Rating: Summary: Must Reading! Review: The Case for a Creator is one of the rapidly expanding collection of excellent books on intelligent design (I have over 30 in my library and several new books I do not own yet). In contrast to most, this book is not written by biologists for biology professors, but by a newspaper reporter and best selling author for the rest of us. Although written in conversational style, it covers the material very well. Strobel does an excellent job explaining in simple language the reason why so many scientists are now questioning Darwinism and why some are even rejecting atheism and naturalism as a result. This is an excellent book to give to friends, especially those interested in science. It is also an excellent introduction to intelligent design. I plan to pick up extra copies for gifts, especially for high school age relatives. Just as Darwin did, many ID scientists are publishing much material in books to present the case in greater detail than a journal article would allow. Darwin published most of his important works in book form for this reason.
Rating: Summary: Great Book! Review: The more biologists learn about life the more obvious it becomes that we are no accident! Lee Strobel has written a another great book that combines a ton of material into a managable 352 pages. If this book doesn't convince you of ID, it will at least get you thinking!
Rating: Summary: A MUST read for everyone! Review: This book is a must read for Christians and Athiets alike. Although I thought I was a Christian, and I wanted to be, the discoveries of science just didn't match what I had been taught about God, or so I thought! As a nursing student and biology major, I had first begun to believe that there MUST be a God when I learned the intricasies of the human body and mind. It seemed impossible for this to be by chance. Little did I know there was scientific proof to support that feeling and in so many fields of science. Now, I know I was right! This book strengthened my faith by giving it scientific and truthful support. I has been the most revealing book I've read. This is the proof we've all been looking for! The more we learn, the more certain God's existance is.
Rating: Summary: An outstanding overview of the scientific evidence for God Review: This book is an introduction into the various areas of scientific study where a true search for truth includes not arbitrarily self limiting to a naturalistic or materialistic philosophy to explain the universe and life as we know it. The book starts with Lee Strobel describing his own journey to atheism through his love for Darwinism and science, coupled with a journalistic obsession with always digging deeper. Despite the fact that this book had the potential to be dry and overly academic, it never is. From the opening personal background, to the depiction of his journalistic assignment to cover a debate on school textbooks in rural West Virginia, to the "conversational" tone to his presentation of scientific evidence from the experts, the book is always readable and engaging. This is a well written overview to the fact that science and faith are not as mutually exclusive as we have been led to believe. In fact, much scientific evidence clearly points to a Creator. Whether it is big-bang cosmology, or the complexity of the bio-chemical process, design is everywhere. However, this is only part of the story. The book starts with first punching holes in most of the famous Darwin and Evolution "icons" which prompted Lee to abandon a belief in God to begin with. That the famous "Haeckel" embryo drawings are faked and have been known as such for decades, has not kept them from being included in modern textbooks to show evidence for Darwin's theories. The amount of liberty that has been taken with weak arguments for macro-evolution points to a naturalistic philosophy, not scientific evidence, which is driving much of what passes for scientific study in the area of origins of life. See the book "Icons of Evolution" for a deeper look. The chapter on "the Evidence of Consciousness" is in itself worth buying the book. J.P. Moreland and others discuss whether a computer will someday have "spiritual" experiences, and look into the scientific origins of philosophy made famous by Rene Decartes. The debate as to whether our consciousness is a result of mere physical brain activity which reaches a certain level, or is evidence of something beyond the physical, is a fascinating discussion. I highly recommend this book. It is a wonderful introduction to scientific evidence from renowned scientists with impeccable credentials that align science with faith in a way that is both logically and rationally sound. While I agree that he could have interviewed a wider range of people, the theories and works from non-theists like Robert Gould, Richard Dawkins, and others are well presented. It is also a great place to start research on the subject, as there are dozens of works sited and noted from William Demski, Michael Behe, William Lane Craig, Stephen Hawking, and others. Start here, and then read deeper. The result will be the same as there truly is a scientific "case for a Creator".
