Did Darwin Get It Right?: Catholics and the Theory of Evolution [Hardcover]

George Sim Johnston (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1998

George Sim Johnston Sort out the facts about evolution by discovering that Catholic belief about God's creation and scientific evidence about the origins of the universe are mutually compatible.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Our Sunday Visitor (IN) (September 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879739452
• ISBN-13: 978-0879739454
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #748,661 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lucid book avoids pitfalls of scientism and fideism, November 3, 1999

By 

Penn Jacobs (Rutherford, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Did Darwin Get It Right?: Catholics and the Theory of Evolution (Hardcover)

This book is a marvelous consideration of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. It's bristling with insights, and the suggested reading list, which includes biologists such as Gould and Mayr and Christian writers like Maritain, Chesterton, and C. S. Lewis, is a great starting point for further research, both scientific and philosophical.

12 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent summary of the problems with evolutionary theory, December 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Did Darwin Get It Right?: Catholics and the Theory of Evolution (Hardcover)

I found out about Johnston from one of his pieces in the Wall St. Journal. I was looking for a good, readable critique of current evolutionary theory. Despite the Catholic subtitle, I found this little gem to be almost entirely free of any religious dogma. It was exactly what I was looking for. Johnston is obviously very smart, well-read, and writes marvelously. He first defines and then lays bare the weak scientific evidence for natural selection. All of our modern conception of human beings is based on Darwin's flawed premise. This book demonstates that you can question evolutionary theory without being a Bible-thumping fundamentalist.

11 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Darwin May Not Have Gotten It Right - - But Johnston Does!!, October 31, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Did Darwin Get It Right?: Catholics and the Theory of Evolution (Hardcover)

A brilliant, insightful, concise, beautifully written (and blessedly footnote-less) summary of Darwin's theory, the scientific evidence, and the Church's actual (albeit frequently misrepresented and widely misunderstood) position. Johnston argues convincingly that there is and can be no conflict between religious faith and true science - - and hence between the Biblical Creation story as read through the Church's eyes and such scientific evidence as exists (and may yet be found) on the "origin of species." Johnston supports his thesis with an impressive marshalling of the facts, the product of prodigious research, and with razor sharp analysis -- all presented in crisp and lively prose, with a balanced exposition of the principal arguments on all sides. The result is a taut, fascinating, closely-reasoned, non-demagogic, reader-friendly volume of less than 200 pages, fit for scholars and laypersons alike. "Did Darwin Get It Right" aims at the truth, punctures the myths, and scores a bullseye. It makes a singular contribution by demonstrating in itself that those who seek scientific truth need not surrender their faith while those who understand the Church's actual position (as articulated in our time by John Paul II, and in far earlier times by such giants as Augustine and Aquinas) need never flee from the fruits of scientific research in order to live their faith. Indeed, says Sim Johnston, just the opposite.