Exploring Faith and Reason The Reconciliation of Christianity and Biological Evolution edition by Bruce Glass Religion Spirituality eBooks
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Have you ever wondered if it is possible to be a conservative evangelical Christian and also believe in biological evolution—believe that the Earth is 4.5 billion years old and that human beings share a common ancestor with not only chimpanzees, but also with mice and even earthworms? In Exploring Faith and Reason, we find that it is not only possible, it is an essential element of how many Christians come to more fully appreciate the complexity and the great glory of God’s creation.
But of course many people—Christians and non-Christians alike—believe that Christianity and evolution are opposing concepts. They perceive several specific points of conflict between them. Bruce Glass addresses each of those concerns by citing Scripture and the world’s most respected theologians and by the application of reason. Revealed is a deeper and richer understanding of Biblical Scripture and its history. But most importantly, the book encourages a greater appreciation of the power and the capabilities of a living God that transcends space and time—all the while, uniting this insight with the findings of science.
Assigned in classes at both Christian and secular universities, Exploring Faith and Reason is an examination of the intersection of mainstream science and mainstream Christianity.
Kirkus Reviews described Exploring Faith and Reason as "Smart, well-informed... lucid, engaging... Glass delivers superb exposition of Darwinian theory and a meticulous, sharply reasoned discussion of the evidence that supports it. His logic is impeccable when he insists that evolutionary theory does not rule out the existence of God."
Reverend Jordan Ogden, Lead Pastor at Antioch Community Church in Dallas, said that "Mr. Glass tackles an historically controversial topic with finesse. Wherever one may be on the issue of evolution, Glass' superb scholarship and unbiased commentary on issues of faith does not disappoint."
The Reverend Dr. Kristin Huffman, associate Pastor at Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church in Houston, put it this way “Bruce Glass has provided a thought provoking look at the most significant theological issues arising from the advent of evolutionary science. Whatever their conclusions, readers will find Mr. Glass’ treatment a welcome reminder of the richness and depth of God’s Word, as well as a fresh perspective on God’s glorious creation.”
ForeWord Clarion Reviews described the book as "Well written, thoroughly researched, and honestly fair... The book's thorough and eminently readable scientific explanations provide general science readers with a lucid understanding of this complex subject."
Reverend Michael Dowd, author of Thank God for Evolution, endorsed by six Nobel Prize-winning scientists and by religious leaders across the spectrum, said that "In Exploring Faith and Reason, Bruce Glass has emerged as a fresh voice for the reconciliation of head and heart. Couched in the language and theology of conservative evangelical Christianity, Mr. Glass' book provides a welcomed bridge between an evidential worldview and traditional Christian conviction. Believers and non-believers alike will find much of value in these pages."
Exploring Faith and Reason The Reconciliation of Christianity and Biological Evolution edition by Bruce Glass Religion Spirituality eBooks
Bruce clearly has a passion for this subject and his extensive bibliography shows that he did the research legwork to deliver accurate information as far as I can tell (of course I didn't verify sources). This part of the book is 4 or even 5 stars. However, the book flows a bit like a long term paper that a senior in high school wrote the day before it's due; at times ideas start and stop without connection to the rest of the text and conclusions to sections/chapters are short and not dynamic or moving.Product details
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Exploring Faith and Reason The Reconciliation of Christianity and Biological Evolution edition by Bruce Glass Religion Spirituality eBooks Reviews
Bruce Glass has written a book for Christians who still have difficulty accepting the notion that God used the processes of biological evolution to populate the earth with life. There are plenty of such Christians. I used to be one of them myself.
His book is a very informative, readable introduction to biological evolution, written for laymen in both science and theology, by a layman in science and theology. He discusses how biological evolution can be compatible with Christian beliefs/theology, but doesn't fully reconcile the two. That is an area in which Christian theologians still have a lot of work to do. He makes a point of noting that he is a religious agnostic, and therefore is an impartial observer with no stake in the debate.
The discussion of biological evolution is fairly complete, including coverage of biogeography, convergence in evolution, embryology, genomics, geology, human evolution, imperfection of design, morphology, paleontology, population genetics, and vestigial structures. He makes a good case for the credibility of biological evolution.
The book concludes with brief discussions of "creation science," intelligent design theory, and social Darwinism. The author is against them.
The author makes frequent references to Carl Zimmer's "Evolution The Triumph of an Idea," Ernst Mayr's "What Evolution Is," Darrel Falk's "Coming to Peace with Science," the essays in Keith Miller's "Perspectives on an Evolving Creation," and other recent books on evolution, as well as works by Augustine, C. S. Lewis, and Karen Armstrong. Some references to quotations are missing or are to secondary sources.
