Christianity and science
Christianity & Science Can you be both a Christian and a scientist? Does the Bible make sense when compared with what we now know scientifically about the universe? What about evolution? Is religion responsible for all evil, or does Jesus really offer answers to life's big questions? At St. Andrew's, Alwalton, as part of our celebration of the Diocese of Ely's 900th anniversary and to mark the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth as well as the 150th anniversary of the publishing of his book "The Origin of the Species", we have been asking just those sorts of questions. Back at the beginning of 2009 we looked at Genesis and considered what it has to tell us in the 21st century - to listen to the talks visit our audio page and begin with "God is sovereign over the universe".
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING A BIT DIFFERENT
January in the Monday Fellowship Group
The Monday fellowship group that meets at 9 Oundle Road between 7.30 and 9.30 pm is undertaking a different form from the usual Bible study for the next few weeks.
The Faraday Institute has developed a course called "Test of Faith" that is designed to explore big issues raised by science for both faith and ethics. It uses DVD presentations by top scientists and theologians but the study guides are intended for use of non-specialists.
There are many challenging issues raised by the sciences, but the overall message of this course is that science is compatible with a genuine faith in God.
If you would like to join, or discuss, this course which starts on the 4 January 2010 please have a word with Colin Leary. There is also a wide range of books which you might find interesting and helpful. You can buy them by visiting the website for Peterborough Christian Bookshop and entering the title into the "Search" box. The Dawkins Delusion?: Atheist Fundamentalism And The Denial Of The Divine Alister McGrath £6.50
Alister McGrath is ideally placed to evaluate Dawkins' ideas. Once an atheist himself, he gained a doctorate in molecular biophysics before going on to become a leading Christian theologian. He wonders how two people, who have reflected at length on substantially the same world, could possibly have come to such different conclusions about God. McGrath subjects Dawkins' critique of faith to rigorous scrutiny. His exhilarating, meticulously argued response deals with questions such as: Is faith intellectual nonsense? Are science and religion locked in a battle to the death? Can the roots of Christianity be explained away scientifically? Is Christianity simply a force for evil? This book will be warmly received by those looking for a reliable assessment of The God Delusion and the many questions it raises - including, above all, the relevance of faith and the quest for meaning. God the Big Bang & Bunsen Burning Issues Nigel Bovey £8.99
Christians do not have to choose, they say, between big bang and the Bible. Genesis and genetics can go together.
In this book, big questions of the past, the present
Physicists, immunologists, astrophysicists, biochemists and mathematicians discuss what it means for humankind to be made in the image of God and how Christians can translate the gospel for our science-savvy society. God's Undertaker: Has Science Buried God? John Lennox £8.99
The book has grown out of the author's lengthy experience of lecturing and debating on science and religion in the UK, USA, Germany and Russia, and has been written in response to endless requests for the argumentation in written form. Chapters:
* War of the worldviews
Creation Or Evolution Dr. Denis Alexander £10.99
The author concludes that the question in the title is a false dichotomy: we do not need to choose, since both are true. 'Nature is what God does' - Augustine
St. Andrew's has arranged for Dr. Denis Alexander (author of the above book) to speak at Christ Church, Orton Holdhay on Thursday November 26th at. 7.45pm.
Dr Denis Alexander is the Director of the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, St. Edmund’s College, Cambridge, where he is a Fellow. Dr Alexander was previously Chairman of the Molecular Immunology Programme and Head of the Laboratory of Lymphocyte Signalling and Development at the Babraham Institute, Cambridge. Prior to that Dr Alexander was at the Imperial Cancer Research Laboratories in London (now Cancer Research UK), and spent 15 years developing university departments and laboratories overseas, latterly as Associate Professor of Biochemistry in the Medical Faculty of the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, where he helped to establish the National Unit of Human Genetics. Dr Alexander was initially an Open Scholar at Oxford reading Biochemistry, before obtaining a PhD in Neurochemistry at the Institute of Psychiatry in London. Dr Alexander writes, lectures and broadcasts widely in the field of science and religion. Since 1992 he has been Editor of the journal Science & Christian Belief, and currently serves on the National Committee of Christians in Science and as a member of the International Society for Science and Religion. |
World-renowned scientist Richard Dawkins writes in The God Delusion: 'If this book works as I intend, religious readers who open it will be atheists when they put it down.'
The volume has received wide coverage, fuelled much passionate debate and caused not a little confusion.
A collection of exclusive interviews in which 15 eminent scientists talk about their science and their Christian faith.
This book gets right to the heart of the current debate on science and religion.
Dr Denis Alexander is a neuroscientist who believes passionately in both the biblical doctrine of creation and the coherence of evolutionary theory. His book draws on the latest genetic research.