Intro; Preface; Acknowledgements; Contents; Chapter 1: Introduction: The Search for Ultimate Meaning; References; Chapter 2: The Polarization and Reconciliation of Science and Religion; Science and Atheism; The Limitations of Science and Religion for Proving the Existence of God; False Arguments and the Straw-Man in the Polarized Debate; Consilience: The Unitary Nature of Knowledge; Insight from Epistemology; Program for Reconciliation; An Honest Starting Point -- Agnosticism and Radical Amazement; A Discernible Imprint of Creation?; References; Chapter 3: Physics
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Learning in Mammals and BirdsEvolution of the Modern Human Mind; The Advent, Achievements and Perils of Modern Humanity; References; Chapter 7: Mind Knowing Truth; Is New Mathematics Invented or Discovered?; Inductive Reasoning and the Spontaneous Nature of Insight; Epistemology -- The Philosophy of Inquiry; A Thought Experiment; References; Chapter 8: Consilience, Truth and the Mind of God: A Synthesis; The Metaphysical Poem of Parmenides; Philosophical Arguments for the Existence of God; Augustine of Hippo [St. Augustine]; Severinus Boethius [St. Boethius]; Anselm of Canterbury [St. Anselm]
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The Five Arguments of Thomas Aquinas [St. Thomas]Recollection and Synthesis; About the Universe-Multiverse; About Logic; About the Ontological Question; The Modified Argument from Truth; References; Index
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The Theory of Cosmic Inflation and the Eternal MultiverseComparison of Intra-and Extra-Dimensional Perspectives; References; Chapter 5: Abiogenesis: The Emergence of Life from Non-living Matter; Preconditions for the Emergence of Life; The Deconstructionist Approach: A Brief Outline of Molecular Biology; The Constructionist Approach: Building Life from the Ground Up; References; Chapter 6: Paleopsychology: The Emergence of Mind in the Universe; The Pervasive Influence of Entropy on Biological Evolution; What About the Cockroach?; Life and Information; Antecedents of Mind
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Understanding Begins with Acceptance of Reality as We Find ItClassical Physics; Reversibility of Newtonian Mechanics and the Irreversibility of Time; The First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics; Information; The Dual Nature of Light and Matter; Schrödingerś Wave Mechanics and the Meaning of the Quantum Wave; Quantum Phase Entanglement and the Non-local Nature of Reality; Every Picture Tells a Story; Some of the Main Conclusions of Quantum Physics; References; Chapter 4: Cosmogenesis; The Second Law of Thermodynamics Applied to the Universe as a Whole
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SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
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This book argues that God can be found within the edifice of the scientific understanding of physics, cosmology, biology and philosophy. It is a rewarding read that asks the Big Questions which humans have pondered since the dawn of the modern human mind, including: Why and how does the universe exist? From where do the laws of physics come? How did life and mind arise from inanimate matter on Earth? Science and religion have a common interest in the answers to such questions, yet many scientists and believers have been at odds for centuries. The author and contributors present a program for moving beyond the vastly different perspectives of reality offered by science and religion. Historical proofs for the existence of God are considered in light of the possibility that the universe may be only one in an eternal multiverse that contains an infinite number of other universes. Readers will find a modification of St. Augustine's Argument from Truth for the existence of the necessary, self-sufficient being commonly referred to as God. This book is suited to all with an interest in the crossing points of science and religion, providing much food for thought and reflection. If in the end, you cannot accede to philosophy's proofs, or theism's invitation to faith, perhaps you will nevertheless say 'yes' to the amazing universe in which we live.