Dimensions of Faith: Understanding Faith through the Lens of Science and Religion - Softcover

Donaldson, Steve

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0718894219 ISBN 13: 9780718894214

Publisher: Lutterworth Press, 2015

Synopsis

In Dimensions of Faith, cognitive scientist Steve Donaldson takes readers on a journey from the world of assumptions, set minds, widely varying beliefs, and popular misconceptions to an understanding of the true essence and role of faith as the natural and inevitable product of brains. Using numerous illustrations and examples, Donaldson shows how faith is necessitated by a variety of unavoidable limitations, exposes the myth of a divide between faith and critical thinking, provides practical advice for crafting coherent beliefs, and explains why there can never be such a place as "Factland". Along the way he takes a special look at religious faith – evaluating its attributes, exploring its relation to other manifestations of faith, investigating whether God has done his job well enough to warrant the faith placed in him, and pondering how truth seekers can sometimes end up in very different places.

About this title

About the Author

Steve Donaldson, PhD, is Professor and Computer Science Program Director at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. He also codirects the Computational Biology program, teaches in the Science and Religion and University Fellows Honors programs, and is one of the cofounders of the Samford Center for Science and Religion.

Review

"In Dimensions of Faith, Donaldson offers a very readable argument that whether a person is religious or not, all of us are imbued with faith as a fundamental component of what it means to be human. Many authors have delved into faith from either a religious or scientific perspective; few have succeeded in integrating faith and reason in such a seamless fashion. Dimensions of Faith is a must-read for anyone interested in the interface of science and religion." Thomas W. Woolley, PhD, Professor of Statistics, Samford University "Dimensions of Faith is a brilliant, engaging, and accessible meditation on its subject. [It] is a robust defence of human freedom and an encouragement against fear of openness to experience. You may not like all the answers offered here, but your assumptions about faith will not remain untouched (if you're open to examining them). This is a book to think with and meditate upon." Brian Steele, Associate Professor of History, The University of Alabama at Birmingham

Edition details

• Publisher: Lutterworth Press
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0718894219
• ISBN 13: 9780718894214
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 298