principle states that 15 constants of nature, such as the speed of light and the force of gravity, seem to be fine tuned to allow man’s presence on earth in the universe in that human life could not have evolved if any one of those constants differed even by a small amount. Although Collins recognizes, that “no scientific observation can reach the level of absolute proof of the existence of God,” he still finds that “ for those willing to consider a theistic perspective, the Anthropic Principle certainly provides an interesting argument in favor of a Creator.”

Collins is a biologist, and he is most comfortable in dealing with how the theory of evolution affects belief in God. Interestingly, he uses his understanding of genetics and evolution to refute two common arguments for God’s existence.

The first, which was famously articulated by William Paley in 1802, is the argument from design. Collins asserts that developments in paleontology, molecular biology, and genomics can account for the complexity of life without an appeal to a designer.

A second, related, argument is that the formation of the macro-molecules DNA and RNA, and hence life, could not have arisen spontaneously without violating the Second Law of thermodynamics. Collins responds:

“But this betrays a misunderstanding of the full meaning of the Second Law: order can certainly increase in some part of the system…but that will require an input of energy….In the case of the origin of life, the closed system is essentially the whole universe, energy is available from the sun, and so the local increase in order that would be represented by the first random assembly of macro-molecules would in no way violate this law.”

Collins does not discuss another concept that contravenes the argument from design. Emergence theory adds a whole new dimension to the questions of what can and cannot arise “spontaneously.” Complex systems self organize; the resulting entity has properties its parts do not have on their own, but that emerge only from their interaction.

Collins goes into substantial detail to explain the molecular and genetic mechanisms of evolution in order to assuage the fears of believers that modern science makes God unnecessary. However, in the end he relies on the Moral Law rather than science, design, emergence, or complexity to discover God:

“The comparison of chimp and human [DNA] sequences…does not tell us what it means to be human. In my view, DNA sequence alone, even if accompanied by a vast trove of data on biological function, will never explain certain special human attributes, such as the knowledge of the Moral Law and the universal search for God.”

Collins goes further than merely making an argument for God’s existence—he even asserts that the Bible, at least Genesis, can be read allegorically in a manner consistent with modern scientific thought. I can’t resist being a bit captious in criticizing his biblical exegesis. He says Genesis “implies that God always [emphasis added] existed.” Rather, Genesis implies that god existed before the rest of the universe, but that is not necessarily “always.” Collins also (like Augustine) interprets the act of God in Genesis to be creation ex nihilo. But the actual language is ambiguous: it can be interpreted to assert that God started with a pre-existing “formless void” in which “darkness covered the face of the deep” and that God sent a wind “over the face of the [pre-existing] waters.” But in the end, recognizing that Genesis should not be read literally, Collins concludes:

“Despite twenty-five centuries of debate, it is fair to say that no human knows what the meaning of Genesis 1 and 2 was precisely intended to be.”

Amen.

It may also be fair to say, as both historians and theologians have, that the writers of the Bible were a diverse group who were no more “authorities” on God than Collins is, and who had a political and cultural agenda they were pursuing that structured the stories they canonized.

Collins cites the example of the Galileo controversy as a cautionary tale for believers to avoid attacking scientific findings on the basis of religious beliefs. In that, he follows in the footstep of Augustine who warned in the fifth century:

“If [nonbelievers] find a Christian mistaken in a field which they themselves know well and hear him maintaining his foolish opinions about our books, how are they going to believe these books and matters concerning the resurrection of the dead, the hope of eternal life, and the kingdom of heaven, when they think their pages are full of falsehoods on facts which they themselves have learned from experience in the light of reason?”

Collins has a great deal of trust in the scientific method’s ability to discover some kinds of truth, but he does not fear that science will disprove or obviate religion. He says, “If God is outside of nature, then science can neither prove nor disprove His existence.” On the other hand, he acknowledges that “rational argument can never conclusively prove the existence of God.” His principal message in writing this book is that in the absence of proof either way, “serious thinkers from Augustine to Aquinas to C. S. Lewis have demonstrated that a belief in god is intensely plausible.” Ultimately, he rests his own belief on what he calls mankind’s “universal search for God.”

