Natural God Deism in the Age of Intelligent Design Beth Houston 8601421940870 Books
Download As PDF : Natural God Deism in the Age of Intelligent Design Beth Houston 8601421940870 Books
Positioning contemporary Deism as the Golden Mean between atheist-materialist Darwinism and religious fundamentalism, Beth Houston convincingly argues that exquisitely designed Creation categorically necessitates a transcending Intelligent Designer that is immanently engaged in the perpetual process of creating novelty sustained within the secure margins of natural laws. To clear the way for new Deism, Houston’s explication, sprinkled with satire, demystifies Charles Darwin and deconstructs Darwinism/neo-Darwinism on the one hand, and on the other continues her demolition of biblical literalism with an incisive critique of the modern quest for the historical Jesus. To stress her point that embracing truth is imperative for our survival, Houston delineates dangers of both Darwinian and fundamentalist myths and superstitions, exposing how separately and together they perpetuate dangerous elitist agendas that range from exploitation and war instigated by corporate oligarchs to misogynist/homophobic gang rape and other expressions of bigotry. As a counterpoint to her analysis of brute selfishness, Houston affirms Nature’s practical and spiritual benefits and challenges us to protect our life, liberty, happiness, and truth by contributing to authentic democracy, environmental stewardship, and nurturance of our creative, spiritual, and ethical sensibilities. Houston represents a version of Deism rooted in common sense, which she defines as the consensus of all our faculties, including reason, conscience, intuition, experience, volition, and the aesthetic. Unlike some Deists writing today, Houston affirms aspects of religion untainted by greed and hubris that express humanity’s natural desire for God, truth, and the Good. Deism reveres the Creator of Nature, the Natural God, whose truth and spiritual Presence, independent of priestly mediation, are democratically available to all.
Natural God Deism in the Age of Intelligent Design Beth Houston 8601421940870 Books
I read this most excellent book twice. The first time rendered so many ideas and so many truly profound thoughts, that, as soon as I finished it, I went to the first page and began again. The second read was as brilliant as the first. Clear, beautiful prose. Fascinating ideas. So glad she wrote this book and even gladder that I bought it.Product details
|
Tags : Natural God: Deism in the Age of Intelligent Design [Beth Houston] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Positioning contemporary Deism as the Golden Mean between atheist-materialist Darwinism and religious fundamentalism,Beth Houston,Natural God: Deism in the Age of Intelligent Design,New Deism Press,0971919097,Deism,Religion - World Religions,Religion Deism
People also read other books :
- Resuscitating Love edition by Devon Rhodes Romance eBooks
- Destiny Purpose ~ A Young Alpaca living with Alopecia Shannon CassidyRouleau Dennis Auth 9781601310644 Books
- A Different Mother eBook Rena Trefman Cobrinik
- Confessions of a Christian Sinner edition by L Scott Ekstrom Religion Spirituality eBooks
- The Girl With No Bedroom Door A true short story eBook Angela Hart
Natural God Deism in the Age of Intelligent Design Beth Houston 8601421940870 Books Reviews
If I had known that the author was a flaming liberal, I wouldn't have wasted my money on this book. Nature's God is not necessarily the god of political correctness.
I really can't summon the effort to delineate all of the ways this book fails. It's utterly shameful work, and I hope reasonable people will not associate Beth Houston's ravings with actual deism. There is a lot of effort here, and most of it appears driven by anger.... much of it toward science itself, which I find amusing given her background. Her arguments either fall flat or are politically motivated. It's hypocrisy, through and through. There are lots of pretty words, but it's a thin veil that even the briefest glance can penetrate. Don't waste your time with this one.
The author seems to go on and on in explaining postitions or her own theorys. Also, she is also almost dogmatic regarding Darwinism - almost too much. Does a fantastic job relating the disaster of the Bush (W) administration. Hopefully she does realize all of us guys aren't all bad. I am super proud of my chemical engineer daughter and my soon to be professional grandaughters. Overall a good read.
Ms. Houston presents a good case for deism, but her lack of scientific knowledge is a bit unsettling. She does not have a science degree--she has an MA and MFA. It's hard to see someone intelligent denying evolution when it still stands as a theory. (Yes, scientists use the word theory even if something holds up, and she does not understand this). With all the neuroscientific and molecular/evolutionary biology research in recent years, I think she has some digging to do. I did enjoy the book, however, and for that I give it 3 stars.
Great book
This book critiques some major institutions of our society, religion and science being the main ones.
