|
Intelligent design, creationism, and evolution have always been hot topics for debate in America. Creationism and intelligent design are usually seen as the province of religious people, while evolution belongs to the scientists. More often than not, both camps see the other as "the enemy." But what about committed Christians who find something lacking in the ideas of both creationism and intelligent design? Can you still be a Christian and support the idea of evolution? Scientist Karl Giberson believes you can. Raised a fundamentalist and influenced as a boy by Henry Morris's creationist classic The Genesis Flood, Giberson firmly believed in creationism through his college years. But while working on his Ph.D. in physics, he began to doubt that science could have gotten everything as thoroughly wrong as the creationists suggested, and he gradually abandoned his creationist beliefs—but not his belief in Christianity. Through careful research, Giberson concluded that Christianity and evolution do not have to be incompatible. In Saving Darwin, Giberson paints a clear picture of the creation/evolution controversy and explores its intricate history, from Darwin to the current culture wars, carefully showing why—and how—it is possible to believe in God and evolution at the same time.
Karl W. Giberson is director of the Forum on Faith and Science at Gordon College, the executive vice-president of the BioLogos Foundation, and a science professor at Eastern Nazarene College. His books include Worlds Apart, Species of Origins (with Donald A. Yerxa), and Oracles of Science (with Mariano Artigas). He is a contributing editor to Books & Culture.
Drawing on his fundamentalist upbringing and experience teaching physics at an evangelical college, Giberson has a native understanding of how conservative Christians feel and think about evolution. As a Christian evolutionist, he finds himself occupying a frequently misunderstood middle ground in the midst of “a culture war, fought with culture-war weapons by culture warriors.” Behind the culture war, Giberson sketches an engaging historical narrative including Darwin's background in intelligent design, what really happened at the Scopes “monkey trial” and how catastrophist geology derived from Seventh Day Adventism found an audience among the evangelical mainstream in the post-Sputnik era. By tackling the debate in cultural as well as scientific terms, Giberson does greater justice to the motivations of Christians who reject evolution. Yet he does not conceal his frustration—on theological as well as scientific grounds—with the “rubbish” of scientific creationism, which “has climbed onto the radar screens of American intellectual culture only as a bad joke.” Giberson's sarcasm, however honestly come by, may cause the book to alienate an evangelical audience it might otherwise engage. (June)Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.
"Giberson . . . provides an edifying summary of the tenets and the flaws of modern creationism . . . and raises a valuable alarm about the dangers facing American science and culture."
"Karl Giberson here presents a poignant account of his Christian pilgrimage from Creationist to Evolutionist. He offers a sympathetic historical analysis laced with trenchant criticism of both misguided intelligent design advocates and hard core atheists."
"Karl Giberson skillfully unravels the tangled skein of argument about creation and evolution, showing that there need be no incompatibility between Christianity and Darwinism. His writing is lively, in a style that is both informal and informed. This is a book that many will find helpful."
"Sensitively written and convincingly argued. . . . [A] truly courageous work."
Giberson posesses a boundless inquisitiveness typical of many scientiests, but also displays the wry wit of a seasoned polemicist. He seems to know how to counteract your best arguments before you have even made them.
"One of the best books of 2008"
"A poignant account of [Giberson’s] Christian pilgrimage from Creationist to Evolutionist. He offers a sympathetic historical analysis laced with trenchant criticism of both misguided intelligent design advocates and hard core atheists."
"An intensely personal account of [Giberson’s] intellectual journey from creationism to the acceptance of evolution . . . By situating his own story in the context of larger social and scientific developments, Giberson’s book can serve as a guide for other Christians on a similar trek."
"Giberson makes the case, persuasively and with considerable wit, that there’s no irreconcilable conflict between robust Christian faith and evolutionary biology, rightly understood. This is a wonderfully readable book: humane, modest, and wise."
"A much-needed book . . . a powerful contribution."
"Karl Giberson skillfully unravels the tangled skein of argument about creation and evolution, showing that there need be no incompatibility between Christianity and Darwinism. His writing is lively, in a style that is both informal and informed. This is a book that many will find helpful."
Giberson attacks the conundrum [of evolution] with eloquence and clarity.
"Giberson has a native understanding of how conservative Christians feel and think about evolution . . . he sketches an engaging historical narrative.
Author: Karl Giberson Located in: Hingham, MA Submitted: March 18, 2008 Tell us a little about yourself. I come from rural New Brunswick, Canada, and grew up on the banks of the St. John River. My dad was a Baptist preacher with a heart of gold, my mom was special beyond belief. I was the first person from my town to go on and get a PhD in physics.
What was your motivation behind this project? This is my fourth book in this general area but my first for a broad audience. I am very much looking forward to reader reactions. I grew up thinking Darwin was the devil and really wanted to share how strange this idea is.
What do you hope folks will gain from this project? I hope people think I have provided an honest book, without an agenda. I think the creation-evolution controversy is hopelessly antagonistic and I wanted to show why this is.
How were you personally impacted by working on this project? I loved writing Saving Darwin. It just confirmed for me how much I love writing. I refocused my career after I finished to include more writing.
Who are your influences, sources of inspiration or favorite authors / artists? I love the following books:
Coming of Age in the Milky Way by Tim Ferris
Sleepwalkers by Arthur Koestler
Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes.
All these guys can write and they inspire me.
Anything else you'd like readers / listeners to know: I wrote Saving Darwin in my sunroom, looking out at my woods. God's creation is so inspiring. It's terrible we quarrel about how it came to be.
Availability: Only 2 in stock - order soon! Additional quantities may be backordered.
Start A New Christianbook.com Search
|
Catalog Shopping
Membership
