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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.
"This book corrects the popular bleak view of a pitiless, indifferent universe and instead presents a most welcome view of a world of purpose." Cees Dekker, Professor of Nanobiology, Delft University of Technology
"An ideal starting point for those who believe evolution is incompatible with God yet are open to explore further." Andrew Halestrap, Emeritus Professor of Biochemistry, University of Bristol
"Alexander's book breathes wonder for God's creation, and love for the science that studies it." René van Woudenberg, Professor of Epistemology and Metaphysics, Free University of Amsterdam
"The author makes a careful and convincing case that modern biology is consistent with belief in a world imbued with divine meaning." Peter Harrison, Director, Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, University of Queensland
Contents
Figures 10
Preface 11
Introduction 12
1 The Historical Roots of Purpose in Biology 18
2 Biology’s Grand Narrative 58
3 Biology’s Molecular Constraints 104
4 Biology, Randomness, Chance, and Purpose 140
5 The Christian Matrix Within Which Biology 179
Flourishes
6 Death, Pain, Suffering, and the God of Love 218
Postscript 248
Notes 250
Bibliography 257
Index 271