Richard Dawkins = Christian evangelist?

Editors Denis Alexander and Alister McGrath gather other intelligent minds from around the world to share their startling commonality: Richard Dawkins and his fellow New Atheists were instrumental in their conversions to Christianity.

Despite a wide range of backgrounds and cultures, all are united in the fact that they were first enthusiasts for the claims and writings of the New Atheists. But each became disillusioned by the arguments and conclusions of Dawkins, causing them to look deeper and with more objectivity at religious faith. The fallacies of Christianity Dawkins warns of simply don't exist.

Spending time in this fascinating and powerful book is like being invited to the most interesting dinner party you've ever attended. Listen as twelve men and women from five different countries across a variety of professions--philosophers, artists, historians, engineers, scientists, and more--explain their journeys from atheism to faith. In the end, you may come away having reached the same conclusion: authentic Christian faith is in fact more intellectually convincing and rational than New Atheism.

Lucid as well as exhilarating and wide-ranging.
--Rupert Shortt, Von Hügel Institute, University of Cambridge, and author of God Is No Thing

Many people, including nonbelievers like me, have found Dawkins's strident atheism upsetting to the point of offensive. I would never have thought that--as Coming to Faith Through Dawkins shows in wonderful detail--for some, Dawkins's rantings were the spur to Christian faith.
--Michael Ruse, Professor of Philosophy Emeritus, University of Guelph, Ontario

This is a novel book: real-life stories of people who have actually come to faith, not in spite of but through Richard Dawkins. It must be his own worst nightmare!
--William Lane Craig, Houston Christian University

Creation or Evolution helps you make sense of the complex common ground between the biblical doctrine of creation and the scientific evidence behind the theory of evolutionary.

With the guidance of neuroscientist Denis Alexander - a passionate believer in both the Bible and science, you can build a fully integrated understanding of the tricky questions that have divided so many for too long.

This book combines the latest genetic research with an exploration of what we mean by creation and evolution to overcome the common scientific and religious objections to each. He addresses the argument that evolution is atheistic and discovers who Adam and Eve really were.

An enthusiast for both the biblical and scientific contributions to our understanding of God and creation, he shows how the concept of The Fall be reconciled with evolutionary theory. Finally he asks the big question: how could a God of love create a world where people kill each other and inflict so much suffering?

Read Creation or Evolution and you will discover that maybe you don't have to choose. And you will have the arguments and responses to help others overcome their objections to biblical faith without abandoning the scientific facts.

Atheists assert that the natural world has no meaning or purpose. Dr Denis Alexander, Emeritus Director of The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion at St. Edmunds College, Cambridge, draws a different conclusion.

Not only do recent evolutionary biological data appear inconsistent with the claim that the world is purposeless, but the Christian doctrine of creation has provided and continues to provide both context and stimulus for the study of the natural world. Christians started biology!

However, is a belief in an omnipotent, benign Creator consistent with a world of pain and suffering? From a lifetime's study in the biological sciences, Denis Alexander believes that whilst the cost of existence is extremely high, it can nonetheless be squared with the idea of a God of love whose ultimate purposes for humankind render that cost more comprehensible.

Over the past centuries the pendulum has constantly swung between an emphasis on the role of either nature or nurture in shaping human destiny, a pendulum often energised by ideological considerations. In recent decades the flourishing of developmental biology, genomics, epigenetics and our increased understanding of neuronal plasticity have all helped to subvert such dichotomous notions. Nevertheless, the media still report the discovery of a gene 'for' this or that behaviour, and the field of behavioural genetics continues to extend its reach into the social sciences, reporting the heritability of such human traits as religiosity and political affiliation. There are many continuing challenges to notions of human freedom and moral responsibility, with consequent implications for social flourishing, the legal system and religious beliefs. In this book, Denis Alexander critically examines these challenges, concluding that genuine free will, often influenced by genetic variation, emerges from an integrated view of human personhood derived from contemporary biology.

World-leading experts tackle challenging issues of science and faith.

Here are 20 papers from the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, which is a UK educational charity, and a member of the Cambridge Theological Federation which is an affiliate of Cambridge University. In addition to academic research, the Institute engages in the public understanding of science and religion by means of courses, conferences, lectures, seminars and the media.

The Faraday Papers provide the general reader with accessible and readable introductions to the relationship between science and religion, written by a broad range of authors who are expert in the field. They are intended to be read by those without a scientific background. Here they are collected for the first time into a single volume.

Contributors include:
Has Science Killed God? - Prof. Alister McGrath FRSA
The Science and Religion Debate, an Introduction - Revd Dr John Polkinghorne KBE FRS
Why Care for the Environment? - Prof. Sir John Houghton FRS
Ethical Issues in Genetic Modification - Prof. John Bryant
The Age of the Earth - Prof. Bob White FRS
Creation and Evolution not Creation or Evolution - Prof. R.J. Berry FRSE

World-leading experts tackle challenging issues of science and faith.

Here are 20 papers from the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, which is a UK educational charity, and a member of the Cambridge Theological Federation which is an affiliate of Cambridge University. In addition to academic research, the Institute engages in the public understanding of science and religion by means of courses, conferences, lectures, seminars and the media.

The Faraday Papers provide the general reader with accessible and readable introductions to the relationship between science and religion, written by a broad range of authors who are expert in the field. They are intended to be read by those without a scientific background. Here they are collected for the first time into a single volume.

Contributors include:
Has Science Killed God? - Prof. Alister McGrath FRSA
The Science and Religion Debate, an Introduction - Revd Dr John Polkinghorne KBE FRS
Why Care for the Environment? - Prof. Sir John Houghton FRS
Ethical Issues in Genetic Modification - Prof. John Bryant
The Age of the Earth - Prof. Bob White FRS
Creation and Evolution not Creation or Evolution - Prof. R.J. Berry FRSE

Over the past centuries the pendulum has constantly swung between an emphasis on the role of either nature or nurture in shaping human destiny, a pendulum often energised by ideological considerations. In recent decades the flourishing of developmental biology, genomics, epigenetics and our increased understanding of neuronal plasticity have all helped to subvert such dichotomous notions. Nevertheless, the media still report the discovery of a gene 'for' this or that behaviour, and the field of behavioural genetics continues to extend its reach into the social sciences, reporting the heritability of such human traits as religiosity and political affiliation. There are many continuing challenges to notions of human freedom and moral responsibility, with consequent implications for social flourishing, the legal system and religious beliefs. In this book, Denis Alexander critically examines these challenges, concluding that genuine free will, often influenced by genetic variation, emerges from an integrated view of human personhood derived from contemporary biology.

What is the relationship between science and Christian faith? Are the two mutually exclusive, or can they interact and learn from each other? Does Christianity have anything to contribute to the scientific and ethical challenges facing the world?