Customer Reviews

Show Me God: What the Message from Space Is Telling Us About God (Wonders, 1)

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This book makes contemporary cosmology accessible to all of us. From Stephen Hawking (A Brief History of Time) to Robert Jastrow (director of Mt. Wilson Observatory) and from Alan Guth (father of the inflationary Big Bang Theory) to Nobel Prize winners Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, you will hear the ideas of some of the leading scientists of our time about God and the Cosmos and how they seem to be related to one another, providing what for some of those same scientists are the most compelling evidences for the existence of God. Finding common ground between Science and Theology book author Fred Heeren interviews today's best known cosmologists, to provide proof that sometime in the past, everything came out of nothing or, according to his line of thought, from God Himself. The book also deals with wisdom with one of the most intriguing aspects of modern science, extraterrestrial intelligence, analyzing the "messages from space" and exploring the oldest and most difficult questions about our creation and evolution in the context of a cosmic grand scheme that as Heeren himself believes, shows the Hand of God. A fascinating book!

One can always tell if a book on science is written by a Christian, because there will always be militant atheists ready to rate it as terrible, motivated by nothing more than their usual knee-jerk reaction.

_THINKING_ people -- including thinking scientists, agnostics, people of many different faiths, and none at all -- understand that one should read a book for its content, and not for what one believes the author's motives might be. Atheists and those who support what Johnson calls naturalism tend to claim the high ground of reason and logic, dismissing believers as some kind of fundamentalist fanatics who can't read. Ironically, in this case, as with many recent books (e.g., Ross, Dembski, Behe), it seems that it's the believers who are prepared to read about, and accept new data, and fundamentalist atheism doing its best to deny the evidence. It's they who cling to a century-old worldview as a matter of faith.

In this book, Fred Heeren has assembled one of the most carefully thought-out, carefully researched books on the relationship between science and belief in a long time. His presentation is virtually impossible to find fault with. The end result is a devastating demonstration that, even if we wanted to, we could not ignore the fact that something seems to be going on out there in the Universe; something that neither Newton's equations nor Maxwell's can explain. As many other reviewers have pointed out, only a fundamentalist atheist determined to ignore all contrary evidence can muster the energy to dispute the evidence.

One final thought: Negative reviewers claim that Heeren's purpose is to proselytize. I thought I read the same book, and I believe I read it pretty thoroughly. But I see _NO_ evidence that Heeren's goal is to convert anyone. He merely gives a lot of data, all well researched, thoroughly documented, and supported by virtually every competent scientist on the planet. If this is proselytization, I need a new dictionary.

My only complaint about this book is that Heeren promised it to be the first of several. I keep checking Amazon.com for the sequels, to no avail.

"Show Me God" wonderfully describes the most complicated theories in modern astrophysics - but it does so in the simplest way imaginable. But this book is about much more than astrophysics made easy, it is a book that shows the average reader that science does not have all the answers. Fred Heeren shows how it is for all practical purposes impossible to explain the creation of the Universe without factoring God into the equation. This book will show any reader with an open mind that many modern theories of the Universe assume many facts not in evidence and that only God can fill in these theories to create the Universe that we live in. The author steps back to carefully consider the recent "Mars rock" and concludes that NASA may have jumped the gun when they declared that this rock was proof of life on the Red Planet. He scientifically discusses the possibility of life elsewhere in the Universe - and the results might surprise you based on what many other scientists are saying. In its simplest form, Fred Heeren shows that science is not disproving the existence of God, but that science must turn to God to explain the origin of the Universe. Those who have lost faith in religion should certainly read this book, it is truly out of this world. -Cody Oliver

This is an extraordinary book, the best book I've ever read concerning science and theology. The book shows that religion and Cosmology can infact live in harmony with one another. It reminds me of one of Einstein's quotes: "Science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind". The book gets technical at some points, though it is in a non-mathematical way which is intended for the laymen. I'm surprissed to see that some have called this book bias. The book points out evidence suggesting God's existance but it also looks at the evidence against the existance of God. Although the book does give the impression that the evidence for God is better than the evidence against God. You can come to your own conclusion. Nevertheless the book is, in my opinion, the best, the most clear, and most fair of all the Science v.s. theology books out there. (Well, if it's not the best, it's damn good) A must read! (I agree with the other reviewer: "Where's Vol. 2???)

Fred Heeren in Show Me God has done an excellent job of explaining why science (specifically astronomy) and religion don't have to be constantly at each others' throats. In a world where few people are even moderately educated in both fields, but proceed to attack the other side in these issues, Heeren has done a very commendable job of presenting both sides of the argument, and keeping it open-minded.

The interviews with leading personalities in astronomy, astrophysics, and cosmology are enlightening, but so are the passages on mere logic, and why it coincides with the statements that the author makes. Few people with truly open minds can argue with the assertions made, for example that science has proven that the universe has a beginning, and that in order for the universe to be created, there must be a Creator who is outside of it and immune to the effects of time. Questions and issues such as these are the candy to the mental palate that makes it well worth reading a second time (as I am doing now).

Heeren has really done his research, and this is evident in the sheer amount of information contained in the book, whether one looks at it from a skeptic's standpoint, a Christian's standpoint, or for just the educational value. As both a Christian and a lover of astronomy, I could appreciate both, and it made the book all the more interesting to me from both sides (plus, I have some completely solid arguments to present to my friends when they ask me why I believe in a loving God).

