RE: seeking book recommendations

I would recommend the following books on the topics of
evolution/creationism, though they may not meet your exact
specifications as stated in your email:

- "Darwinism Defeated? The Johnson-Lamoureux Debate on biological
Orgins" by Phillip E. Johnson, Denis O. Lamoureux et al. Preface by
James I. Packer. Published by Regent College. The book is a collection
of articles submitted for debate by Johnson, Lamoureux, Behe, Michael
Denton, Stephen Meyer, Keith Miller, Howard J. Van Till, Rikki Watts,
Jonathan Wells, Loren Wilkinson.
It is a short book touching on some of the issues in contention, at 174
pages and should be suitable for the laymen. I think it is a good
addition to your bookstore, because it contains contributions from both
sides, with responses to each. The endorsement of the book by the
respected evangelical James Packer (who sits on the sidelines on this
controversy) should make the book readily acceptable to a conservative
church leaning on the side of Johnson & others. The book should help
people who are persuaded by Johnson's Darwin on Trial, to recognise that
the case is not clear-cut. Readers who like particular articles can then
look up other books by the same contributor. You might find some of the
reviews by readers in amazon relevant:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1573831336/qid=1112035657/
sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-3138317-0880014?v=glance&s=books

- "Intelligent Design Creationism and Its Critics" edited by Robert
Pennock, published by MIT Press. This is a 800 page compilation of
articles by some of the leading figures in the intelligent
design/evolution debate. Some of the articles are pitched for an
audience already familiar with the controversy, thus less suitable as an
introduction to the laymen (and the editor is probably neither
conservative nor evangelical). But I find it a very helpful collection
of articles, touching on philosophical, theological and scientific
perspectives, serving as pointers for people wanting to delve deeper in
specific aspects of the controversy. On the plus side (for your
purpose), the balance of materials is skewed towards the critics, in
favour of evolution. It also introduce many of the key figures (some of
the above, plus Dembski, Alvin Plantinga, Arthur Peacocke, Michael Ruse,
Nancy Murphy, Richard Dawkins, Stephen Jay Gould & others). The book
concludes with Pennock's "Why Creationism Should Not be Taught in Public
Schools."
There is a book review in Science and Christian Belief Vol 15.2 (the UK
equivalent of Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith)
http://www.scienceandchristianbelief.org/

and in http://www.asa3.org/ASA/BookReviews2000-present/3-03.html#Pennock

> -----Original Message-----
> From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu
> [mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu] On Behalf Of Freeman,
> Louise Margaret
> Sent: 28 March 2005 18:32
> To: asa@calvin.edu
> Subject: seeking book recommendations
>
>
>
> Background: My church (conservative, Southern Baptist)
> maintains a small
> bookstore. A number of weeks agao, someone in the
> congregation asked for
> some books of the evolution/creation controversy: in
> response, my pastor
> stocked Johnson's Darwin on Trial and Well's Icons on
> Evolution. Dembski's
> Design Inference was also there. As a theistic evolutionist,
> I found that
> selection rather unbalanced and brought my concerns to my
> pastor (who knows
> my TE position and respects it, evn though I'm not sure he
> agrees. After I
> showed him some reviews of Wells, he pulled that book (Wells'
> membership in
> the Unification Church had a lot to do with that decision).
> As good TE
> material, I recommended Miller's Finding Darwin's God,
> George Murphy's
> books, Francis Collins' Faith and the Human Genome essay and
> also the essays
>
> on Allen Harvey's webpage.
>
> I'm now seeking other recommendations of different types:
> first, any other
> theistic evolution books, sound in both theology and science,
> understandable
>
> to a layperson?
>
> Second, any books critical of evolution, written from a
> Christian worldview
> but without gross distortions of science and the scientific
> method? What I
> said to my pastor was, "You know my bias, I'm not going to be
> crazy about
> any anti-evolution book, but if you are looking for an
> anti-evolution book,
> you can do better than Wells!" I actually considered
> recommending Behe,
> though what I would like is something better than the
> Johnson/Dembski/Behe
> trio.
>
> The closer the author is to "conservative" and "evangelical"
> the better the
> recommendation is likely to be received. Someone connected
> to the Southern
> Baptist convention would be ideal!
>
>
>
>
Received on Mon Mar 28 14:47:41 2005