Return of the God Hypothesis
Three Scientific Discoveries That Reveal the Mind Behind the Universe
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4.5 • 52 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
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 coupled with those in biology help to establish the identity of the designing intelligence behind life and the universe.
Meyer argues that theism—with its affirmation of a transcendent, intelligent and active creator—best explains the evidence we have concerning biological and cosmological origins. Previously Meyer refrained from attempting to answer questions about “who” might have designed life. Now he provides an evidence-based answer to perhaps the ultimate mystery of the universe. In so doing, he reveals a stunning conclusion: the data support not just the existence of an intelligent designer of some kind—but the existence of a personal God.
Customer Reviews
Excellent
Whether you believe in God or not, this book does a great job explaining concepts from a variety of different fields. This includes philosophy of science, history, biology, chemistry, cosmology, physics, mathematics, statistics, and even epistemology. While this book can get technical at times, Meyer does his best to make the content understandable for those without a science background with analogies and diagrams. It reminds me a lot of Richard Feynman’s physics lectures in its clarity.
Return of the God Hypothesis does go quite a bit deeper than most other books engaging with these ideas. For instance, those familiar with Craig’s Kalam Cosmological Argument or the Fine Tuning argument will find chapters explaining the background, history, and even some of the mathematics of these arguments in a way that helps dispel the notion that the book (or its ideas) are simply religious propaganda. As a result, those who think the idea of God is outdated and unscientific may be surprised by the level of rigor here and how such a case can be made.
For the most part, I thought Meyer was fair and charitable to opposing views, even anticipating and conceding certain challenges to the views he proposes. I thought this made the book stronger, as it showed he is doing serious philosophy and looking for truth, not trying to be manipulative or deceptive. He spends entire chapters explaining alternative theories (like the multiverse theory) and explaining why his theory is a better explanation of the evidence. However he starts by explaining the theories themselves before attempting to refute them, so one can understand and appreciate the motivation for why they were proposed. For instance, I had never understood why Stephen Hawking proposed “imaginary time” for his cosmology until reading this book.
Overall, I highly recommend this book to anyone, whether they believe in God or not, to understand more about the debate and to learn some science and philosophy in the process. I was surprised to learn how strong of a case could be made for the “God Hypothesis.”
A faith building book for a searching mind.
I have read Mr. Meyer’s previos book, “Signature in the Cell” during a time I was struggling with faith in God even as a physician. It was very helpful among others. This book expands on “Signature “ in cosmology, physics and math. Parts can be a bit tedious if you aren’t current in physics and math (as I am not) but worth the effort. Highly recommend!
Sweeping and powerful exploration of a topic more important than ever
Sweeping and powerful exploration of a topic more important than ever. Beautiful logic and prose. Refreshingly not religious or soap-boxy. Highly recommend.