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God's Grandeur: The Catholic Case for Intelligent Design
In an age of rising unbelief, top Catholic thinkers show how, more than ever, both science and reason affirm the words of the great Catholic poet Gerard Manley “The world is charged with the grandeur of God.”
This book, edited by biologist Ann Gauger, clears up common misconceptions regarding intelligent design, showing why it is an argument not from ignorance but from knowledge and how the evidence for God’s design of the natural world is growing. Part 1 explores scientific evidence from experts in cosmology, paleontology, genetics, chemistry, and biology. In part 2, you will learn about the purpose of creation, transcendent beauty, and the distinctiveness of the human person. The third part lays out the theology behind creation and how it reflects God’s glory and concludes with Dr. Anthony Esolen’s essay on the “symphonic order” of the universe, masterfully drawing from science, mathematics, literature, and philosophy.
You will also
What the Church really teaches about evolution How neo-Thomists wrongly apply Aquinas’s thinking to evolutionCharacteristics that distinguish humans from the rest of creationWhy materialistic scientists resist the Big Bang TheoryHow to understand the biblical account of CreationHow natural law and transcendental beauty point to the existence of GodSpecific scriptures from the Old and New Testaments that testify to the wonder of God’s creative handWhy Pope Benedict XVI cautioned that vague explanations about creation are insufficientMoreover, you will learn how the understanding of ancient philosophers and Aquinas regarding the mind-brain connection, coupled with modern neuroscience support intelligent design and the creation of man as not only a material being but a spiritual being.
Each chapter includes extensive references, enabling further exploration. The entire book will strengthen you as never before in the belief that the world is the creation of an intelligent and intentional Designer―One whose greatest longing is for you to spend all eternity with Him.
This book, edited by biologist Ann Gauger, clears up common misconceptions regarding intelligent design, showing why it is an argument not from ignorance but from knowledge and how the evidence for God’s design of the natural world is growing. Part 1 explores scientific evidence from experts in cosmology, paleontology, genetics, chemistry, and biology. In part 2, you will learn about the purpose of creation, transcendent beauty, and the distinctiveness of the human person. The third part lays out the theology behind creation and how it reflects God’s glory and concludes with Dr. Anthony Esolen’s essay on the “symphonic order” of the universe, masterfully drawing from science, mathematics, literature, and philosophy.
You will also
What the Church really teaches about evolution How neo-Thomists wrongly apply Aquinas’s thinking to evolutionCharacteristics that distinguish humans from the rest of creationWhy materialistic scientists resist the Big Bang TheoryHow to understand the biblical account of CreationHow natural law and transcendental beauty point to the existence of GodSpecific scriptures from the Old and New Testaments that testify to the wonder of God’s creative handWhy Pope Benedict XVI cautioned that vague explanations about creation are insufficientMoreover, you will learn how the understanding of ancient philosophers and Aquinas regarding the mind-brain connection, coupled with modern neuroscience support intelligent design and the creation of man as not only a material being but a spiritual being.
Each chapter includes extensive references, enabling further exploration. The entire book will strengthen you as never before in the belief that the world is the creation of an intelligent and intentional Designer―One whose greatest longing is for you to spend all eternity with Him.
418 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 18, 2023
29 people are currently reading
50 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 20, 2024
I don't have a background in philosophy or in the RC church, so some chapters went over my head. Otherwise, a fairly solid introduction to ID.
September 10, 2025
Every now and then I have to return to the topic of intelligent design just to see if there is anything new from that crowd. Most such books are written written and editted by fundamentalist Protestants. So, when I saw this one, which features several Catholic authors, I had to see if they fare better at making the case. But, it seems, they do not.
Full disclosure, I am a former Protestant and former Intelligent Design (ID) believer who discovered the wisdom and beauty of the Catholic tradition rather late in life. Perhaps it helps the reader understand my interest in this obscure topic and why I am interested in, as they say, beating a dead horse.
The first impression I got from this work was the repetition of the same old arguments that have been answered convincly by other scientists and philosophers. Also, one would hope that the underlying philosophy of a group of Catholic authors would not be so tainted with the same presuppositions as the fundamentalists who have written on this topic. But, here we are, the same assumptions of what evolution 'means' to the everyday Christian in philosophical respects. As long as one holds such philosophical assumptions, they will never allow for the possibility that evolution might be true. If one believes that their life eternal is dependent on believing evolution is flawed, then all the science and all the logic in the world will not convince them to think otherwise.