Rating: Summary: Book's Strongest Point is Evidence for Intelligent Design Review: This book is nothing less than the very best overview of the evidence for Intelligent Design. Actually, the book breaks down into two sections. The first critiques neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory. This is well-done and well-supported -- despite what you might think by reading certain other reviews! For instance, the book does point out the (...) of Ernst Haeckel, who faked embryological evidence for evolution in the 19th century. Fair enough. One reviewer, though, claims that Haeckel is still basically correct. Haeckel and Darwin claimed that because embryos are most similar in their earliest stage of development, this is evidence of common ancestry. However, biologists today know that embryos are NOT most similar in their earliest stages of development. Lee Strobel's book does an excellent job of explaining these and other flaws in standard evolutionary belief. At the same time, though, I think that the book's most significant contribution is its summary of evidence from cosmology, physics, astronomy, biochemistry, biological information, and consciousness. The author presents a powerful case that recent findings in these scientific disciplines are best explained by the presence of an Intelligent Designer. The book is intriguing to read and relies on experts who are articulate and credible. As the issue of Intelligent Design sweeps the country, causing controversies in school districts everywhere, I'd highly recommend this text as a terrific primer on the topic.
Rating: Summary: Reads like a Novel Review: This book is one of the growing number of books on Intelligent Design. It is different from the rest in that it consists of a series of interviews with scientists. Lee Strobel, a graduate of Yale Law school and legal editor of the Chicago Tribune, applies his considerable writing skills to tackle one of the most explosive movements of the last decade. I especially liked the personal information about the scientists interviewed, including their motivations for accepting ID. The book reads like a novel, not a book about science, but is very informative even for those who teach science as I do. Strobel interviews those on both sides, and covers astronomy, biochemistry, and even theology. The book also covers some of the controversies surrounding ID. This is the first book on this topic one should read, but even veteran scientists can learn much from the book. This book is a must, especially for critics of ID. Teachers will find it an important resource when the topic comes up in class (which it most certainly will)
Rating: Summary: Amazingly Good Review: This book was amazingly well-done. Interviewing experts in a variety of fields was a great idea for a book like this. Some of the chapters are really amazing, such as the cosmology and astronomy chapters. The chapter on cell structure was probably the best written and presented the strongest argument of any of them. There are also some really interesting scientific ideas in here, such as Steven Hawking's model of the universe and the Theory of Everything. The most amazing thing about this book is that any given chapter(except for the first chapter on evolution which I felt, sadly, was the weakest argument) obviously points to a creator, but when you see that ALL the fields point the same way, it's really amazing. Everyone should give this book a try.
Rating: Summary: Good Information Review: This is a very captivating book. It has good evidence, and is well organized. It's easy for an average person to understand. Strobel interviews different scienctists, and builds the whole book on their answers. I like how Strobel asks the questions as a skeptic, with deep probing questions. The problem with the book being all interviews, is that sometimes the conversations go on irrellavent tangents, which are hard to read. I think I would let any atheist read this book, and challenge him to not believe in God when he is done with it. The book contains very convincing evidence presented in an intelligent scientific manner. Anyone who wants to know why he believes in God, or has questions about creation and Darwinism should read this book, and would find it very helpful, informative, and convincing. I like how the book is written by someone who was once an atheist, so he knows the doubts and questions an atheist would have about God and creation. This book answered a lot of questions for me, mainly questions I had never thought about before. It's hard to put down once you get into it!
Rating: Summary: Relies on long since dismssed scientific theories Review: to try to attack evolution. At one point he picks on the fact that Ernst Haeckel used to put forth embryological drawings that were later shown to be faulty. Ok. Haeckel was out and out wrong somewhat. But the author never states that Haeckel's theory of origins concerning embryos was roughly correct. Nowadays, due to all type of ultrasound machines, we can easily show live embryos of humans, apes, other mammals, fish, and reptiles. We see the similarity of all these life forms as embryos and that supports evolutionary theories. Blab all you want, creationists, about Haeckel being wrong on a few specific points of his theory. Over all the theory of embryology is correct.
Rating: Summary: How about both sides? Review: Why is it that Strobel never interviews people who could articulate a well reasoned position which is contrary to the one he is trying to arrive at?
|