Description
In recent years, a number of works have appeared with important implications for the age-old question of the existence of a god. These writings, many of which are not by theologians, strengthen the rational case for the existence of a god, even as this god may not exactly be the Christian God of history. God? Very Probably brings together for the first time recent contributions from fields as diverse as physics, the philosophy of human consciousness, evolutionary biology, mathematics, the history of religion, and theology. Based on these new materials as well as older ones from the twentieth century, Robert H. Nelson develops five rational arguments that point strongly to the (very probable) existence of a god. They do not make use of the scientific method, which is inapplicable to the question of a god. Rather, they are in an older tradition of rational argument dating back to Ancient Greece. For believers, God? Very Probably will offer additional rational reasons that may strengthen their belief. Those who do not believe in the existence of a god will encounter new rational arguments that may give them much food for thought.
About the Author
Robert H. Nelson is a professor at the University of Maryland. Originally trained as an economist, he has written widely over the past twenty-five years on the ways in which the secular thinking of contemporary economics and the contemporary environmental movement have an underlying Christian foundation.
Contents
Foreword by Herman Daly
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction
2. Thinking About God
3. God the Mathematician: The Miracle of Mathematical Order in the Natural World
4. Darwinism as Secular Fundamentalism
5. Scientifically Inexplicable: The Mystery of Human Consciousness
6. Divine Agency in Recorded Human History: Are There “Miracles”?
7. Secular Religion, Christianity, and Modernity
8. Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
Endorsements and Reviews
In God? Very Probably, Nelson makes the most compelling, challenging, comprehensive, and consequential analysis of how and why the advocates of the ‘new atheism’ have built their cases on unscientific grounds.
Max L. Stackhouse, Rimmer and Ruth de Vries Professor of Reformed Theology and Public Life Emeritus, Princeton Theological Seminary
In this engaging, illuminating book, Nelson offers an accessible, well-argued case for the rationality of belief in God. It is elegantly written and refreshingly free of academic jargon.
Charles Taliaferro, Chair of the Department of Philosophy, St Olaf College
Nelson has written a superb book, one that should be read by a wide spectrum of people: atheists, agnostics, deists, and committed Christians. His explanations for the existence of a god are thoughtful and draw upon the work of a wide range of scholars.
P.J. Hill, Professor of Economics Emeritus, Wheaton College
Nelson masterfully draws evidence from recent scientific discoveries and important arguments that bear on the question of the existence of a god. This is a thought-provoking, ambitious, and much needed book with elements from the author’s personal journey.
Kaius Sinnem Äki, Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies, University of Helsinki