I especially like the conversations between Heeren and his "mental editor," Carl. It gives a refreshing view of how many people would see the book from a moneymaking standpoint, as Carl suggests for sections of the book titles like, "The Real Dirt on the Origins of the Universe."

All in all, I enjoyed the book very much. The "heavy" cosmological parts are sufficiently balanced with the "lighter" passages, giving people a chance to understand both sides of an issue that has raged for hundreds of years, and still rages today. I plan to check out the other installments in the Wonders that Witness series, which promise to attend to theories such as evolution.

If the battle of Religion vs. Science ever airs on Pay-Per-View, I hope Fred Heeren is a referee. Then maybe it would end with a friendly draw.

Show Me God vol.1 will demonstrate to the Christian and Deist alike, that blind faith in a creator is neither necessary nor desirable. Rather as the bible states, faith is based on "the evidence of things unseen". After reviewing the evidence presented in the book, one is hardpressed to have faith in a random universe. In the end, the book demonstrates that one must muster more faith to belive in a creatorless universe than to believe in the Creator! Good job Fred Heeren!

My girlfriend got me "Show Me God" for Christmas because of my great interest in amateur astronomy. Years ago when I first made steps to turn stargazing into a hobby I had problems trying to understand how the Young Earth doctrine (which I was raised to believe) could explain why I was seeing stars, nebulae, and galaxies so far away. This book will fill in that enormous gap for you, allowing you to not only see why but explain the *how* of cosmology and it's interaction with the Bible.

Mr. Hereen makes the attempt to explain the latest cosmological theories in layman's terms, and for the most part suceeds. He follows it up with a piece by piece buildup throughout the book on why this rock we call home is not the result of an accident, or a mathematical fluke, but rather a "finely tuned" place, custom made for us to be here. If the reader is open minded he or she will be hard pressed to deny the possibility of God by book's end.

While he doesn't offer his own opinion of a chronology of events (more specifically, a scientific explanation on the fly while describing the events of Gen 1 + 2), he does take the time to discount two Young Earth theories, the "light was created on the way" theory and the "the speed of light has changed" one as well. He does maintain a relatively strong adherence to Biblical scripture, although he does veer towards the length of the word "day" in the Genesis account, an issue that puts a ball of ice in my stomach and puts my senses on guard. I still do not really know his view on evolution for instance (promised in the nowhere to be seen Volume 2), although he goes to great pains to explain that the chances of it happening on it's own are so astronomically small that it's literally impossible. He also gives a chapter on extraterrestrial intelligence and why there might be more like us out there.

Dispersed throughout the book in humorous fashion are imaginary conversations between he and his imaginary publicist Carl (based on his own experiences with real life Christian publishers) and a particularly impressive question and answer session with some of the leading physicists in the world, including Stephen Hawking. A book that is designed to make an atheist/agnostic really think twice about thier position!

Bring on Volume Two! :)

I read this book from the perspective of a scientist and physicist. My main interest is astrophysics. I cannot fault the logic and assertions of the book. The construct of the book flows well and addresses the very essence of the subjects. I believe that the basic idea of the book, that God is real and influences all of creation, is substantiated. The references to current cosmological findings and relating them to the Bible is great. I especially like the discussion on entropy and the same subject discussed in the Bible, with perfect coorelation. A very deep and profound book that requires much thought and study to understand it's fill implications.

I enjoyed this book. I felt it gave a fairly clear understanding of the relations between religion and science. People who misunderstand what science is trying to say should read this! Too many people think they know science and really don't have a clue. I have not taken this book 100% to heart but it has led me to study the subject more with books like "Genesis and the Big Bang" and "The Science of God" both by Dr. Gerald L. Schroeder.

Fred Heeren has written a clever book on some of the discoveries in science and how they indicate the mind of a creator. There are a couple of reviewers who gave this book one star. I would like to ask, then quiz them to see if they are honest, and really read the contents of this book. One of those reviewres claims that the author takes a literal transaltion of scripture and uses selective verses to support creationist positions. Does he even understand the creationist positions? After all, there are many and I find it hard to put Heeren into the hyper-creationists such as Dr Morris.

I appauld the author of this book, because he at times critizes some young earth creationist because the evidence doesn't support it (pp 188 and 195). He further doesn't always use literal interpretations of scripture. He also writes about the theological principle on what the first chapter of Genesis is about and cites respected Old Testament scholars like Gleason Archer who demonstrate that the 24 hour days in Genesis may not mean a 24 hour day. This is accepted by many conservative theologians as well and therefore I can rightly assume that those reviewers didn't read the book at all.

Many more instances could be cited to refute the silly reviewers who slamed this book with false representations, however, the above example should suffice for this forum.

Heeren's thesis is that scientific method demonstrates a creator has made our universe. This he does very well by writing about the Big Bang and its implications, which many scientis avoid. They avoid this because it does demonstarte there is a first cause and this first cause could have been God.

The book is strong in the area of physic, but lacks in the realm of biological science. This is because it is a volume one and I only hope more volumes continue. The reading is dry at times and some information seems to lengthy for the layman.

All in all, it is a must for anyone who is seriously studying the subject of orgins. I only hope that reviewers who disagree with the thesis will at least represent the book accurately.