Did Man Create God?: Is Your Spiritual Brain at Peace With Your Thinking Brain? - Softcover

Comings, David E.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1878267728 ISBN 13: 9781878267726

Publisher: Hope Pr, 2008

Synopsis

Unlike recent popular books that call for the end of faith and religion, this book by Dr. David Comings, an internationally renown physician, human geneticist and neuroscientist, proposes that spirituality is genetically hardwired into a specific part of the brain, is pleasurable, is critical to the evolution and survival of man, and will never go away. It strives to allow readers to develop a rational spirituality in which the fact-based rational brain and the faith-based spiritual brain can live in peace. In an era when politicians are judged on the basis of the strength of their belief in God, when schools are urged to teach Intelligent Design, and when religious terrorists threaten the existence of Western civilization it is critical to dispassionately examine the question - Did man create God? A wide range of issues are examined including intelligent answers to intelligent design; the relevance of modern cosmology to the existence or non-existence of god; the role of genes in spirituality; innate morality, the problem of evil, and many others (see www. didmancreategod.com). The longest chapter examines the evidence for the role of the temporal lobes in man s innate spirituality. Michael Shermer called this the most detailed and up-to-date science ever generated on the subject of religion and suggested it will be the definitive scientific reference on religion for some time to come. The world recently learned that Mother Theresa had life-long doubts about her faith. This book others who have also questioned any part of their faith but treasure their spirituality and want answers that are not hostile to spirituality or religion.

About this title

About the Authors

Dr. Comings is a physician, neuroscientist, behavioral and molecular geneticist who was the Director of the Department of Medical Genetics at the City of Hope National Medical Center for 37 years before retiring in 2002. He is an internationally known scientist-physician who has written over 450 scientific articles and three books including Tourette Syndrome and Human Behavior. His research areas included cytogenetics, human behavioral and molecular genetics, and he ran a large behavioral medicine clinic specializing in Tourette Syndrome, ADHD and oppositional defiant behavior in children. He was past editor of the American Journal of Human Genetics and past president of the American Society of Human Genetics.

Dr. Comings is a physician, neuroscientist, behavioral and molecular geneticist who was the Director of the Department of Medical Genetics at the City of Hope National Medical Center for 37 years before retiring in 2002. He is an internationally known scientist-physician who has written more than 450 scientific articles and three books including Tourette Syndrome and Human Behavior. His research areas included cytogenetics, human behavioral and molecular genetics, and he ran a large behavioral medicine clinic specializing in Tourette Syndrome, ADHD, and oppositional defiant behavior in children. He was past editor of the American Journal of Human Genetics and past president of the American Society of Human Genetics.

From the Inside Flap

Some of the many important conclusions of the book are: Spirituality and reason involve distinct and separate parts of the brain and both are hard - wired and controlled in part by your genes. Spirituality played a critical role in the evolution and survival of man. A yearning to be associated with something that transcends one s self has become a rewarding, comforting, and innate part of the human condition. Humans are inherently good independent of religion. Although reason is based on fact and spirituality is based on faith, they do not have to be mutually incompatible. Biological evolution can account for the origin of all species including man. A super-natural Intelligent Designer is not required. The vast majority of humans in the world believe in God and most believe in a personal God that looks over them and answers their prayers. Many also believe that God created Man in his own image and was the sole author of the sacred texts. This book explores the possibility that most humans have it backward and that in fact Man Created God in his image and that man wrote the sacred books. In the pre-scientific world a man-made Theory of God explained everything about the world that was unexplainable. The concept of a soul and heaven gave humans great comfort in the face of the inevitability of death. The beliefs of a given religion were taught to us as children. While many have never questioned their childhood beliefs, many have had some doubts about their religion or faith, but lacked the scientific background to understand the basic aspects of evolution, genetics, brain structure and brain function that would allow them to make an informed decision. Is also important to understand the role of genes as they relate to our rational and spiritual brain and to good and bad behavior. If you are one of these people that thirst for a broadened base of knowledge, this book is for you. Modern terrorism is not due to religious faith per se. It is due to the belief that the sacred books are the literal word of God and that one man's God is better than another's. Humans need to recognize that if man, not God, wrote the sacred books then one religion is not inherently better than any other. Such a rational spirituality can be the glue that holds mankind together in peace.

Edition details

• Publisher: Hope Pr
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1878267728
• ISBN 13: 9781878267726
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 694