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Gaining the High Ground over Evolutionism

A philosophically measured contribution to a debate involving science and religion that too often attracts fanatics.

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An ambitious book offers a critique of evolutionary theory along with a reconsideration of the relation between faith and reason.

Many accounts depict the contentious public debate concerning creationism and evolution as a tug of war between blinkered superstition and enlightened reason. This debut volume, however, contends that evolutionary theory, and modern science in general, hasn’t cornered the market on rationality and remains riddled with its own assumptions, hypotheses, and conjectures. First, O’Keefe provides a brief history of the development of modern science, demonstrating the ways in which it often embraced supernatural forces. The author revises the familiar narrative that pits a heroic Galileo against the dark forces of irrational theocrats to furnish a much fuller picture of his achievements. Over time, science narrowed its horizon of acceptable explanations. O’Keefe surveys several scientific disciplines to show that each embraces its own unproven assumptions. The nature of human consciousness, the origins of the world, and the very “mystery of existence,” O’Keefe writes, have all eluded scientific description. Furthermore, he argues that faith has been unfairly pitted against reason, draining it of any philosophical value. The Bible, according to O’Keefe, never presents faith as the antagonist of reason but rather as its partner: “Nothing is said or implied about any partitioning of faith from reason. The scriptures take the capacity for reason for granted.” The crux of the author’s argument seems to be that the absolute compartmentalization of science and religion has been to the detriment of both and a barrier to a richer understanding of the cosmos. While O’Keefe delves into some complex subject matter, his writing remains crisp and mercifully free of academic jargon. Moreover, he maintains an impressive composure wading into waters too typically stirred by emotion and ideology. Some readers will be disappointed that the author didn’t devote more time to culturally explosive issues like homosexuality, which he insightfully remarks upon. Also, the work’s brevity makes the historical sketches of science and theology too incomplete to be fully convincing; this is scholarly work without much scholarly apparatus attached to it. Even if the reader finds his account of the relation between faith and reason dubious, the perspective O’Keefe provides on biblical interpretations alone makes the book worthwhile. This is a balanced, accessible, and rigorous introduction to an important topic.

A philosophically measured contribution to a debate involving science and religion that too often attracts fanatics.

Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2012

ISBN: 978-1-4759-4964-3

Page Count: 212

Publisher: iUniverse

Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016

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ROSE BOOK OF BIBLE CHARTS, MAPS AND TIME LINES

Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.

A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.

This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.

Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005

ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8

Page Count: -

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010

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THE MYTH OF SISYPHUS

AND OTHER ESSAYS

This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.

Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955

ISBN: 0679733736

Page Count: 228

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955

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