The author's primary thesis is that "scientific fundamentalism" is just as detrimental to society as "religious fundamentalism". I agree totally, as I'm sure others do. I am fairly surprised that someone who's major in college was English is the one putting this idea down on paper. My opinion (and this is me talking now) is that this idea is one of the most important ideas facing our society today. Science is obviously a very good thing . . . when done RIGHT. But when it is done WRONG, we are all in a heap of trouble. There is no denying that science at times can be and is used to manipulate and control what people think and believe just as much as hard-core, fundamentalist religion is. The ultimate message of this book is that you simply cannot ever stop examining every single idea that is thrown at you YOU have to make sure that what people say actually makes sense and agrees with reality. Just because some "scientist" makes a claim, does not mean you can just rest assured that whatever is said is true, because a scientist is making the claim. Scientists have been wrong many, many times before, and there is absolutely no guarantee that what a scientist says is going to be correct. When scientists make claims that are technically impossible to prove, by definition, you had better watch out.
The main scientific targets of this book are Darwinian evolution and some of the nonsensical claims of modern physics. Most of the arguments are very convincing in my opinion, and if you are the type of person who likes to see the claims of the self-appointed "authorities" of society critiqued, then this book is for you. You may be surprised to learn that the "proof" that evolution is "true" is not the same sort of proof that Isaac Newton used in his work. It is most definitely NOT a slam dunk. There is no direct evidence of ANY of the major claims of evolution. Most of the claims are, in fact, impossible to observe in any way (unless someone invents a time machine). So why is there so much hype about how they are so sure that it is correct? Good question, and this book will show you that they are not sure at all. There are several very good books that debunk Darwinian evolution, and this book is not exhaustive on the subject, but the critique of Darwinian evolution presented here is a very good one I learned some very interesting things about Darwin I had never read before that alone were worth the price of the book. The critique of what some physicists have published is not as long, nor as central to the book, but it is still very worthwhile and a very good read. Personally, I wonder if the physicists are just trying to see how outlandish they can get before someone calls them on the BS. And that's what this book does it calls BS on a few of them. When you can PROVE what you say, with SCIENTIFIC evidence, fine. But if all you can do is spout nonsense, without any justification, then it is BS, pure and simple.
There is a fair amount of New Testament criticism in this book as well. People not familiar with New Testament criticism will be surprised to learn that the foundation of Christianity is, well, let's be honest nothing at all. So why "believe" it??? Again, the main idea of this book is that "fundamentalism," of any stripe, is very detrimental to all of human society. (This is me talking again) if all you can do is believe what other people say, even when they do not have a single bit of evidence or logic to support what they say, then you are simply being deceived, and it is not likely that you (or society) will benefit from the situation. The big question for anyone should be, why in the world would anyone even care what you believe, and why would they even want to get you to believe what they believe, WHEN THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER FOR WHAT THEY BELIEVE? This is a critical issue people.
There is a quote from the famous Voltaire that is not in the book, but sums it up nicely (this a a rough paraphrase from memory) "If we believe absurdities, we will commit atrocities." Most of this book is using that idea (not explicitly) to examine many of the major assumptions of this society, and looking closely to see if the claims really hold water or not. This is a worthwhile book, and very well written. It is one of those books that some people would like to read just because it is so well written.
Obviously, a main focus of this book is Deism. Many of the arguments presented in this book in support of Deism are good arguments and well worth reading as long as you like reading about ideas, the way you would read a book about philosophy (well, that applies to the whole book). Deism as a view of life probably would be way more beneficial to human society as a whole than the major organized religions we are stuck with, but there is just no way to win religious arguments with logic and evidence. Most religions do not allow logic or reality into the debate. Plus, much of the discussion of Deism cannot be "proven," like so many philosophical views (even though many arguments that Deists make are "superior" imho to many of the claims of organized religion and science). All in all I enjoyed reading all that was said about Deism, being mostly ignorant of it. My personal opinion is that while interesting and relevant to our world, the discussion of Deism, no matter how good a discussion it is, is not the best part of the book (my apologies to the author). Her attack of "fundamentalism," both religious AND scientific, is the far more important issue that needs to be disseminated as widely as possible. Until people start actually THINKING for themselves our problems will never be solved. Of course, the author might respond that the stand against fundamentalism is actually a part of Deism.
This book touches on many other issues not mentioned here, so do not be surprised if you disagree with one or two, but that will not detract from the major issues presented above.
I have only one complaint the title (and I am not criticizing the author or publisher here). I have no suggestion for a better one, but it seems to me that more than a few people will be turned off by the title and therefore avoid reading a book that they would probably like to read. I have seen a few other good books in recent years that would have benefited from better titles.
This is the sort of book that might actually help to improve our society a bit, IF (and that is the catch) enough people read it.
I read this most excellent book twice. The first time rendered so many ideas and so many truly profound thoughts, that, as soon as I finished it, I went to the first page and began again. The second read was as brilliant as the first. Clear, beautiful prose. Fascinating ideas. So glad she wrote this book and even gladder that I bought it.
0 Response to "∎ Descargar Gratis Natural God Deism in the Age of Intelligent Design Beth Houston 8601421940870 Books"
Post a Comment