Here are 100 books that Outgrowing God fans have personally recommended if you like
Outgrowing God.
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I believe that the most important questions one can possibly ask are, ‘Is there a God?’ and ‘Is Jesus God in human flesh?’ Since becoming a Christian at University in Cambridge the answers I have found to these questions have been the bedrock of my life. They have been confirmed by experience and I have wanted to share them. My academic work has been devoted to them. I am an astrophysicist as well as a priest and find, contrary to popular conceptions, that these vocations fit wonderfully neatly together. I am persuaded that there is a wealth of evidence for the truth of Christian beliefs, including from science itself.
Keith Ward is a major philosopher and theologian. In this book, he presents a devastating critique of the simplistic arguments of Richard Dawkins. With touches of humour he deftly demolishes Dawkins’ materialistic atheism, showing how the priority of the divine mind as necessary being provides the ultimate explanation for anything to exist. Science provides explanations in terms of cause and effect, but does not explain why there is a universe in the first place or why the laws of nature are as they are. Contrary to Dawkins, belief in a divine mind does not close down scientific endeavour but inspires it. If the speculative multiverse idea were to explain the special nature of this universe, this would itself still need explanation, and would in any case be compatible with theism.
Richard Dawkins claimed that 'no theologian has ever produced a satisfactory response to his arguments'. Well-known broadcaster and author Keith Ward is one of Britain's foremost philosopher-theologians. This is his response. Ward welcomes all comers into philosophy's world of clear definitions, sharp arguments, and diverse conclusions. But when Dawkins enters this world, his passion tends to get the better of him, and he descends into stereotyping, pastiche, and mockery. In this stimulating and thought-provoking philosophical challenge, Ward demonstrates not only how Dawkins' arguments are flawed, but that a perfectly rational case can be made that there, almost certainly, is a…
World-renowned geologist, Dorrik Stow, tells the story of a long-lost ocean, named Tethys Ocean after the Greek goddess of the sea. Tethys lasted for 250 million years of Earth's history, straddling the equatorial world and playing host to the changing life and events that have shaped the planet we inhabit…
Raised in an atheist family, I came to faith in Christ in middle age and am now devoted to spreading the Gospel. I am a PhD biochemist and the author of the award-winning The Works of His Hands: A Scientist’s Journey from Atheism to Faith. I was a professor at three major universities and held leadership positions at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. I have published over 200 peer-reviewed scientific papers, as well as articles on science and faith. I serve as the Editor-in-Chief of the quarterly magazine God and Nature. My passion is to proclaim the harmony between science and Christianity.
Michael Guillen, a well-known science reporter and broadcast journalist, has published an exciting and easily understood book about how science, especially physics, supports the idea of a divine creator of the universe.
Guillen, a former atheist and skeptic of Christianity, found his worldview turned around by his scientific studies.
This book is beautifully written and absolutely accessible to everyone, including those with no training in physics or other sciences.
The author describes his own journey to faith through his science and answers all the questions a reader might have about the truth of the evidence. His faith shines through all the pages of this book and it is a must read for anyone interested in the harmony of science and Christian faith.
Is your worldview enlightened enough to accommodate both science and God at the same time?
Dr. Michael Guillen, a best-selling author, Emmy award–winning journalist and former physics instructor at Harvard, used to be an Atheist―until science changed his mind. Once of the opinion that people of faith are weak, small-minded folks who just don't understand science, Dr. Guillen ultimately concluded that not only does science itself depend on faith, but faith is actually the mightiest power in the universe.
In Believing Is Seeing, Dr. Guillen recounts the fascinating story of his journey from Atheism to Christianity, pulling back the…
I have been intrigued by science since childhood, especially astronomy, and I became a university academic, teaching physics to students and researching in experiments with elementary particles. I was raised in a Christian family and have maintained my faith. I don’t find any real issues with science–it shows how clever God was in creating the universe! At the same time, I know many people have difficulties in this area. My book was written to help them, and I think the recommended books will help them, too.
Alister McGrath is one of the most readable authors on difficult areas. Here, he deals with some very general issues of religious faith in a scientific age and addresses the personal side of the equation.
