Cosmos: Carl Sagan’s Religion for the Scientific Mind

by Norman Geisler

Publisher:

Quest

, 1983

Through his understanding of the cosmos, Carl Sagan has forcefully, though unwittingly, offered mankind a dynamic new religion. Sagan’s religion, however, is not a traditional one. It does not involve worship of a Supreme Being, nor the performing of any particular ritual. Yet Sagan’s religion of science has penetrated deep into the modern cultural consciousness. In this compelling volume, Geisler confronts Sagan’s scientific religion with the truth of Christianity.

Contents

Top Highlights

“So the COSMOS has created man in its own image, endowed him with life, and sustains his very existence. For all of this man has a moral obligation to perpetuate life in the COSMOS. According to Sagan, man’s duty, as in the traditional religions, is to his Creator. Only, for Sagan, man’s Creator is the COSMOS. To rephrase the Hebrew prophet, a follower of Sagan’s new religion could say, ‘o come let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the COSMOS our Maker’ (cf. Psa. 95:6).” (Pages 31–32)

“Mankind is but a local embodiment of the COSMOS. When we contemplate our origin we find that we are ‘starstuff pondering the stars.’” (Page 30)

“According to Carl Sagan, ‘THE COSMOS IS ALL THAT IS OR EVER WAS OR EVER WILL BE’ (C 4).” (Page 23)

“According to Sagan, ‘we are the products of a long series of biological accidents.’” (Page 30)

“So it is by the ‘miracle’ of chance evolution that life emerged in this vast COSMOS.” (Page 31)

Product Details

• Title: Cosmos: Carl Sagan’s Religion for the Scientific Mind
• Author: Norman Geisler
• Publisher: Quest
• Print Publication Date: 1983
• Logos Release Date: 2010
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Religion and science › 1946-; Sagan, Carl, 1934-1996
• Resource ID: LLS:COSMOSGEIS
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-06-03T21:52:09Z

About Norman Geisler

Norman L. Geisler (1932– 2019) has taught at the university and graduate level for over 50 years. He holds degrees from Wheaton College, William Tyndale College, and Loyola University, and is known for his scholarly contributions to the subjects of Christian apologetics, theology, and philosophy. 

After his studies, he became Wheaton's graduate assistant in the Bible-Philosophy department. He has since taught theology, apologetics, and philosophy at Detroit Bible College, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and Dallas Theological Seminary, and was dean of Liberty Center for Research and Scholarship in Lynchburg, VA.

In 1992, Geisler co-founded Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 2007, he co-founded Veritas Evangelical Seminary in Murrieta, California, where he serves as chancellor and distinguished professor of Apologetics.

Geisler is the author or co-author of over 80 books, including the books in the Norman L. Geisler Collection, The Norman L. Geisler Apologetics Library, and his three-volume Systematic Theology.