But is that yearning a “universal search for ‘God’”, or is it in fact a universal desire to understand death and calamity, with many cultures analogizing from human patterns of organization that there must be a powerful being “somewhere” who is overseeing the whole business?

Furthermore, there is, in addition to the desire to understand these issues, the desire to control them. If there is in fact a powerful being, mightn’t one pray to such a being to alter the course of events? This doesn’t seem to me so much a search for “God” that establishes its truth (because everybody believes it? - that hardly constitutes proof), as an appeal to wishful thinking.

This is a thoughtful book by a thoughtful man who is also a distinguished scientist. Nevertheless, his belief in God rests on a perception that what he calls the Moral Law and the search for God are shared by all men. My perception is that not all men share that yearning. Cf., America’s president from 2017 to 2021 and millions of others. With that observation, I must conclude that Collins’s belief rests on pretty shaky grounds.

(JAB) ( )
  nbmars | Nov 13, 2020 |
Does science necessarily undermine faith in God? Or could it actually support faith? Beyond the flashpoint debates over the teaching of evolution, or stem-cell research, most of us struggle with contradictions concerning life's ultimate question. We know that accidents happen, but we believe we are on earth for a reason. Until now, most scientists have argued that science and faith occupy distinct arenas. Francis Collins, a former atheist as a science student who converted to faith as he became a doctor, is about to change that. Collins's faith in God has been confirmed and enhanced by the revolutionary discoveries in biology that he has helped to oversee. He has absorbed the arguments for atheism of many scientists and pundits, and he can refute them. Darwinian evolution occurs, yet, as he explains, it cannot fully explain human nature - evolution can and must be directed by God. He offers an inspiring tour of the human genome to show the miraculous nature of God's instruction book.
  Fellowshipwc | Aug 8, 2020 |
Francis S. Collins is a scientist. At first, I put the word scientist in quotes, but I realize that he actually is a scientist according to a lot of different people. While the man seems to know his stuff, he expects me to take the idea of God on faith. This is something that isn't acceptable to me. I know that a lot of things are out there where people just shrug their shoulders, but that has always seemed like a cop-out. While an impressionable young man and a doctor, Collins spent time in South Carolina or some other place with a lot of faith. He talked to a woman with angina (I assume he means a chest pain) and realizes that he doesn't have any answers about God. So this young impressionable man goes and talks to a minister friend or the local minister and he pointed Collins to C.S. Lewis.

With C.S. Lewis Collins finds an argument so compelling and persuasive that he includes them in the book. One of them was a little gem where the gist is that the want of something implies its existence. So you see boys and girls, God must exist because everyone has the desire for something higher than one's self. You could also subscribe to the Anthropic Principle. This is the idea that all of the Universe was made specifically for man. This argument actually is compelling though, so I will type a bit of it out. If some of the parameters of the universe were just slightly off, we would not be able to exist. We live in a Goldilocks zone where everything is just right.

It still isn't enough to take down my raging atheism, though it was quite easy to read this book. ( )
  Floyd3345 | Jun 15, 2019 |
Excellent book. Although I have my disagreements with Collins on some of the things discussed in the book, it is an excellent window into how a scientist, who is also a Christian, is able to come to terms with both science and religion. ( )
  bness2 | May 23, 2017 |
The first chapter of this book blew me away. It is very well written and easy to read (a definite relief after Ms. Wolf). Great discussion about the Moral Law found in all cultures, and how this converted C.S. Lewis and Mr. Collins, a DNA expert, to Christianity. I know I'm going to love dwelling in this book for a while.

