In between body surfing in the Indian Ocean, jogging along the beach and spending time with family, I've also taken time out these holidays to throw myself into a couple of books. These are the ones that I'm presently working through:
Timothy Keller – The Reason for God
The founder of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan argues that both secularism and religious belief are on the rise in the world today. In order for proper dialogue to occur between believers and sceptics, both sides should take a new, fresh look at the concept of doubt. This book is divided into two parts: the first provides answers to common questions that sceptics have about Christianity, and the second outlines reasons for believing in the Christian message.
Patrick Glynn – God: The Evidence
An atheist turned Christian shares his story of how he found faith, and outlines three lines of evidence for the existence of God: (1) the apparent fine tuning of universal constants, (2) out of body experiences, and (3) the role that religion plays in mental and physical health.
Russel Blackford & Udo Schüklenk – 50 Voices of Disbelief: Why We Are Atheists
A collection of 50 essays from academics, writers and scientists who share their reasons why they don't believe in gods. Although most of the writers are from the industrialized West, which is common in a book of this sort, it's refreshing to also read contributions from Africa, South America and India.
Jacob Klapwijk - Purpose in the Living World
I haven't yet started this one, but I'm looking forward to it. This is the first time I've come across a book from a theistic evolutionist. The Professor Emeritus of the Department of Philosophy in Free University in Amsterdam provides a philosophical analysis of the relation of evolutionary biology to religion. Not only does he criticise creationism and intelligent design, but also reductive naturalism. He attempts to bridge the gap between the opposing poles of the evolution-creationism debate.
These books are inspiring my thinking and I am looking forward to writing up my thoughts in future blog posts.
Happy holidays, everyone!
6 comments:
I've read "Reason for God", I'll be interested in reading your thoughts on the book. I'll refrain from adding my own thoughts 'till then so as not to bias you. :^)
That's some *heavy* reading!
Kevin,
Curious why 3/4 of the books your reading are theistic? Are you still searching?
Tim Keller's book is a quick easy read, but kind of disappointing because it tries to cover too much too quickly. If your interested in theistic evolution there are a lot of books out there. I was once a theistic evolutionist. It's unfortunate that the fundamentalist have set up evolution as another stumbling block for Christian faith.
Hey Kevin, I would be interested in hearing your answer to Mark's question as well, because the same question could be asked of me. :^)
Hi Mark
I'm always searching :-)
Not so much for God per se, but for some understanding of this universe and my own role and place in it. It is more of a philosophical journey than a religious one.
I enjoy reading apologetic books, not so much for answers, but because I'm fascinated about the philosophy of religion, and the arguments for and against the existence of God. And I think I can truly explain my own beliefs only if I fully understand the criticisms of my position put forward by other thinkers.
Kevin
Kevin,
Always good to keep searching. I think I'm kind of like Doubting Thomas in that I don't think I'll believe until I see better evidence, but Thomas did go back to the upper room and then God met him there.
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