God Isn't Dead Yet

I've been doing some posting on this issue of God's existence, largely in response to my reading of Sam Harris' Letter to a Christian Nation. I've yet to read Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion -- though I've skimmed it a couple of times at borders. I tried to order it on line at a couple of spots and it was out of stock. Last week I did read Dawkins' interchange with Francis Collins, the famed geneticist and evangelical Christian that is found in Time Magazine. I must say, I was disappointed with the way Collins presented his views, as Dawkins pretty much got the better of him.

Anyway, yesterday, reading the LA Times Book Review Section, I came across two interesting reviews. The first written by Robert Lee Hotz of the LA Times highlights the books by Dawkins, Harris, and one by evolutionary biologist, E.O. Wilson. This latter book is entitled The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth (W.W. Norton, 160 pgs). Unlike Dawkins and Harris, Wilson, himself a Humanist (atheist) doesn't seek to attack Christianity. Instead, he seeks to build bridges so as to save an endangered environment. The reviewer makes this comment: "Rarely has the divide between secular science and revealed religion been bridged so gracefully." It would seem that there is a possibility of a conversation after all.

The second review, written by Margaret Wertheim, concerns Owne Gingerich's God's Universe (Belknap/Harvard University Press, 140 pgs.). Gingerich, unlike the scientists profiled in the previous review, is a confessing Christian. He is also a preeminent astronomer and historian of science. Like Marcus Borg and others, he takes the Bible seriously without necessarily taking it literally, and he criticizes Fundamentalists/Conservatives for benefiting from the fruits of science without acknowledging the science that makes this possible. Wertheim, who affirms her own atheism, concludes with a most interesting paragraph:

In this time of sectarian wars, when theists and atheists are engaged in increasingly hostile incivilities, Gingerich lays out an elegant case for why he finds the universe a source of encouragement for his life both as a scientist and as a Christian. We do not have to agree with his conclusions to be buoyed and enchanted by the journey on which he takes us.

I'm not a scientist, and have no expertise in this field, but I don't believe that they are mutually exclusive endeavors. Neither are they two endeavors that have no need or ability to talk with each other. Partnership, as E. O. Wilson and Own Gingerich seem to be advocating, hold out more hope for the future than the "crusade" to eliminate religion from the landscape.

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