The book is a bit repetitive as a result of the author covering different aspects of evolution. In addition, new terms are sometimes introduced without explanation.
In spite of these minor issues, I gave the book five stars because it is a very readable and fairly complete introduction to biological evolution which should meet the needs of the target audience. Readers who then want to dig deeper into the implications of biological evolution on Christian theology will need to consult the works of Peter Enns, Denis Lamoureux, Daniel Harlow and others, or visit the BioLogos or American Scientific Affiliation web sites.
NOTE I was given a copy of the book by the author, with no obligation to write a review, favorable or otherwise.
Exploring Faith and Reason The Reconciliation of Christianity and Biological Evolution by Bruce Glass
"Exploring Faith and Reason" is a valiant attempt to reconcile Christianity with the Theory of Evolution. It's in general a very well written book that smoothly goes from defending theism in the light of the overwhelming evidence for evolution. The author skillfully defends the belief in God but not at the expense of evolution; it's at the expense of the literal, narrow interpretation of the Bible. Agnostic Christian (the author purports to be an agnostic with no horse in this race but based on this book I must only conclude that he is an agnostic Christian), commercial photographer and self-educated author, Bruce Glass, provides the reader with an excellent and accessible resource on the theory of evolution that is Christian-friendly. For those among us with a personal relationship with reality, we may have to take a milder Jeffersonian approach and remove the supernatural elements to end up with an excellent reference book. This solid 296-page book is composed of the following eleven chapters 1. God's Word, 2. God's Creation, 3. God's Providence, 4. Layers of Understanding, 5. The Awakening of Evolutionary Science, 6. "Let the Land Produce Living Creatures", 7. Clues All Around, 8. The History of Life, 9. The Tree of Life, 10. "Creation Science" and Intelligent Design Theory and, 11. "Darwinism".
Positives
1. Readable and accessible prose. Well researched with a pleasant tone throughout.
2. The science in the book is surprisingly reference quality. I say surprisingly because the author does not have a degree in biology but out of sheer love and respect for the field shares the best current knowledge in biology. He does a commendable job throughout the book to provide the reader with the latest knowledge on the theory of evolution and does so in a highly readable and accessible fashion. Kudos!
3. Never once did I feel that the author was attempting to diminish one of the most elegant theories of all of science, the grand theory of evolution!
4. A valiant attempt to present a reasonable faith. I am not a person of faith so my innate skeptical nature cringes at supernatural references not substantiated by evidence but the pleasant tone kept me from being disrespectfully dismissive. Mr. Glass presents himself as a very pleasant and reasonable person despite our differences.
5. Christians looking for a book on the theory of evolution that is not filtered down by apologists while being respectful to their basic tenets are in for a real treat.
6. The author addresses to the best of his ability the five generally perceived points of tension between Christianity and evolution.
7. Acknowledges that the Christian God is incomprehensible, "The difficult concept of the Trinity helps to remind us that the complete character of God is incomprehensible to human reason--that God is transcendent--and thus we might suppress idolatrous tendencies to reduce God to images of our own likeness and our own preferences."
8. The shortcomings of religious fundamentalism. " Nevertheless, undeterred by the embarrassment that resulted from the Church's insistence that the sun orbits the Earth and other discredited ideas that had been based on erroneous literal interpretations of Scripture in the Middle Ages, an insistence on the plain text of the entire Bible persists among some Christians even today. This is likely due in part to the emergence of evangelicalism, but is more directly attributable to the advent of fundamentalism."
9. Debunking the argument from design with David Hume's sound logic. Glass also advises Christians to avoid the "God of the gaps" hazards. "That is, a tendency among some Christians to proclaim God's supernatural handiwork in relation to phenomena that are simply not yet understood, only to be forced into embarrassing retractions when such phenomena are ultimately determined by scientific discovery to be natural."
10. Take away some of the supernatural commentary and the chapters on the Theory of Evolution rival some of the best books on the topic!
11. Solid information on basic sound science. "All of the 'facts' that we know about our world can, in principle, be superseded or altered by new information at any time. This, of course, does not mean that we cannot have a great deal of confidence in much of what has been learned about the world through scientific discovery. Indeed, the human condition has greatly improved as a result of knowledge gained through science." Also provides a clear explanation on what a scientific theory is.
12. Darwin's grand Theory of Evolution. Interesting background and history. The five most important theories. The "evolution" of the theory.
13. Differentiating between biogenesis and evolution. From the simplest to the most complex, an accessible comprehensive look.
14. The overwhelming evidence for evolution! The author provides many excellent specific examples of evolution in process.
15. Human evolution! Great reference quality information. Kudos!
16. Great eye-opening information and tidbits throughout book, "Perhaps the most striking occurrence of this phenomenon in humans is the appearance of a tail, alternately known as a "coccygeal process," "coccygeal projection," or "caudal appendage." In newborns, these tails range from about one to five inches".