I'm so glad to finally have one book that explains scientific theories in such understandable language and with a Christian inquiry. Biologos now makes sense. ( )
1 vote sydsavvy | Apr 8, 2016 |
This was a very interesting book. Dr. Collins makes a valiant attempt at combining evolution and Christianity. He had me going for a while, but the two worldviews are diametrically opposed. Collins even mentions one of the main problems with combining them, which is that the theology of the New Testament teaches that Adam and Eve were real people--our first parents--and their fall brought sin and death into the world. Jesus and the apostles interpreted the Genesis story literally (cf. Matt. 19, Romans 5).

Another disappointment is that Dr. Collins' theology is very unbiblical. He basically says that Jesus worked for him, but the reader's gonna have to find out what suits him. Jesus, however, said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (Jn 14:6). ( )
  cemontijo | Jan 18, 2016 |
Francis Collins led the Human Genome Project and he is a Christian. In this book Collins shows how religion and science should not be at war with each other but instead how they can exist in harmony. He also looks into the debate about evolution and shows how evolution does not refute the existence of God. I found Collins arguments to be well reasoned and his call for peace to be refreshing and in tune with the teachings of the Christian faith. Collins does not try to push his religious beliefs on the reader and only really discusses why he decided to become a Christian after being an agnostic until he was in his 30's in the last chapter of the book. As a scientist and a Christian I found the author helped articulate my beliefs in how God fits into science. Even if you believe in other faiths or do not believe in God at all I would recommend this book. ( )
  RachelNF | Jan 15, 2016 |
I thought this book was excellent.

Francis Collins clearly explains how evolution and Christianity are not incompatible with each other. Coming as it does from such an esteemed scientist, this is a very well thought out and well argued position, although some of the very science-y stuff did make it necessary to reread certain parts!

Collins is also right in that it's only really those who have extreme views on either side of this debate who get the attention. Looking at the scientific data and Genesis, you can see that there really is no conflict between evolution and Christianity, but there is a lot of rhetoric and straw men flung about by fundamentalists on either side.

Hopefully this intelligent and well argued book will go some way to showing that science is not at war with religion, and in fact they can and do complement each other. ( )
  AngeloMarcos | Jan 6, 2015 |
I am not 100% convinced either way on the age of the universe or exactly how God created it. However, I am 100% convinced that God created the universe and everything in it and that science is NOT and never was at odds with that. It was awesome to finally read something rational, instead of the non sequitur old "Big Bang/Evolution; therefore there is no God," or the equally ridiculous old "God planted a bunch of red herring scientific evidence just to confuse us." This guy uses science to make a stronger case for faith than anybody else ever did to make a case against it. Far from being mutually incompatible, science and faith together make the universe a hundredfold more amazing and awe-inspiring than either does alone. I don't know if everything Collins believes is correct, but finally somebody is making some sense! Thanks, brother! ( )
1 vote krista.rutherford | Dec 26, 2014 |
More and more,if you are willing to open your eyes, you will be confronted with those who have differing views and beliefs than your own. The temptation is great to simply dismiss any idea or worldview that seems contrary to the one you already hold. My brother characterizes, and to a degree caricatures, the typical Christian response to contrary ideas as that of a petulant child putting his fingers in his ears and repeating, “I CAN'T HEAR YOU” to drown out the sound of anything that might question what is held so dearly.

As a Christian,who deals with many Christians, it is hard to not acquiesce to his diagnosis. So often, those who should be genuinely searching out truth wherever it lies (seeing as how all truth is God's truth) will allow ourselves to remain ignorant out of fear that our beliefs will come crashing down and our God with them. If this fear is not present,then the possibility of ever having to admit some degree of error in our interpretation of the Bible or of the world or of our self is more than our pride can stand.
Labels abound. If you believe in health care for all or government based social services then you are a “communist”. If you believe that some of the Bible is not to be taken literally, you're a “liberal” who does not believe the Bible. If you preach grace you are “antinomian” and if you preach responsibility and fidelity, you are a “legalist”. The word “heretic” gets thrown around on anyone not conforming to “the Bible” which would be more accurately and honesty communicated as “my interpretation of the Bible”.

