CRI Resource: July 2018

Description

Why People Stop Believing by Paul Chamberlain
This book addresses a growing need in apologetic literature. It is a response to the growing wave of Christian leaders who are rejecting Christianity and becoming some of its most ardent critics, often supported by a plethora of new organizations arising to encourage such people to cut ties to their faith. This is a new challenge from a different breed of critics who are using their instant credibility and insider’s knowledge of theology, the Bible, church history, even apologetics, to debunk the faith they once believed and promoted. They have taken aim at the foundations of Christianity, including God, the Scriptures, miracles and the supernatural, and Christianity’s perceived inherent prohibition on free enquiry.

Readers will be introduced to arguments against Christianity by these critics, which they claim compelled them to leave, followed by responses that use examples, questions, and nontechnical language to make the reasoning accessible. Every issue addressed has been raised by a former Christian leader, and special attention has been paid to their precise formulations. The book makes the case that, however convincing the critics’ arguments may appear at first glance, further analysis reveals them to be weaker than they appear, and in many cases entirely unpersuasive.

Heretic: One Scientist’s Journey from Darwin to Design by Matti Leisola and Jonathan Witt
What happens when an up-and-coming European bioscientist flips from Darwin disciple to Darwin defector? Sparks fly. Just ask biotechnologist Matti Leisola. It all started when a student loaned the Finnish scientist a book criticizing evolutionary theory. Leisola reacted angrily, and set out to defend evolution, but found his efforts raised more questions than they answered. He soon morphed into a full-on Darwin skeptic, even as he was on his way to becoming a leading bio-engineer.

Heretic is the story of Leisola’s adventures making waves—and many friends and enemies—at major research labs and universities across Europe. Tracing his investigative path, the book draws on Leisola’s expertise in molecular biology to show how the evidence points more strongly than ever to the original biotechnologist—a designing intelligence whose skill and reach dwarf those of even our finest bioengineers, and leave blind evolution in the dust.