Arthur Peacocke

In his early career as a scientist researching the physical chemistry of biological macromolecules, Peacocke studied DNA. But after 25 years, he left science for religion, becoming a priest for the Church of England. There, his mission was to help Christians understand that science and religion can mix: both try to depict reality, and both must be open to critical investigation. "The search for intelligibility that characterises science and the search for meaning that characterises religion are two necessary intertwined strands of the human enterprise and are not opposed," Peacocke argued. For instance, Darwinian evolution, he said, is consistent with the idea of God, and indeed helps explain creation. Evolution is not an evil to be dismissed as heretical, he said, but is rather a "disguised friend". He founded the Ramsey Centre for the Interdisciplinary Study of Religious Beliefs in Relation to the Sciences and Medicine at Oxford University in 1985, and won the 2001 Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion -- and donated most of the prize money to the Ramsey Centre. The Reverend Canon Arthur Peacocke, MBE, PhD, died October 21. He was 81. From This is True for 22 October 2006 Suggestions for further reading: The Secret By: Rhonda Byrne List Price: $23.95 Amazon Price: $14.37 Editorial Review: Fragments of a Great Secret have been found in the oral traditions, in literature, in religions and philosophies throughout the centuries. For the first time, all the pieces of The Secret come together in an incredible revelation that will be life-transforming for all who experience it. In this book, you'll learn how to use The Secret in every aspect of your life -- money, health, relationships, happiness, and in every interaction you have in the world. You'll begin to understand the hidden, untapped power that's within you, and this revelation can bring joy to every aspect of your life. The Secret contains wisdom from modern-day teachers -- men and women who have used it to achieve health, wealth, and happiness. By applying the knowledge of The Secret, they bring to light compelling stories of eradicating disease, acquiring massive wealth, overcoming obstacles, and achieving what many would regard as impossible.   The God Delusion By: Richard Dawkins List Price: $15.95 Amazon Price: $10.85 Editorial Review: In his sensational international bestseller, the preeminent scientist and outspoken atheist Richard Dawkins delivers a hard-hitting, impassioned, but humorous rebuttal of religious belief. With rigor and wit, Dawkins eviscerates the arguments for religion and demonstrates the supreme improbability of the existence of a supreme being. He makes a compelling case that faith is not just irrational, but potentially deadly. In a preface written for the paperback edition, Dawkins responds to some of the controversies the book has incited. This brilliantly argued, provocative book challenges all of us to test our beliefs, no matter what beliefs we hold.   The Great Derangement: A Terrifying True Story of War, Politics, and Religion... By: Matt Taibbi List Price: $24.00 Amazon Price: $16.08 Editorial Review: A REVELATORY AND DARKLY COMIC ADVENTURE THROUGH A NATION ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN—FROM THE HALLS OF CONGRESS TO THE BASES OF BAGHDAD TO THE APOCALYPTIC CHURCHES OF THE HEARTLAND Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi set out to describe the nature of George Bush’s America in the post-9/11 era and ended up vomiting demons in an evangelical church in Texas, riding the streets of Baghdad in an American convoy to nowhere, searching for phantom fighter jets in Congress, and falling into the rabbit hole of the 9/11 Truth Movement. Matt discovered in his travels across the country that the resilient blue state/red state narrative of American politics had become irrelevant. A large and growing chunk of the American population was so turned off—or radicalized—by electoral chicanery, a spineless news media, and the increasingly blatant lies from our leaders (“they hate us for our freedom”) that they abandoned the political mainstream altogether. They joined what he calls The Great Derangement. Taibbi tells the story of this new American madness by inserting himself into four defining American subcultures: The Military, where he finds himself mired in the grotesque black comedy of the American occupation of Iraq; The System, where he follows the money-slicked path of legislation in Congress; The Resistance, where he doubles as chief public antagonist and undercover member of the passionately bonkers 9/11 Truth Movement; and The Church, where he infiltrates a politically influential apocalyptic mega-ministry in Texas and enters the lives of its desperate congregants. Together these four interwoven adventures paint a portrait of a nation dangerously out of touch with reality and desperately searching for answers in all the wrong places. Funny, smart, and a little bit heartbreaking, The Great Derangement is an audaciously reported, sobering, and illuminating portrait of America at the end of the Bush era.   God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything By: Christopher Hitchens List Price: $24.99 Amazon Price: $16.49 Editorial Review: In the tradition of Bertrand Russell's Why I Am Not a Christian and Sam Harris's recent bestseller, The End of Faith, Christopher Hitchens makes the ultimate case against religion. With a close and erudite reading of the major religious texts, he documents the ways in which religion is a man-made wish, a cause of dangerous sexual repression, and a distortion of our origins in the cosmos. With eloquent clarity, Hitchens frames the argument for a more secular life based on science and reason, in which hell is replaced by the Hubble Telescope's awesome view of the universe, and Moses and the burning bush give way to the beauty and symmetry of the double helix.   unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity... and Wh... By: David KinnamanGabe Lyons List Price: $17.99 Amazon Price: $12.23 Editorial Review: Based on groundbreaking Barna Group research, unChristian uncovers the negative perceptions young people have of Christianity and explores what can be done to reverse them.

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