Religion won’t go away, and McGrath tells us how and why this is so, bringing in some important philosophical questions that he explains in a very down-to-earth way. Whether we realize it or not, we all have a personal philosophy, and science and faith can help each other. I found it hard to put this book down.
We just can't stop talking about the big questions around science and faith. They haven't gone away, as some predicted they might; in fact, we seem to talk about them more than ever. Far from being a spent force, religion continues to grow around the world. Meanwhile, Richard Dawkins and the New Atheists argue that religion is at war with science - and that we have to choose between them.
It's time to consider a different way of looking at these two great cultural forces. What if science and faith might enrich each other? What if they can together give…
What's Gotten Into You is a wondrous, wildly ambitious, and vastly entertaining work of popular science that tells the awe-inspiring story of the elements that make up the human body, and how these building blocks of life travelled billions of miles and across billions of years to make us who…
I am a Jesus-loving coral nerd with a passion for helping people learn science accurately, represent Jesus fully, and engage in conversations respectfully. Having previously worked as a coral biologist for the US National Park Service, I have an MS in marine biology and ecology from James Cook University (Australia), a BS in ecology from Seattle Pacific University (USA), and a certification in biblical studies from Bodenseehof Bible School (Germany). When not diving or writing, you can find me reading C.S. Lewis, growing wildflowers, and hosting faith and science conversations on Instagram (@shorelinesoul) or at rachelgjordan.com.
In my early career, I struggled to connect the scientific pursuits God called me into with my Christian faith. This book shattered that struggle in the best possible way, teaching me that science can help us experience a deeper relationship with the Creator of all things.
This book is considered a classic for good reason. Written by a famed geneticist who has been a leading voice in discourse about faith and science, it does a phenomenal job of explaining genetics, human identity, and modern scientific discovery in light of biblical truth.
If you’re uncertain about how science and Christianity relate (or if they even should), this book will give you permission to explore while dazzling you with how God makes his character known through creation.
Does science necessarily undermine faith in God? Or could it actually support faith? Beyond the flashpoint debates over the teaching of evolution, or stem-cell research, most of us struggle with contradictions concerning life's ultimate question. We know that accidents happen, but we believe we are on earth for a reason. Until now, most scientists have argued that science and faith occupy distinct arenas. Francis Collins, a former atheist as a science student who converted to faith as he became a doctor, is about to change that. Collins's faith in God has been confirmed and enhanced by the revolutionary discoveries in…
I'm a teacher, philosopher, writer, Professor of Philosophy, and holder of the Sullivan Chair in Philosophy at Rockhurst University, Kansas City, Missouri, USA. I'm the author/editor of sixteen books on such topics as religion and science, religion and politics, contemporary European philosophy, and political philosophy. I'm particularly interested in how religion and science, especially evolution, can be shown to be compatible with each other, as well as in developing an argument that there is no chance operating in nature (including in biology). My book and the books below explore these fascinating topics from almost every possible angle, and should whet readers’ appetites for further thinking about these intriguing matters!
This book considers the relationship between the natural sciences and the concept of God acting in the world. Nicholas Saunders examines the Biblical motivations for asserting a continuing notion of divine action and identifies several different theological approaches to the problem. He considers their theoretical relationships with the laws of nature, indeterminism, and probabilistic causation. His radical critiques of current attempts to reconcile special divine action with quantum theory, chaos theory, and quantum chaos are especially interesting, though he will not convince everyone! Saunders provocatively suggests that we are still far from a satisfactory account of how God might act in a manner that is consonant with modern science despite the copious recent scholarship in this area.