All these labels do in most cases is perpetuate ignorance and division, making it more convenient and efficient for us as we sit in God's seat of judgment on any who might not submit themselves to what we “know” as truth. Enter Francis Collins. Talk about a guy getting it from all angles. Collins was the head of the Human Genome Project, the scientific research to map out the human genome. The work done under his leadership has led to us have a genetic map of human beings. The benefit of this in the war against disease and defect is incapable of being overstated. The work God has done through this man and his leadership is amazing.

And therein lies the reason he receives such criticism. Collins, a biologist, stood in the Oval Office with then President Clinton and nodded approvingly when President Clinton remarked that we could now see the “language of God” used in creation. How a professional biologist could hold to an “inherently unscientific” belief in God and approve of such theistic speak offended many in the biological community. That a committed Christian could believed in the “inherently atheistic” doctrine of evolution, offended many in the Christian community.

That is the backdrop for the book, The Language of God by Francis Collins. Collins work is one part biography, one part scientific treatise and one part apologetic. Collins spends time going over his life, and his own path from atheism, to agnosticism, and finally to his firm belief in the theism of Biblical Christianity. The biographical aspects of the book are all centered on how he has related his lifelong love of science with his lifelong struggle with faith,and it is quite engrossing.

Even as the biographical aspects of the book focus on Collins' own personal path, the way he presents it is overtly apologetic. He constantly goes over how he was convinced of the truth of theism and eventually the Christian truth claim, not simply recounting the fact that he was convinced. The way the apologetic is intertwined with the biographical narrative reminds one of reading C.S. Lewis when he deals with the same subject. Based on the references to and quotes from Lewis, this may not have been intentional but certainly it is without shock that some of Lewis' writing style was adopted by Collins.

The apologetic nature of the book is not limited solely to a defense of the Christian faith. The idea of this book is how to rectify a belief in current scientific trends and the Christian faith. In doing so, Collins argues that Darwinian Evolution is true and that it is NOT contrary to the Christian faith. With so much teaching for and evidence of evolution, Collins' devotes a chapter to each of the possible responses to evolution. These chapters are Atheism and Agnosticism (When Science Trumps Faith), Creationism (When Faith Trumps Science), Intelligent Design (When Science Needs Divine Help),and BioLogos (Faith and Science in Harmony). Collins is basically fair in his assessment of the opposing views, but throughout the chapters it is clear that he is building to what he holds as truth by dismantling what he holds as false(or even silly). Collins closes with pleas to believers to not abandon science and scientists to not abandon faith.
As I read the book I had to remind myself that Collins is not a theologian, he is a biologist. His interpretation of some Christian doctrines is off what he seems to hold as essential is debated amongst Christians. Some of the history he cites is incorrect and the citations could have been more thorough, especially on some instances where no citation was given. Also, there were times where Collins began speaking exclusively to his peers, losing the reader with limited scientific knowledge in the process.

