Skip to main content

Finding Darwin's God by Kenneth Miller

I decided to read Finding Darwin's God by Kenneth Miller, as Dr. Miller is the special speaker at our Fall MSTA Conference. Now, I must tell you that it does not read fast like The DaVinci Code, but I did get through it. I like the way Dr. Miller approaches the “controversy.”

If you are a very conservative Christian, this book might help you understand why creationism and intelligent design are not scientific. It won't do away your concerns about the influence of atheists in society but you might like knowing that there are Christians such as Dr. Miller who can champion evolution.

If you are a moderate/liberal Christian, you might learn more about evolution and how to explain to others that creationism and intelligent design are not science, as well as helping others understand what evolution is. You might like knowing that God could have created a world in which evolution operates and can be studied scientifically, and that evolution could have been God's mechanism for creation.

If you are consider yourself “none-of-the-above,” you might also learn more about evolution, what it is and is not. You might feel good knowing that Dr. Miller is convincing Christians that evolution doesn't conflict with the beliefs and Christians like Dr Miller might teach their children.

Enter Kenneth Miller, who is both a committed Catholic and evolutionary biologist. Not surprisingly, he has a issues with folks from opposing "camps." His first issue is with those who champion the theory of intelligent design, which suggests that evolution is a flawed theory, and that a designer is the only thing capable of explaining evidence of design in nature. On the other side, Miller is unhappy with those who too often equate evolution with atheism (and I resent this, too) and too often conflate METHODOLOGICAL naturalism with naturalism AS A WAY OF LIFE.

I believe Dr. Miller's argument - that a God who gives us freedom of action and thought; a God who made the world and life sufficient to evolve without needing intervention; and a God who can still choose to act in our world using the undetectable tools of space, time, chance and indeterminacy - is well thought out and well argued< and one that I have argued the same way many times. It is a very important point that so many people seem to miss and this is why I think this book is very important. We cannot allow immature thinking to leave us with opinions that either deny overwhelming scientific evidence or declare that life has no meaning and morality may not even exist.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Strange History

This book is exactly what it promises - bits of information delivered quickly and primarily for entertaining purposes. Being published by the Bathroom Readers Institute, you will appreciate its delivery and humor. Strange History by Bathroom Readers' Institute Printers Row Publishing Group Portable Press

Dragon's Teeth - by Michael Crichton

What a fun story based on history! The plot winds around the animosity between paleontologists Marsh and Cope, as told by a fictional member of the dig party. We are taken (in the form of our protagonist, William Johnson) to the Badlands, Deadwood, into Indian raids, labeled as a traitor, attacked on all sides by all kinds of people, and then we get home a changed young man. If you know history, you will enjoy they way Crichton weaves momentous events and remarkable historical persons into the story. You will find yourself thinking "I know what's coming," because you do, if you know anything about the WEST in the 1870's, or know some of the background with Marsh and Cope. I listened to this story as a traveled each week, getting about 2 hours of the book on each trip. After each two hours, I wanted more, but I forced myself to wait for the next week. I was sad to be finished with it yesterday.

Aroused

I am currently teaching a small 5 week class at USM/OLLI on Our Glands, and how aging affects those glands. I looked for a book to read to refresh my memory, and found this... Aroused: The History of Hormones and How They Control Just About Everything by Randi Hutter Epstein. Don't get excited by the title (or go ahead and get excited). This is the story of the development of Endocrinology and it is NOT an textbook!!! This is a pleasant read. There are many case studies from as early as 1900, many stories of parents struggling to get hormonal treatment for their children in the early days (1960's), and advancements in treatments. This book is worth your time, and you may find you do what I do...diagnose people as they walk past you in malls and airports.