Divine Action and Modern Science considers the relationship between the natural sciences and the concept of God acting in the world. Nicholas Saunders examines the Biblical motivations for asserting a continuing notion of divine action and identifies several different theological approaches to the problem. He considers their theoretical relationships with the laws of nature, indeterminism, and probabilistic causation. His book then embarks on a radical critique of current attempts to reconcile special divine action with quantum theory, chaos theory and quantum chaos. As well as considering the implications of these problems for common interpretations of divine action, Saunders also surveys…
Raised in an atheist family, I came to faith in Christ in middle age and am now devoted to spreading the Gospel. I am a PhD biochemist and the author of the award-winning The Works of His Hands: A Scientist’s Journey from Atheism to Faith. I was a professor at three major universities and held leadership positions at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. I have published over 200 peer-reviewed scientific papers, as well as articles on science and faith. I serve as the Editor-in-Chief of the quarterly magazine God and Nature. My passion is to proclaim the harmony between science and Christianity.
Stephen Meyer, author of Signature in the Cell, presents the historical reality of the relationship between science and faith as complementary, and not in conflict, as the modern mythology of atheism holds.
He then makes a detailed, comprehensive, yet accessible case for the reality of a divine mind behind the creation of the universe and of life.
The three areas Meyer focuses on are the Big Bang beginning of all matter and energy, the extremely well-tuned values of the cosmological and other physical constants (without which life would be impossible), and the unique complexity of the genetic code as the information system in all of life.
The arguments are compelling, and this book is a great example of how science refutes the claim that there is no scientific evidence for God, a claim that is still being made by atheists. This book leaves no doubt that the God hypothesis is…
The New York Times bestselling author of Darwin's Doubt, Stephen Meyer,presents groundbreaking scientific evidence of the existence of God, based on breakthroughs in physics, cosmology, and biology.
Beginning in the late 19th century, many intellectuals began to insist that scientific knowledge conflicts with traditional theistic belief—that science and belief in God are “at war.” Philosopher of science Stephen Meyer challenges this view by examining three scientific discoveries with decidedly theistic implications. Building on the case for the intelligent design of life that he developed in Signature in the Cell and Darwin's Doubt, Meyer demonstrates how discoveries in cosmology and physics…
I wasn’t always a joyful person. But today I’m freaking sunshine, and full-out committed to being an effective member of the team that’s elevating the level of love and joy in the world! My positions on that team have included writing dozens of mega-selling books (my own, and as a ghostwriter), founding my online Joy School at LisaMcCourt.com, hosting my Do Joy! podcast, and collaborating on projects with many other popular teachers of consciousness and joyful living. My books have sold over 9 million copies, earned 7 publishing industry awards, and garnered over 9,000 glowing Amazon reviews. Joy is my jam. I know a joyful book when I read one!
My books and trainings are all about joy, but that doesn’t mean I don’t geek out on the science behind it all.
I’ve long admired Eldon Taylor’s approach to bridging the gap between spirituality and what is considered hardcore scientific understanding at this current stage of human evolution, and this book addresses a question that underlies all of the work I do.
If more people could release the widespread, ridiculous idea that spiritual concepts (understood and practiced by our far wiser ancestors thousands of years ago) are somehow not as “real” as the other arbitrary, culturally-accepted paradigms they subscribe to, we’d have a far more joyous, compassionate, successful society.
Eldon provides a fact-based bridge for readers to cross in this well-researched book!
A pragmatic case for the rational viability of a spiritual belief in a higher power. [Taylor] makes a compelling case that the scientific worldview--one that sees humans as "meat machines"--is inconsistent with people's experiences of themselves and is not nearly as rationally superior as it is so often presented. This alone makes the author's compact consideration a worthwhile read. A philosophically astute challenge to the rational supremacy of science over its spiritual rivals. Kirkus Reviews
I'm a teacher, philosopher, writer, Professor of Philosophy, and holder of the Sullivan Chair in Philosophy at Rockhurst University, Kansas City, Missouri, USA. I'm the author/editor of sixteen books on such topics as religion and science, religion and politics, contemporary European philosophy, and political philosophy. I'm particularly interested in how religion and science, especially evolution, can be shown to be compatible with each other, as well as in developing an argument that there is no chance operating in nature (including in biology). My book and the books below explore these fascinating topics from almost every possible angle, and should whet readers’ appetites for further thinking about these intriguing matters!