17. The evolution of life! Great stuff!
18. Putting "Creation Science" and Intelligent Design in its place. Goes through a brief history of topical court cases. The people behind the movement.
19. Defining Darwinism. The bastardization of the term. Interesting history.
20. Plenty of notes and citations.
Negatives
1. Faith as it relates to Christianity does not hold to the same compelling high standards of the Theory of Evolution. It just doesn't, my innate critical thinking nature can't help but dismiss any attempt to reconcile any semblance of faith with reason.
2. Once again, my biggest problem with this book is that many of the religious claims don't hold water for me. For example, Saint Augustine's four views regarding the origin of human souls is weak to say the least. What is a soul? To the best of our current knowledge there is no objective evidence for souls. In fact even Saint Augustine diminishes its value, "Ultimately, however, Augustine believed that the origin of the soul is of no real importance when compared to the more substantive issues of faith, of obedience to God, and ultimately, of eternal salvation."
3. "Scripture tells us that Jesus said He had not come to supersede the authority of the Old Testament. He came to fulfill its promise". In many respects, I find this very troubling. I hold slavery of any form to be an unethical practice yet the Bible not only endorses it but provides clear guidelines of its practice. As a result, scripture loses any credibility as an ethical guide for humanity. Furthermore, if you are a slave, what's the use of having "free will" if you are not free to exercise it?
4. "We sin because we have free will. But, if free will enables sin, why would God create free will? The Christian answer is that the creation of the ultimate good and perfection--God's objective--is only achieved with man's voluntary embrace of God's love. This naturally requires the availability of the alternative." Voluntary? What happens if we do not accept this gift of love? An eternity of torture? It's not voluntary! Love Me or else...
5. "The tenets of Christianity are based upon God's revelation through divinely inspired Scripture and through God's historical performance of miracles on Earth." Revelation is hearsay. A truly divine book would have been protected for all posterity yet all we have our copies of copies of copies. And miracle claims are well ubiquitous around the world, it seems every religion has made such claims.
6. "Scientific understanding and spiritual insight are separate realms of knowledge that are acquired from separate sources." What is a spirit? What empirical evidence exists in support of spirits that would enable me to know they objectively exists let alone how they work?
7. Light on genetics but what's included is good.
8. No formal separate bibliography.
In summary, a surprisingly good and pleasant book. This book is a valiant attempt to reconcile Christianity with the Theory of Evolution. The author skillfully defends the belief in God while providing a substantial amount of overwhelming and compelling evidence in support of evolution. This is an excellent book for Christians looking for a solid reference quality book on the Theory of Evolution that is accessible and does not offend their basic Christian tenets. Those of us on the other side of the spectrum may have some reservations as I have noted but the author's pleasant tone and solid use of science makes for a worthwhile read for all. I highly recommend it. No atheists were harmed in the production of this book.
Further suggestions "Your Inner Fish" by Neil Shubin, "The Making of the Fittest DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution [Paperback]" by Sean B. Carroll, "What Evolution Is" by Ernst Mayr, "Life Ascending The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution" by Nick Lane, "Written in Stone" by Brian Switek, "Evolution The Triumph of an Idea" by Carl Zimmer, "Why Evolution Works (and Creationism Fails)" by Matt Young, "Why Darwin Matters The Case Against Intelligent Design" by Michael Shermer, "Only a Theory Evolution and the Battle for America's Soul" by Kenneth R. Miller, "The Greatest Show on Earth" by Richard Dawkins and my favorite book for the masses, "Why Evolution Is True" by Jerry A. Coyne.
Made me smile as I opened to find a brand new book fresh, clean, and looking untouched by other human hands.
Deep, thoughtful perspective on very important issues.
Should be required reading for students in high school. Reading twice to absorb.
As a physician and a Bible believing Christian, I have been frustrated at the way the "intellectual" community and the Christian community has portrayed the whole topic of evolution. I was impressed with the thorough research Mr. Glass did in writing this book and presenting a sound defense of evolution in a way that is easy for even the layman to understand. At the same time he was able to show that belief in God and the Bible was not only not intellectual suicide, but that it was totally compatible with evolution. Way to go. I eagerly look forward to your next book.
Bruce clearly has a passion for this subject and his extensive bibliography shows that he did the research legwork to deliver accurate information as far as I can tell (of course I didn't verify sources). This part of the book is 4 or even 5 stars. However, the book flows a bit like a long term paper that a senior in high school wrote the day before it's due; at times ideas start and stop without connection to the rest of the text and conclusions to sections/chapters are short and not dynamic or moving.
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