Therefore, we would suggest testing those theological assumptions and asking some questions about ID. For instance, let's give them that perhaps ID is true at least for a special case of human beings made in the image of God. We can say everything else was created out of natural selection over a long period of time but God singled out one species to be the object of his/her special favor and therefore designed that species to have a relationship with God. This rather begs the question, where is the free will in a species that is designed to love God? Would such a species merit any special affection from God when that God knows that the species had no choices - that all their choices were just part of the design that makes them human? This is one of the questions many theistic evolutionists have asked and has yet to be answered. To explore this thought experiment further, we would recommend, _Making Sense of Evolution: Darwin, God, and the Drama of Life_ by John Haught. Dr. Haught is a well known and respected philosopher with a strong science background. In his writings you will not find the doom and gloom claiming evolution will lead the loss of your Catholic faith. Instead, you will find a philosophy and a theology with an optimistic view of the future because evolution is true.
Another great place to go is _Finding Darwin's God: A Scientist's Search for Common Ground Between God and Evolution_ by Dr. Kenneth Miller. Dr. Miller is a scientist with impeccable Catholic credentials as well. His work has brought him awards from the Vatican and among scientists. His expert testimony in the Dover, PA school board case obliterated the ID arguments of ID scientists - some of them authors contributing to this book. For a great overview on that landmark case including dialog from actual transcripts, see the video, "Judgement Day Intelligent Design on Trial" from Nova.
There are so many wonderful books, scientific as well as philosophical/theological, that can help you down the path out of the fundamentalist malaise that robs us of free will. Do yourself a favor and read the many books out there responding to ID claims with an open mind. The authors of this book do not offer peer reviews before publishing their half-baked ideas. You have to go find those peer reviews yourself in some of the works suggested.
Full disclosure, I am a former Protestant and former Intelligent Design (ID) believer who discovered the wisdom and beauty of the Catholic tradition rather late in life. Perhaps it helps the reader understand my interest in this obscure topic and why I am interested in, as they say, beating a dead horse.
The first impression I got from this work was the repetition of the same old arguments that have been answered convincly by other scientists and philosophers. Also, one would hope that the underlying philosophy of a group of Catholic authors would not be so tainted with the same presuppositions as the fundamentalists who have written on this topic. But, here we are, the same assumptions of what evolution 'means' to the everyday Christian in philosophical respects. As long as one holds such philosophical assumptions, they will never allow for the possibility that evolution might be true. If one believes that their life eternal is dependent on believing evolution is flawed, then all the science and all the logic in the world will not convince them to think otherwise.
Therefore, we would suggest testing those theological assumptions and asking some questions about ID. For instance, let's give them that perhaps ID is true at least for a special case of human beings made in the image of God. We can say everything else was created out of natural selection over a long period of time but God singled out one species to be the object of his/her special favor and therefore designed that species to have a relationship with God. This rather begs the question, where is the free will in a species that is designed to love God? Would such a species merit any special affection from God when that God knows that the species had no choices - that all their choices were just part of the design that makes them human? This is one of the questions many theistic evolutionists have asked and has yet to be answered. To explore this thought experiment further, we would recommend, _Making Sense of Evolution: Darwin, God, and the Drama of Life_ by John Haught. Dr. Haught is a well known and respected philosopher with a strong science background. In his writings you will not find the doom and gloom claiming evolution will lead the loss of your Catholic faith. Instead, you will find a philosophy and a theology with an optimistic view of the future because evolution is true.
Another great place to go is _Finding Darwin's God: A Scientist's Search for Common Ground Between God and Evolution_ by Dr. Kenneth Miller. Dr. Miller is a scientist with impeccable Catholic credentials as well. His work has brought him awards from the Vatican and among scientists. His expert testimony in the Dover, PA school board case obliterated the ID arguments of ID scientists - some of them authors contributing to this book. For a great overview on that landmark case including dialog from actual transcripts, see the video, "Judgement Day Intelligent Design on Trial" from Nova.
There are so many wonderful books, scientific as well as philosophical/theological, that can help you down the path out of the fundamentalist malaise that robs us of free will. Do yourself a favor and read the many books out there responding to ID claims with an open mind. The authors of this book do not offer peer reviews before publishing their half-baked ideas. You have to go find those peer reviews yourself in some of the works suggested.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews