Is There Purpose in Biology?: The cost of existence and the God of love

Author:   Dr Denis Alexander
Publisher:   SPCK Publishing
Edition:   New edition
ISBN:  

9780857217141


Pages:   288
Publication Date:   22 June 2018
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
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Is There Purpose in Biology?: The cost of existence and the God of love


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Overview

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.

Full Product Details

Author:   Dr Denis Alexander
Publisher:   SPCK Publishing
Imprint:   Monarch Books
Edition:   New edition
ISBN:  

9780857217141


ISBN 10:   0857217143
Pages:   288
Publication Date:   22 June 2018
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Table of Contents

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

Reviews

A much-needed book on a crucial topic. Jeff Hardin, Professor of Zoology, University of Wisconsin 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. Rene 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


"""A much-needed book on a crucial topic."" Jeff Hardin, Professor of Zoology, University of Wisconsin ""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"


Author Information

Denis Alexander is the Emeritus Director of the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion,St Edmund's College, Cambridge, where he is a Fellow.Dr Alexander was previously Chairman of the Molecular Immunology Programme and Head of the Laboratory of Lymphocyte Signalling and Development at The Babraham Institute, Cambridge. Prior to that he was at the Imperial Cancer Research Laboratories in London (now Cancer Research UK), andspent 15 years developing university departments and laboratories overseas, latterly as Associate Professor of Biochemistry in the Medical Faculty of the American University of Beirut, Lebanon. There he helped to establish the National Unit of Human Genetics. He was initially an Open Scholar at Oxford reading Biochemistry, before obtaining a PhD in Neurochemistry at the Institute of Psychiatry in London. Dr Alexander writes,lectures and broadcasts widely in the field of science and religion. His Monarch titles include: Creation or Evolution and Is There Purpose inBiology?.

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