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

An examination of faith as a universal facet of human belief systems, showing how our cognitive limitations make faith not the enemy of reason but its partner.


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.

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.