Thanking God for Evolution

|

I got about halfway through Michael Dowd's book Thank God for Evolution! before giving up. I certainly appreciate what he is trying to do, and I liked what he had to say early in the book about the ways that science can inform our religious paradigms and about the development of emergent properties. But what interests me about the intersection of evolution and religion is the the inference that I draw from it of an unfolding universe of creativity. Dowd, however, took what was for me an unexpected turn when he began to focus on the evolution of the human brain and the development of human behavior. I felt that at this point he was getting into speculative neuropsychology and trying to connect that with both human behavior and with theology, and that was where he lost me. I just couldn't stay interested enough to finish the book.

2 comments:

Mike L. said...

I was interested in the book, but hadn't read it yet. Maybe you saved me the trouble. However, I am very interested in neruoscience and the evolution of the brain.

Did you read enough to get a good understanding of his view? I was a little afraid he might do a u-turn and end up being a creationist in disguise.

Mystical Seeker said...

Mike,

He's definitely not a creationist in disguise. You might actually find value in his book, given what you are interested in. He goes into the evolution of the brain and then uses that to draw inferences about human behavior, and to relate that to theological ideas like sin.