Who Made God: Searching for a Theory of Everything

by Edgar Andrews

Overview

Dr John Sentamu, Archbishop of York, says Who made God? is 'written in a very lively style and conveys complex subjects in a palatable form'. Novelist Fay Weldon calls it 'thoughtful, readable, witty, wise'. The Principal of London Theological Seminary declares: 'Richard Dawkins has more than met his match.' A book by a distinguished scientist about the existence of God, with chapter headings like 'Steam engine to the stars' and The tidy pachyderm' has to be different. It is. Addressing profound questions of science, philosophy and faith with an amazing lightness of touch, Edgar Andrews exposes the pretensions of the 'new atheism', blending incisive arguments with gentle humour. However, his aim is not simply to rebut the aggressive atheism of our age but to provide a logically consistent and altogether more satisfying alternative. His fellow physicists dream of discovering a 'theory of everything' embracing every physical phenomenon in the cosmos. But can there be a theory or everything that also includes the realms of the heart, mind, conscience and spirit? Yes, indeed, as this book shows. It is the 'hypothesis of God', a concept that towers above the barren landscape of atheism and despair.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781783971237
Publisher:	EP BOOKS
Publication date:	01/28/2016
Pages:	324
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.70(d)

Table of Contents

Preface to the Third Edition 9

To Get You Started… 11

Introduction

1 Sooty and the Universe 15

Who made God?

2 Yogurt, Cereal and Toast 29

Can science explain everything?

3 Stringing It All Together 41

Searching for a theory of everything

4 Pouring Concrete 53

Foundations and hypotheses

5 Ferrets and Fallacies 67

A brief critique of God, the failed hypothesis

6 Defining God 83

What do we mean by 'God'?

7 Starting with a Bang 97

Cosmic origins

8 Steam Engine to the Stars 111

Time and the hypothesis of God

9 Peeling Onions 127

The ubiquity of law in conscience, nature and society

10 Cosmic Chess 141

The origin of the laws of nature

11 Over the Moon 159

Natural law and miracles

12 Information, Stupid! 177

The origin of life

13 Life in a Cake Mixer 197

The origin of life

14 The Tidy Pachyderm 215

A critique of neo-Darwinianism

15 The Mighty Mutation 231

Can mutations create?

16 The Second Shoe 251

Man and his mind

17 Man and his MAKER 267

Man, morality and redemption

Appendix: God, Black Holes and Stephen Hawking 283

References and notes 295

Index 309

Editorial Reviews

2016-08-21
Andrews (A Glorious High Throne, 2003, etc.) challenges the assertions of New Atheists in this volume, now in its third edition. Physicist and theist Andrews seeks to respond to the growing popularity of the notion that modern science proves the nonexistence of God: “This book sets out to explore how the biblical hypothesis of God provides a comprehensible, intellectually consistent and spiritually satisfying view of being that encompasses man’s experience of life, the universe, and everything.” Rather than quoting religious texts, Andrews attempts to debate atheists on their preferred ground, using logic, philosophy, physics, and cosmology to prove how the group’s common arguments are false, flawed, or misrepresentative of what humans actually know of the cosmos. Just as atheists have undermined the factual credibility of the Bible, Andrews’ primary strategy is to undercut the reader’s faith in the omniscience of science. Science, argues Andrews, does not explain the world so much as merely describe it, particularly the physical aspects, while a great many nonphysical facets remain beyond science’s ability to portray (God included). In discussions of quantum mechanics, natural law, evolution, and even black holes, the author makes his case that science will never disprove the existence of God. Rather, a model in which God exists remains the best method of depicting the universe as humans actually experience it. The third edition has been updated with an appendix responding to books by Stephen Hawking, Victor Stenger, and Lawrence Krauss that have been published since the previous edition. Andrews, a skilled and conversational writer, uses humor and appeals to common sense to make his arguments to the reader. His tone is one of reasonable humility, and many of his points are quite persuasive. Like the books of the New Atheists, however, this one is unlikely to convince anyone who isn’t already partial to the author’s point of view. If anything, the reader may simply end up more skeptical of everything. But for those on either side looking for a stronger, less doctrinal defense of theism, this book is a worthy read. A thoughtful and well-written argument for the existence of God.

Kirkus Reviews