The Creator and the Cosmos: How the Latest Scientific Discoveries of the Century Reveal God [Paperback]

Hugh Ross (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2001

Modern science has uncovered a design that is surprisingly compatible with the biblical account of creation. Learn how scientific discoveries reveal the nature of God.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: NavPress Publishing Group; Enlarged 3rd edition (June 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576832880
• ISBN-13: 978-1576832882
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #340,214 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Hugh Ross (Ph.D., University of Toronto) is founder and president of Reasons To Believe, a ministry team devoted to bridging the gap between science and faith. A well-known author and Christian apologist, Ross has addressed students and faculty on hundreds of campuses, churches, and professional groups in the U.S. and abroad. He also serves on the pastoral staff of Sierra Madre Congregational Church, and as adjunct faculty at A.W. Tozer Seminary in Redding, California. He and his wife, Kathy, and their two sons live in Southern California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

83 of 88 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars God and science reinforce each other, June 24, 2005

By 

B. D. Weimer "lex rex" (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Creator and the Cosmos: How the Latest Scientific Discoveries of the Century Reveal God (Paperback)

This is a very enjoyable book, for anyone who likes science and is inclined to believe in God. Hugh Ross is an astrophysicist, a pastor, and a gifted writer. In plain language, he seamlessly integrates science and the Scriptures on this most vital of topics -- how did the universe begin?

With great enthusiasm, Dr. Ross uses the latest scientific discoveries to present a comprehensive case for a Creator. Some complain that he is too quick to discuss the latest scientific theories, such as a 10-dimensional universe. But these theories are taught every day to science students, with a secular spin. Must Christians remain silent until, perhaps 40 years later, these theories have the same level of acceptance as relativity? This would put the church at an immense disadvantage in presenting an appealing, unified world view.

40 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is an excellent book on Old-Earth Creationism, December 22, 2006

By 

C. P. R. (Nebraska) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Creator and the Cosmos: How the Latest Scientific Discoveries of the Century Reveal God (Paperback)

In the world today there are basically three views regarding creation:
1. On the one extreme is the view that there is no God, and that the world was created by natural causes. In this view, science holds the only answers. We must use our inquiring minds to learn the truth, and there is a constant search for better answers.
2. At the other extreme is the Young Earth Creations (YEC). They believe that all scriptures must be interpreted literally, and any science that contradicts a literal interpretation must be wrong, and they therefore dismiss all of science as incorrect, and attempt to define an alternative science where the speed of light changes.
3. There is the middle ground between these two. Proponents, such as Ross, take the view that the Bible is true, but that being men, our knowledge is never complete, and that therefore, while the Bible is never wrong, we must occasionally be flexible in changing our understanding of it. These people believe that God does not lie, and that therefore as we use science to learn about his creation, what we find will also be true, and consistent with his word. Therefore they attempt to reconcile science and the Bible, finding common ground in an old-earth creation (OEC) interpretation.

Typically YEC do not get along with either group, viewing both as the enemy. According to their view, you are forced to choose to accept the Bible according to their entirely literal reading, or you must reject the Bible entirely. Faced with this choice many thinking people are driven away from Christianity, or at least are forced to deal with cognitive dissonance - On Sunday the Bible is true and science is ignored, but the rest of the week science is true and the Bible is to be ignored.

By contrast there is typically more constructive dialogue and respect between the scientists and the OEC group. In the world today, most people believe that science is true. OEC provides an interpretation of the Bible that rconciles Science and the Bible. In my personal experience, when I attempt to evalgelize people with any level of scientific sophistication, they immediately prepare to attack and ridicule the YEC view. When I take the OEC perspective, they are always quite surprised to hear that the biblical account written 3000 years ago is consistent with science not discovered until recently. As a result, this book by Ross is an outstanding evangelical tool - it permits thinking people to be reached who reject YEC out of hand. This approach doesn't necessarily convert them, because in most cases their disrespect for YEC has led them to a hard-core atheistic view, but it does eliminate the major obstacle to their ultimate acceptance of the Bible.

Basically, in evaluting this book, you have to ask - does this book lay out its view is a clear, convincing way. The answer is that it does. I'm not here to attack or defend one of the views above, but I can tell you that as a scientist, I am delighted to read books like this which help to clarify that the Bible is consistent with Science. I can tell you that this book has reinforced my Christian beliefs, and that it has also been a powerful evangelical tool. I highly recommend it.

32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting, February 9, 2006

By 

ERK (Southern California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Creator and the Cosmos: How the Latest Scientific Discoveries of the Century Reveal God (Paperback)

I recommend this as a must-read book to just about everyone. Not because I agree with everything Ross says (because I don't) but because it opens up a completely new and refreshing perspective on the whole cosmology, religion, and the meaning of the universe topic. I especially liked the part describing just what conditions must be met for human life to develop in the universe.

His arguments are quite reaching in many places, but that does not disqualify his valid points, of which there are many, and it is worth it to the reader to hear them in a society increasingly being indoctrinated by a secular, politically correct elite.

Very interesting book.