Synopses & Reviews
Is There a God? offers a powerful response to modern doubts about the existence of God. It may seem today that the answers to all fundamental questions lie in the province of science, and that the scientific advances of the twentieth century leave little room for God. Cosmologists have rolled back their theories to the moment of the Big Bang; the discovery of DNA reveals the key to life; the theory of evolution explains the development of life--and with each new discovery or development, it seems that we are closer to a complete understanding of how things are. For many people, this gives strength to the belief that God is not needed to explain the universe; that religious belief is not based on reason; and that the existence of God is, intellectually, a lost cause.
Richard Swinburne, one of the most distinguished philosophers of religion today, argues that on the contrary, science provides good grounds for belief in God. Why is there a universe at all? Why is there any life on Earth? How is it that discoverable scientific laws operate in the universe? Swinburne uses these methods of scientific reasoning to argue that the best answers to these questions are given by the existence of God. The picture of the universe that science gives us is completed by God. Powerful, modern, and accessible, Is There a God? is must reading for anyone interested in an intelligent and approachable defence of the existence of God.
Synopsis
In this compelling new edition, Richard Swinburne, one of the most distinguished philosophers of religion today, argues that contrary to the claims of Richard Dawkins and others, science actually provides good grounds for belief in God. Why is there a universe at all? Why is there any life on Earth? How is it that discoverable scientific laws operate in the universe? Swinburne uses scientific reasoning to argue that the best answers to these questions are given by the existence of God. The picture of the universe that science gives us is completed by God. This updated edition features a new, stronger argument as to why theism does--and materialism does not--provide a very simple ultimate explanation of the world. And Swinburne also now examines the idea of the possible existence of many other universes, and its relevance to his arguments from the fine-tuning of our universe to the existence of God. Powerful, modern, and accessible, Is There a God? is must reading for anyone interested in an intelligent and approachable defense of the existence of God.
About the Author
Richard Swinburne was Professor of Philosophy at the University of Keele, Nolloth Professor of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion, University of Oxford, and Fellow of the British Academy.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
1. GOD
2. HOW WE EXPLAIN THINGS
3. THE SIMPLICITY OF GOD
4. HOW THE EXISTENCE OF GOD EXPLAINS THE WORLD AND ITS ORDER
5. HOW THE EXISTENCE OF GOD EXPLAINS THE EXISTENCE OF HUMANS
6. WHY GOD ALLOWS EVIL
7. HOW THE EXISTENCE OF GOD EXPLAINS MIRACLES AND RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
EPILOGUE: SO WHAT?
GUIDE TO FURTHER READING
INDEX