Belief: Readings on the Reason for Faith

Belief-Francis S. Collins HarperOne, 2010 312 pages Essays; Non-fiction; Inspirational Summary: An anthology exploring faith and visiting the works of many brillaint thinkers including those expected as CS Lewis and St. Augustine as well as the unexpected like Dorothy Sayers. Thoughts: The book is divided in to different sections with essays relating to a particular theme are grouped together. Originally I was just going to share my favorites but since I loved almost all of them, I decided to go through each and highlight particular thoughts. The first is a selection from NT Wright introducing thoughts on justice and spirituality. I enjoyed it a lot. The second section is classic essays about faith from such philosophers as Plato, Augustine, and Pascal. I had a lot of trouble reading these because the style is so different from what I'm used to. The nice thing about this book though is that you can skip around and just read however much you want. I struggled through these difficult sections though and I think I learned a lot. The third section is called "The Meaning of Truth" and this was a very good section, probably my second favorite. OS Guinness has a beautiful selection from his book Time for Truth which has jumped on to my to-read list. Madeleine L'Engle takes a personal approach to truth, sharing many examples from her own life. And Dorothy L Sayers (probably best known for her Lord Peter mysteries) wrote an entertaining essay including a "review" of the book of John and ending with a poem on truth. Then there is "Loving God With All Your Mind" goes back to the Scripture: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" -Matthew 22:37 and stresses the last which has a tendency to be overlooked. Next "Faith and the Problem of Evil and Suffering," which was probably my favorite section and the one that hit me the most. Art Lindsley, Desmond Tutu, and Elie Wiesel wrote so clearly and made so much sense to me. I don't want to blather about it but it was good. "Faith and the Cry of Justice" was also a good section as it shows the ways in which the church has failed to respond to injustice but also how it has fought for it. "The Harmony of Science and Faith" was an important section for me. It features two selections from two physicians who have wrestled with the intersection of science and faith. My college Christian community has struggled with spreading the Word because of the presumed gap between science and faith expressed by many college students. "Miracles, Longing, and Mysticism" features CS Lewis among others, making this a fabulous section. Lewis's essay is about miracles and our perceptions around such. Alister McGrath incorporated excerpts from stories about two of my favorite detectives and Thomas Merton shared briefly about mysticism. Then we have "Love and Forgiveness as Pointers to God" with selections from Dietrich Bonhoeffer who was killed by the Nazis and Viktor Frankl who su

Belief: Readings on the Reason for Faith provides readings selected by Francis Collins, author of THE LANGUAGE OF GOD. It examines the nature and possibilities of faith and belief, gathering under one cover essays that examine faith from an intellectual perspective. Any seeking clarity on the debate between reason and faith will find this an engrossing collection.

I am a physician and cancer research scientist, and a Christian, and I have for decades seen no conflict (indeed, I have seen the opposite) between the truth I see in nature (including Darwinian evolution) and belief in the God of Abraham. The so-called conflict is largely, in my opinion, contrived for the purpose of some religious leaders and other radicals to help them maintain control and wealth. This is not a new struggle, as history shows, and one that Jesus also faced with the Pharisees and the Romans. Belief is a collection of writings from thoughtful men and women throughout the ages (beginning with Plato) who, using their reason, explain the basis for their faith-based belief system. While specifics change, there is a fundamental acknowledgement that all belief (whether in a God or not, and whether in a personally-involved God or not) is a matter of faith; indeed, we must all base our beliefs, in God or not, on faith since we cannot "test outside the box" of the universe, being contained completely within it. Belief does a credible job dealing with the great question of the First Cause and with mankind's need for a moral fulcrum. The former is a mystery of mysteries, and the latter is surprisingly similar in all belief systems. Indeed, without the latter, we will end up with either one end of extremism (totalitarian Fascism) or the other (totalitarian Communism) - both of which are remarkable similar in effect and both of which are unacceptable. Ultimately, this collection of writings demonstrates that one can be both a believer in God and also intellectually intact - these two options are not mutually exclusive, despite the false dicotomy often presented by others with a variety of agendas. I am glad to see a thoughtful response to this too-often tirade against "religion" as the "opium of the people." Belief demonstrates that having faith that "God is" just as intellectually legitimate and defensible as having faith that "God is not" and that, if thoughtfully and morally applied, can be personally rewarding.

Dr. Collins writes in his introduction, by which he participates in the anthology and which I will mainly discuss, that as a student he "assumed that believers must...check their brains at the church door in order to enter" (p.xi). My own effort has been to show that one can not only reconcile faith and reason, as endeavored by Dr. Collins, but that reason can lead to knowledge itself concerning questions of a higher power. Understandably, Dr. Collins shares the general conviction that "you can't prove God's existence" (p.vii), that such "proofs cannot be provided by the study of nature", arguing: "God must be at least in part outside of nature (unless you are a pantheist, who believes that God and nature are the same thing). Science...is limited to exploring and understanding the natural world. Therefore, to apply scientific arguments to the question of God's existence...is committing a category error" (p.xv). There is, rather, an error in the proposed alternatives that God is either at least partly outside of nature or is the same as nature. God may also be part of nature, depending on how nature is defined. If defined as all of reality, then God, if real, is part of it; if defined as the physical world, then perhaps God is separate from it. It matters not, however, because many realities are inferred, not observed. If from observed phenomena can validly be inferred a supreme being, then there is proof. Now, when scientific method is said to rely on naturalistic explanations, it is meant that scientific facts must ultimately be explainable by physical or chemical laws. And it is understood, currently with emphasis on biology, that these laws are undirected, that they function without aim, without purpose. This principle underlies the theory of evolution, of which Dr. Collins says (p.xiv): "the central tenets of Darwin's theory--including gradual change over time, natural selection..., and descent from a common ancestor--have been convincingly shown to be correct... The 'theory' of evolution is thus a theory in the same sense, and with the same relative strength of evidence, as the theory of gravitation". Regrettably, Dr. Collins echoes the evolutionary community; not surprisingly so, since himself professionally involved, but not quite in keeping with his religious outlook. Newton's gravitational law appears to have been labeled a theory only recently, in support of often challenged evolution. Newton declared not to feign any hypotheses. But regardless, Darwinism overlooks a monumental phenomenon right before our eyes. As a physician, Dr. Collins notes that in medical school "the questions of life and death that had been purely hypothetical became wrenchingly real" (p.xi). Let me also go to the wonderful selection from Mahatma Gandhi in the book. He writes wonderingly (p.269): "There is an indefinable mysterious Power that...makes itself felt and yet defies all proof... there is an unalterable Law governing everything and every living bein

Dr. Collins states in the introduction: "The increasingly secular Western world seems to be loosing touch with the long history of intellectual arguments supporting a rational basis for faith." As a student and thinker of history who has read most of the Western classics, I find this book very timely. It is my understanding that every previous effort to drive God and faith out of social beliefs has ended in the downfall of all of those regimes. I have a science degree and was often challenged both externally and with internal questions about the meaning of faith and is there a God. A bit like C. S. Lewis and many others, I have often endeavored to prove in my own mind by extensive study and thought that God may not exist. This book Belief offers a broad spectrum of essential writings for all to ponder and draw their own conclusions based on "a long history of intellectual arguments supporting a rational basis for faith," rather than the current secular media and political agenda. The book Belief should be required reading in order to receive a high school diploma in the US to help prevent cultural and college brainwashing! Historically, curious intellectual thinking people of faith have prospered and advanced, whereas the secular entertainment oriented perspective has always led to the end of that society and is a detriment to civilization. This book is must reading for all.