Faith, Reason, and Earth History, 2nd ed.

by Leonard Brand

Publisher:

Andrews University Press

, 2009

Overview

Faith, Reason, and Earth History presents Leonard Brand’s argument for constructive thinking about origins and earth history in the context of Scripture, showing readers how to analyze available scientific data and approach unsolved problems. Faith does not need to fear the data, but can contribute to progress in understanding earth history within the context of God’s Word while still being honest about unanswered questions.

In this patient explanation of the mission of science, the author models his conviction that “above all, it is essential that we treat each other with respect, even if we disagree on fundamental issues.”

The original 1997 edition of this work was one of the first books on this topic written from the point of view of an experienced research scientist. A career biologist, paleontologist, and teacher, Brand brings to this well-illustrated book a rich assortment of practical scientific examples.

This thoughtful and rigorous presentation makes Brand’s landmark work highly useful both as a college-level text and as an easily accessible treatment for the educated lay-person.

With Logos Bible Software, this volume is completely searchable, with Scripture passages appearing on mouseover and linking to your favorite Bible translation in your library. This makes this text more powerful and easier to access than ever before for scholarly work or personal Bible study. With Logos’ advanced search features, you can perform powerful searches by topic or Scripture reference—finding, for example, every mention of “evolution” or “ethics.”

Key Features

• Explains the mission of science
• Provides practical scientific examples
• Includes charts and illustrations

Contents

• Scientific Investigation
• Limitations of Science
• Highlights of the History of Science
• Understanding Science
• Naturalism and an Alternative
• The Relationship of Faith and Science
• The Origin of Life
• Microevolution and Speciation
• Interventionist Theory and Biological Change
• Sociobiology and Altruistic Behavior
• The Case for Megaevolution
• The Case for Informed Intervention
• Is Megaevolution Possible?
• The Geologic Record
• Geologic Time
• Short-Age Geology Theory
• Two Versions of Short-Age Geology
• Faith, Reason, and Earth History

Top Highlights

“Scientists, in the process of discovery, formulate hypotheses or theories, collect data, conduct experiments to test theories, and develop generalizations called scientific laws. The scientific process can be understood as having two parts: (1) the collection of data and (2) the interpretation of data.” (Page 5)

“Deductive logic starts with a generalization and uses it to interpret the data in a specific case. This type of logic has one critical limitation: the conclusion is only as valid as the assumption.” (Page 25)

“In summary, abiogenesis experiments have had considerable success in synthesizing amino acids but consistently fail to synthesize protein, DNA, or RNA.” (Page 146)

“Induction begins with individual observations and uses these observations to develop generalizations.” (Page 26)

“Occam’s razor. In choosing between opposing hypotheses, we prefer the simpler hypothesis” (Page 28)

Product Details

• Title: Faith, Reason, and Earth History
• Author: Leonard Brand
• Edition: 2nd
• Publisher: Andrews University Press
• Publication Date: 2009
• Pages: 520

About Leonard Brand

Leonard Brand (PhD, Cornell) is a professor of biology and paleontology at Loma Linda University (SDA), and has been teaching at the university level for four decades. An active researcher, he is well published in professional scientific journals in the fields of paleontology, animal behavior, and ecology.