The Lost World of Genesis One by In this astute mix of cultural critique and biblical studies, John H. Walton presents and defends twenty propositions supporting a literary and theological understanding of Genesis 1 within the context of the ancient Near Eastern world and unpacks its implications for our modern scientific understanding of origins. Ideal for students, professors, pastors and lay readers with an interest in the intelligent design controversy and creation-evolution debates, Walton's thoughtful analysis unpacks seldom appreciated aspects of the biblical text and sets Bible-believing scientists free to investigate the question of origins. - Publisher.
The Refiner's Fire: The Making of Mormon Cosmology, 1644-1844 by Mormon religious belief has long been a mystery to outsiders, either dismissed as anomalous to the American religious tradition or extolled as the most genuine creation of the American imagination. The Refiner's Fire presents a new and comprehensive understanding of the roots of Mormon religion, whose theology promises the faithful that they will become "gods" through the restoration of ancient mysteries and regain the divine powers of Adam lost in the fall from Paradise. Professor Brooke contends that the origins of Mormonism lie in the fusion of radical religion with occult ideas, and organizes his book around the two problems of demonstrating the survival of these ideas into the nineteenth century and explaining how they were manifested in Mormon doctrine. In the concluding chapter, the author provides an outline of how Mormonism since the 1850s gradually moved toward traditional Protestant Christianity. As well as religion, the book explores magic, witchcraft, alchemy, Freemasonry, counterfeiting, and state-formation. John L. Brooke is professor of history at Tufts University and the acclaimed author of The Heart of the Commonwealth: Society and Political Culture in Worcester County, Massachusetts, 1713-1861 (CUP, 1989), which has won, among other prizes, the Organization of American Historians' Merle Curti Award for Intellectual History and the National Historical Society Book Prize for American History.--Publisher
The Grand Design by Along with Caltech physicist Mlodinow (The Drunkard's Walk), University of Cambridge cosmologist Hawking (A Brief History of Time) deftly mixes cutting-edge physics to answer three key questions-- Why is there something rather than nothing? Why do we exist? Why this particular set of laws and not some other?-- and explains that scientists are approaching what is called "M-theory," a collection of overlapping theories (including string theory) that fill in many (but not all) the blank spots in quantum physics. This collection is known as the "Grand Unified Field Theories."--Publisher
Cosmology and Controversy by For over three millennia, most people could understand the universe only in terms of myth, religion, and philosophy. Between 1920 and 1970, cosmology transformed into a branch of physics. With this remarkably rapid change came a theory that would finally lend empirical support to many long-held beliefs about the origins and development of the entire universe: the theory of the big bang. In this book, Helge Kragh presents the development of scientific cosmology for the first time as a historical event, one that embroiled many famous scientists in a controversy over the very notion of an evolving universe with a beginning in time. In rich detail he examines how the big-bang theory drew inspiration from and eventually triumphed over rival views, mainly the steady-state theory and its concept of a stationary universe of infinite age.
Principles of Physical Cosmology by During the last twenty years, dramatic improvements in methods of observing astrophysical phenomena from the ground and in space have added to our knowledge of what the universe is like now and what it was like in the past, going back to the hot big bang. In this overview of today's physical cosmology, P.J.E. Peebles shows how observation has combined with theoretical elements to establish the subject as a mature science, while he also discusses the most notable recent attempts to understand the origin and structure of the universe. A successor to Peebles's classic volume Physical Cosmology (Princeton, 1971), the book is a comprehensive overview addressed not only to students but also to scientists active in fields outside cosmology.
Not a Chance by Announcing the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the news reporter began: "Fifteen to 17 billion years ago the universe exploded into being." "Exploded into being?" mused R. C. Sproul. "Does this mean that 15 billion years ago the universe exploded from non-being into being? Then what exploded?" In Not a Chance Sproul takes a hard look at such conundrums: Just what is chance? Can it account for what is? As a respected Christian apologist, theologian, and philosopher, R. C. Sproul might be expected to find causation through chance a hard pill to swallow. But in Not a Chance we learn that he is not alone. Among others troubled by chance probability ... David Hume: "Chance is only our ignorance of real causes"; Charles Darwin: "I cannot look at the universe as a result of blind chance."; Albert Einstein: "Quantum physics is certainly imposing, but an inner voice tells me that it is not yet the real thing ... I, at any rate, am convinced that He is not playing at dice." In a lively dialog with modern thinkers from Hume to Niels Bohr and Carl Sagan, Not a Chance consults laws of logic, linguistic and scientific theory, and mathematical understandings to probe the cause-effect relationship. Not a Chance invites all students of life to approach, with eyes open and mind alert, the wobbly pedestal from which chance rules modern cosmology.
Universe by Design by Advanced science argues more for a created cosmology than a big bang. Written for the upper-level student through the well-read layman, this book explores the universe, explaining its origins and discussing the historical development of cosmology from a creationist viewpoint.--Publisher
Taking Back Astronomy by Unfortunately, modern evolutionary thinking in astronomy has caused many people to disconnect from the Bible's view of history, as they are taught that the universe is millions or even billions of years old. This book shows that the billions of evolutionary years taught in public schools are unnecessary and that one need only to look to the Creator of the Bible to explain the origin of the stars and the universe. Dr. Jason Lisle discusses and debunks popular evolutionary concepts such as the big bang and answers biblical questions like how the speed of light affects the Bible's account of history.--Publisher
Dismantling the Big Bang by The seemingly absurd idea that all matter, energy, space, and time once exploded from a point of extreme density has captured the imagination of scientists and laypersons for decades. The big bang has provided a central teaching for the eons of time of "cosmic evolution", undermining the history and cosmology of the Bible.