While this book is far from perfect, it is a great read. It would benefit anyone involved in the evolution debate(that would be anyone who has any religious, secular or scientific interest....everyone) to read this book and consider the arguments made and data presented ( )
  joshrskinner | Jul 30, 2014 |
A lot of Dr. Collins book is simply C.S. Lewis replayed through the filter of genetic science. The appendix, a discussion of bioethics, also struck me as fairly flat and not that helpful. It is more profitable to read CS Lewis. ( )
  nmele | Apr 6, 2013 |
Honestly... not that impressed. His last chapter on medical ethics was the most engaging. The others just seemed... forced. I love, however, his desire to to help the scientific community see that faith is not incompatible with intelligence. ( )
  journeyguy | Apr 2, 2013 |
There is no evidence for belief, that's why it's "faith". I would guess that most US scientists also have faith, and no trouble reconciling their faith with their work. The only people who seem to have trouble reconciling the two are religious fundamentalists.
  Kaethe | Mar 29, 2013 |
There is no evidence for belief, that's why it's "faith". I would guess that most US scientists also have faith, and no trouble reconciling their faith with their work. The only people who seem to have trouble reconciling the two are religious fundamentalists.
  Kaethe | Oct 19, 2012 |
Collins does a magnificent job of explaining that science and faith are not the natural nemeses of each other that many in America have come to believe (thank you politics). His personal journey as an atheist believer and scientist to a Christian believer and scientist is inspiring. He was strongly influenced by another atheist-to-Christian convert - C.S. Lewis - and references to Lewis abound in The Language of God. ( )
1 vote TheMadTurtle | Aug 2, 2012 |
Not a bad book, a well renowned scientist who is a Christian presents his argument for the existence of God and how it reconciles with science. Pretty good stuff. He is a old earth, God inspired evolutionist or something like that. I did not agree with everything he said but his position is well thought out. ( )
  sgsmitty | Jul 19, 2012 |
Current-day proponents of the New Atheism like to push the idea that atheism is the only rational belief, and believers are weak-minded non-thinkers who hide from science. This just simply isn't so. Some very accomplished scientists in many different fields are believers.

Here's one. Francis Collins is a devout believer and distinguished scientist (he is the head of the Human Genome Project) with a questioning mind and a reverence for reason ... and for the merger of science and religion. From the cover flap, "In short, Dr. Collins provides a satisfying solution for the dilemma that haunts everyone who believes in God and respects science. Faith in God and faith in science can be harmonious--combined into one worldview. The God that he believes in is a God who can listen to prayers and cares about our souls. The biological science he has advanced is compatible with such a God. For Collins, science does not conflict with the Bible, science enhances it."

That's a pretty intriguing claim, and it aroused my curiosity. In this book, Collins wrestles with questions like "What came before the big bang?" and "How did life originate?" I should set things in perspective before continuing; Collins is not promoting some flaky version of pseudo-science. He's for real. He praises Darwin and admits that no serious biologist today doubts the theory of evolution. "The relatedness of all species through the mechanism of evolution is such a profound foundation for the understanding of all biology that it is difficult to imagine how one would study life without it." A lot of effort is spent explaining "biological truth," and in a chapter titled Deciphering God's Instruction Book, Collins introduces--no, not the Bible--the lessons of the human genome.

Still, Collins respects the Bible. He dives into the debate about what Genesis really says, and why we have contradicting versions of the creation in the Bible if this poetic and allegorical writing was really meant to be read literally. Young Earth Creationism just simply isn't compatible with modern science; neither, really, is the trendy Intelligent Design explanation. Thankfully, Collins finds an ultra-literal interpretation of Genesis unnecessary. Collins proposes a solution for compatibility, which he calls BioLogos. He finds harmony between science and religion in "theistic evolution."

Finally, having dispensed with our concerns regarding the science-versus-religion conflict, he brings up the crux of the matter. Regardless of where else we are to read the Bible nonliterally, evidence supports the fantastic story of a unique individual, Jesus, who lived, died, ... and rose from the dead! Collins leans a bit on C. S. Lewis as he builds toward the climax: he, a rational scientist, logically concludes that the Jesus story is true and literal. God came down to earth in the form of a person. Wow!

While not convincing enough in itself, and leaving many other questions about the believability of the Christian God unanswered, I do highly recommend this book! It will never turn a nonbeliever into a believer, but it will definitely refine the faith of believers, helping them to overcome the dogmatism of outdated theology. Besides, it's a fun, educational read! ( )
  DubiousDisciple | Nov 1, 2011 |
2nd required text for Psychology of Religion (PSY345). Overall it was very good. The author should not have stooped to insulting Dawkins. ( )
  Hazel66 | Jun 22, 2011 |
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