Read Online 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God by Guy P. Harrison - Free Book Online
Authors: Guy P. Harrison
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dishonest people claim it is. Teaching children how life
on earth changes over time will not make them lose their minds and
turn to crime any more than teaching them that the earth revolves
around the sun did.
Evolution is a fascinating subject. It is sad that so many believers
shut it out because they wrongly assume that it is too complex to
understand or that it is a lie. They are missing out on something that
likely would enhance their appreciation for their own life and life in
general. Strangest of all, it is not even necessary to reject evolution for
one to continue believing in gods. Many believers have it stuck in their
heads that it must be one or the other. Although many religious leaders
present it that way, it's not true. There are many millions of Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Jews, and other believers all over the world who
accept that evolution is real. They see the fossils in museums, hear the
sensible explanations by scientists, and are able to accept it without
letting go of their belief in a god. Scientist Francis Collins, leader of
the Human Genome Project, believes that Jesus is a real god while
simultaneously accepting that evolution is real. Of course he has no
choice but to accept evolution because his work wouldn't make any
sense otherwise. Collins was able to bend his belief around evolution
so that it conformed to the obvious reality he saw before him. Other
believers should at least go as far as Collins has. He and many others
like him show that one can believe in a god without taking up the
absurd position that life does not evolve. Believers should never allow
themselves to be misled into thinking that they must choose between
evolution and belief in a god. You can have both, as many people do.
CHAPTER 7 BIBLIOGRAPHY AND
RECOMMENDED READING
Mayr, Ernst. What Evolution Is. New York: Basic Books, 2001. Outstanding
book on evolution by a great scientist.
Zimmer, Carl. Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea. New York: HarperCollins,
2001. This is the companion book to the PBS series of the same name.
This book is the perfect read for anyone who has doubts about evolution
or just wants to understand it more. Includes the chapter "What about
God?" which addresses the evolution-creationism controversy.
Our world is too beautiful to
be an accident.
uring an interview with Apollo astronaut Gene Cernan, the
last man to walk on the moon, I asked him if he had time for
deep reflection in between the tasks on his busy schedule of exploration and setting up experiments. Cernan is one of the most eloquent
of all the early astronauts and he didn't shy away from opening up
about what he felt when he stood on the surface of the moon and
looked up at his distant home.
"When you look back at the Earth, it is so overwhelming, so powerful and beautiful," Cernan said. "The world is too beautiful to have
happened by accident. There must be something or somebody bigger
than us who put it all together. When I stood on the Moon, I stood at
a point in space and time where I witnessed science meeting its match.
Science could no longer explain what I was witnessing at that point in
time."
It is exciting to imagine how it might have felt to stand in Cernan's
boots and see the tiny earth two hundred forty thousand miles away.
Thanks to photographs taken by astronauts, we can feel at least a hint
of that experience. Beginning with the classic "Earthrise" photograph
taken from lunar orbit during the Apollo 8 mission in 1968, photos of
our planet have repeatedly shown it for what it is, a glowing oasis of
life and hope in the cold blackness of space. During the Apollo 17 mis sion, Cernan's final spaceflight, one of the crew, probably Jack
Schmitt, took a brilliant photograph of the earth. Nicknamed "The
Blue Marble," the shot may be the most widely used photograph in
history-and for obvious reasons. Earth is stunningly beautiful in the
photo, with its swirling white clouds and
on earth changes over time will not make them lose their minds and
turn to crime any more than teaching them that the earth revolves
around the sun did.
Evolution is a fascinating subject. It is sad that so many believers
shut it out because they wrongly assume that it is too complex to
understand or that it is a lie. They are missing out on something that
likely would enhance their appreciation for their own life and life in
general. Strangest of all, it is not even necessary to reject evolution for
one to continue believing in gods. Many believers have it stuck in their
heads that it must be one or the other. Although many religious leaders
present it that way, it's not true. There are many millions of Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Jews, and other believers all over the world who
accept that evolution is real. They see the fossils in museums, hear the
sensible explanations by scientists, and are able to accept it without
letting go of their belief in a god. Scientist Francis Collins, leader of
the Human Genome Project, believes that Jesus is a real god while
simultaneously accepting that evolution is real. Of course he has no
choice but to accept evolution because his work wouldn't make any
sense otherwise. Collins was able to bend his belief around evolution
so that it conformed to the obvious reality he saw before him. Other
believers should at least go as far as Collins has. He and many others
like him show that one can believe in a god without taking up the
absurd position that life does not evolve. Believers should never allow
themselves to be misled into thinking that they must choose between
evolution and belief in a god. You can have both, as many people do.
CHAPTER 7 BIBLIOGRAPHY AND
RECOMMENDED READING
Mayr, Ernst. What Evolution Is. New York: Basic Books, 2001. Outstanding
book on evolution by a great scientist.
Zimmer, Carl. Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea. New York: HarperCollins,
2001. This is the companion book to the PBS series of the same name.
This book is the perfect read for anyone who has doubts about evolution
or just wants to understand it more. Includes the chapter "What about
God?" which addresses the evolution-creationism controversy.
Our world is too beautiful to
be an accident.
uring an interview with Apollo astronaut Gene Cernan, the
last man to walk on the moon, I asked him if he had time for
deep reflection in between the tasks on his busy schedule of exploration and setting up experiments. Cernan is one of the most eloquent
of all the early astronauts and he didn't shy away from opening up
about what he felt when he stood on the surface of the moon and
looked up at his distant home.
"When you look back at the Earth, it is so overwhelming, so powerful and beautiful," Cernan said. "The world is too beautiful to have
happened by accident. There must be something or somebody bigger
than us who put it all together. When I stood on the Moon, I stood at
a point in space and time where I witnessed science meeting its match.
Science could no longer explain what I was witnessing at that point in
time."
It is exciting to imagine how it might have felt to stand in Cernan's
boots and see the tiny earth two hundred forty thousand miles away.
Thanks to photographs taken by astronauts, we can feel at least a hint
of that experience. Beginning with the classic "Earthrise" photograph
taken from lunar orbit during the Apollo 8 mission in 1968, photos of
our planet have repeatedly shown it for what it is, a glowing oasis of
life and hope in the cold blackness of space. During the Apollo 17 mis sion, Cernan's final spaceflight, one of the crew, probably Jack
Schmitt, took a brilliant photograph of the earth. Nicknamed "The
Blue Marble," the shot may be the most widely used photograph in
history-and for obvious reasons. Earth is stunningly beautiful in the
photo, with its swirling white clouds and
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