Decoding the Language of God: Can a Scientist Really Be a Believer? [Paperback]

George C. Cunningham (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 22, 2009

In his bestselling book, The Language of God, Francis Collins--the scientist who led the National Institutes of Health's Human Genome Project--attempted to harmonize the findings of scientific research with Christian belief. In this response to Collins's work, fellow geneticist George C. Cunningham presents a point-by-point rebuttal of The Language of God, arguing that there is no scientifically acceptable evidence to support belief in a personal God and much that discredits it.

Written with admirable clarity for the nonscientist, Decoding the Language of God covers much of the same ground addressed by Collins in his book:

-Do moral behavior, altruism, and similar moral standards across cultures indicate that humans are somehow in touch with a divine lawgiver, as Collins argues? Cunningham cites data from behavioral genetics that suggest a purely naturalistic explanation for morality.

-The existence of evil, both natural and human-caused, has always been a major stumbling block for religious apologists. Cunningham points out how Collins fails to adequately address this issue and the difficulty of reconciling belief in a good God with the existence of evil.

-Collins refers to the origin of the universe and anthropic coincidences as evidence of God as creator of all of reality. By contrast, Cunningham notes that there are naturalistic interpretations for the big bang and the fine-tuning of the universe, which adequately explain this evidence.

Cunningham also devotes chapters to the unreliability of the Bible as a basis for belief; the conflict between naturalistic explanations of reality, which are anchored in scientific research, and supernatural interpretations, which are not; and the many difficulties in conceptualizing the origins of the universe in terms of a personal God.
Unlike recent hostile attacks on religious belief, Cunningham's respectful, well-reasoned discussion will appeal to open-minded people across the whole spectrum of belief and unbelief.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is a wonderful book--sound, elegant, and readable. If you are looking for a common-sense explanation for matters generally taken on faith, this is it." --Barbara Oakley, author Evil Genes.

"The Language of God by Francis Collins is a good example of how a minority of scientists compartmentalize their thinking and blinker themselves to the contradictions between their faith and their science. This timely and complete analysis lays bare the many weaknesses in Collins thinking and the paucity of his knowledge of theology, philosophy, and any science outside of his own narrow speciality." ----Victor J. Stenger, author of the NY Times bestseller God: The Failed Hypothesis

About the Author

George C. Cunningham, MD, MPH (San Francisco, CA), now retired, is the former chief of the Genetic Disease Branch of the California State Department of Health Services. He has published more than 150 articles in scientific publications, including the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, the American Journal of Human Genetics, and Pediatrics.

Product Details

• Paperback: 269 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Books; Original edition (December 22, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591027667
• ISBN-13: 978-1591027669
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #234,541 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

George C. Cunningham, MD, MPH (San Francisco, CA), now retired, is the former chief of the Genetic Disease Branch of the California State Department of Health Services. He has published more than 150 articles in scientific publications, including the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, the American Journal of Human Genetics, and Pediatrics. His education includes graduation with a B.S. from the Jesuit University of San Francisco, where he received training in theology and philosophy, and successive attendence at University of Southern California, University of California Berkeley and University of California Los Angeles where he received his M.D, As a member of the Committee on Ethics of the American College of Medical Genetics, he was one of the authors of the organizations' Ethical Code. He organized the Advisory Committee on Human Cloning for the state of California which issued the policy document "Cloning Californians" He is the receipent of many state and national awards for his statewide programs of screening pregnant women and newborns for preventable genetic and birth defects.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Little Book, September 29, 2010

By 

Johnny London - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Decoding the Language of God: Can a Scientist Really Be a Believer? (Paperback)

I truly enjoyed this book. Dr. Cunningham is a sharp thinker and an excellent writer. Although written as a rebuttal to Francis Collins' book "The Language of God", this book serves as a great survey of common arguments used by Christians to defend their faith. Dr. Cunningham is respectful, yet blunt when it is called for. He goes to great lengths to not construct a straw man, but rather it is clear that he truly wants to understand, and to articulate sincerely and accurately the positions which he argues against. This intellectual honesty, for those of us who find such things very edifying, is refreshing. Highly Recommended.

21 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good old-fashioned smackdown, May 30, 2010

By 

Paul Gehrman (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Decoding the Language of God: Can a Scientist Really Be a Believer? (Paperback)

I have to admit that at some points while reading this book, I felt so much sympathy for Collins that I didn't want to read on. Cunningham absolutely eviscerates him. Normally, I don't mind if someone's arguments get hammered because we need to vigorously challenge ideas in order to move forward; however, I do have a lot of respect for Collins' scientific achievements (it should be noted that Cunningham is an esteemed scientist as well). Collins is quite deservedly held in high regard and this book takes nothing away from those achievements, nor should we lose sight of the fact that Collins operates well above the ignorance of the creationist/fundamentalist community.

Although this is a serious book, Cunningham has an excellent sense of humor. He points out the absurdities in Collins' views, though it's almost unfair given how easy it is to attack faith-based claims. As many authors in the freethought community have noted, supernatural ideas don't answer any questions, all they do is create more absurd and irrelevant questions (consider the issue of theodicy, for example).

Finally, I think we can perhaps speculate on the author's motivations here. That is, why write a book like this, particularly since presumably Collins' intentions are good - that is, he's aiming for some sort of reconcilation between science and religion. Having spent a lot of time in the freethought community (in addition to the faith community), and having the pleasure of meeting Dr. Cunningham personally, it's clear to me that Collins' book is offensive for largely the same reasons that televangelists and imans are offensive. They make claims with no evidence; claims that represent an implicit attack on the foundation of human knowledge, and do nothing but divide humanity along schisms of "faith". Collins' case is particularly egregious because I think he "enables" the supernatural worldview (and its consequences), and his book implies (erroneously) that supernatural/faith-based thinking is prevalent in the scientific community.

I'm the author of a novel, Kaleidoscope, in which I explore many of these themes.

16 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Strong critical response to Francis Collins' The Language of God, June 13, 2010

By 

Aaron - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Decoding the Language of God: Can a Scientist Really Be a Believer? (Paperback)

In this book, fellow geneticist George Cunningham takes on the major points former head of the Human Genome Project Francis Collins makes in his best-seller The Language of God. Collins attempts to demonstrate that belief in evangelical Christianity is compatible with a scientific worldview. Cunningham strongly disagrees with this premise and devastatingly refutes all of Collins' arguments one by one. For anyone who has read The Language of God, believers and skeptics alike should read Cunningham's book as well. I have read both books and I definitely feel Cunningham comes out on top.