There are a group of leading thinkers in science and religion who simultaneously provoke fertile thought in their readers and irritate them at the same time! This group includes biologists Stephen Jay Gould, Richard Dawkins, and Edward O. Wilson, and physicists Carl Sagan, Stephen Hawking, and Steven Weinberg, who have become public intellectuals, articulating a much larger vision for science and what role it should play in the modern worldview. The scientific prestige and literary eloquence of each of these thinkers combines to transform them into what can only be called oracles of science. Curiously, these thinkers create a very misleading and culturally damaging impression that science as a whole is incompatible with religion. Giberson and Artigas offer an informed analysis of their views, carefully distinguishing science from philosophy and religion in the writings of the oracles. Overall, the book is a great introduction to many of the fascinating questions…
Oracles of Science examines the popular writings of the six scientists who have been the most influential in shaping our perception of science, how it works, and how it relates to other fields of human endeavor, especially religion. Biologists Stephen Jay Gould, Richard Dawkins, and Edward O. Wilson, and physicists Carl Sagan, Stephen Hawking, and Steven Weinberg, have become public intellectuals, articulating a much larger vision for science and what role it should play in the modern worldview. The scientific prestige and literary eloquence of each of these great thinkers combine to transform them into what can only be called…
I have been pursuing nuclear and particle physics as a career for nearly half a century, mostly in Western countries and Japan. As a professor of physics and engineering physics, I always strive to bring conceptual clarity to what I teach for application-oriented and abstract physics, even when I cannot bring the same level of connection to physical reality in my research. I am deeply concerned that physicists have gone astray in their mathematical quest to develop a glamorous picture of the building blocks of matter and the basic interactions among them. This book is an outgrowth of my search to understand the limits of human knowledge to unravel nature’s mysteries.
Science meets Religion and Art is an apt summary of this delightful work of Mendillo, an astronomy professor. In a couple of hundred pages, the author shares his knowledge accumulated over a few decades of his studies by analyzing the centuries of work by astronomers, artists, and theologians. This book would be of interest to practicing astronomers as well as casual stargazers.
Having lived on three continents, I am always fascinated by the way religion and the art that goes with it have influenced societies’ thinking and narratives of stellar objects and cosmology. This influence is reflected in the art and images artists create to express their faith. Professor Mendillo has summarized his decades-long exploration of these connections as found in cathedrals, museums, etc., in this book.
In this book, Boston University Professor of Astronomy Michael Mendillo takes readers deep into the annals of history, showing how visual depictions of the heavens evolved in tandem with science and religion throughout much of Western culture.
With unprecedented scope and scale, Professor Mendillo explores how cave art, illuminated manuscripts, sculptures, paintings and architecture reflected some of the great religious and secular battles taking place over the course of centuries. Enter a world of biblical proportions, where constellations of ancient heroes and pagans were thoroughly recast as Christian saints and the Twelve Apostles.
I am a theoretical physicist and a practicing Christian. I was raised in a very loving but nonreligious household, and I didn’t seriously consider the possibility of God’s existence until I was a college student, when my twin brother came to faith and started to talk with me about it. In my subsequent journey to faith and the years thereafter, I read a number of books that changed my perspective on religion and convinced me that I could believe in God without compromising on my scientific view of the world. Chasing Proof, Finding Faith is the story of the journey I took, and the strange new world of faith I found on the other side.
I read this book when I was a grad student in physics at Harvard and a recent convert to Christianity.
The book was instrumental in shaping the way that I thought about the relationship between science and faith. In it, Plantinga lays out a compelling argument that despite their superficial concord, atheism, and science are actually in conflict with one another, and despite their superficial conflict, theism and science actually share a deep harmony with one another.
This book is a long-awaited major statement by a pre-eminent analytic philosopher, Alvin Plantinga, on one of our biggest debates - the compatibility of science and religion. The last twenty years has seen a cottage industry of books on this divide, but with little consensus emerging. Plantinga, as a top philosopher but also a proponent of the rationality of religious belief, has a unique contribution to make. His theme in this short book is that the conflict between science and theistic religion is actually superficial, and that at a deeper level they are in concord.
