Who Made God? Searching for a Theory of Everything [Hardcover]

Edgar Andrews (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2009

Author Bill Bryson writes: "I am immensely grateful [for the book]". Fay Weldon calls the book "Thoughtful, readable, witty, wise ..." Dr John Sentamu, Archbishop of York, says: "... written in a very lively style and conveys complex subjects in a palatable form". The Principal of London Theological Seminary, England, declares: "Richard Dawkins has more than met his match". A book written by a distinguished scientist about the existence of God, which has chapter headings like Sooty and the universe , Steam engine to the stars and The tidy pachyderm , has to be different. It is. Addressing profound questions of science, philosophy and faith with an amazing lightness of touch, Edgar Andrews exposes the pretensions of the new atheism of Richard Dawkins and others, blending incisive arguments with gentle humour. However, the author s aim is not simply to raise a standard against the aggressive atheism of our age but to provide a logically consistent and altogether more satisfying alternative. He describes how his fellow physicists dream of discovering a theory of everything that will embrace every physical process and phenomenon in the cosmos. But he points out that there is more to existence than the material world; the things that make life worth living are mainly non-material. Can there, then, be a theory of everything that includes not only space, time, matter and energy but also the realms of the heart, mind, conscience and spirit? Yes, indeed, as this book shows. It is the hypothesis of God, a theory that, in spite of its opponents, still towers above the barren landscape of atheism and despair.

Editorial Reviews

Review

If you have been looking for a thoughtful, cogent and accessible counterpoint to the recent flurry of publications by the so-called New Atheists, you need look no further than Edgar Andrews "Who Made God?" Rather than offering an ad hoc response to the assertions made by Richard Dawkins and the like, Dr. Andrews instead asks us to consider a different way in to the conversation to approach belief in the biblical God as a thesis in and of itself, one that is worthy of our thoughtful consideration. He asks us to apply the methodology of hypothesis to the question of God to see how it fits and, in fact, it proves to fit remarkably well. With great clarity and rousing humour, Dr. Andrews applies the thesis of God to questions like the problem of time, the nature of humanity and the question of morality and demonstrates how belief in God has both simple elegance and far-reaching explanatory power. written. I appreciated the exposing of the reductionistic tendencies that atheists are forced to adopt, thus limiting their ability to conceive the wonder and beauty of the material universe. I also appreciated how unscientific science can be and how we should be wary of those who use/abuse the name of science to promote unscientific assumptions and conclusions. I really appreciated the explanation of quantum physics and how the author makes complex physics understandable and entertaining. This was one of my favorite chapters. I found helpful the author s delineations of the caricatures of God and the discussion on time was one of the most thought provoking sections. I found the connection between time and entropy fascinating. -- -- Rev. Abraham Cho, Fellowship Group Director, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, New York

In our increasingly multi-disciplinary world, we need those rare scholars who are able to combine the expertise of two different fields of study. Edgar Andrews possesses this ability, bringing together scientific and theological expertise to present a work that is both engaging and palatable. It is this synthesis that makes this book a very important and unique contribution to the larger arena of faith and science. This is not simply another book on Intelligent Design, nor is it a defence of Theistic Evolution. Who Made God? masterfully weaves a mature Christian theology with recent scientific findings to produce a nuanced and compelling argument that does not caricaturize either science or theology but maintains the integrity of both. The author s knowledgeable passion for both science and theology, coupled with a witty and playful writing style, makes the book a must read for those who question the intersection of science and Christianity. It has been a pleasure to read this book. I don't mean to sound overly flattering, but Dr Andrews has done the world a great service by adding this to our shelves. I am impressed by the way he has maintained the integrity of both science and theology, revealing comfort in both fields. I have been waiting for a book just like this to recommend to others one that I don t feel compromises theological or scientific integrity and truth. The God hypothesis will be unpalatable to many, but to those who have sincere questions this book will provide an invaluable apologetic. There is so much science and theology in the book and yet the writing style makes difficult and complex concepts accessible. While there were a few sections that were challenging to understand, the book as a whole is easy to read. -- David Kim, New York

Starting with the hypothesis of God, Professor Andrews sets out to demonstrate that the existence of the God of the Bible makes better sense of what we can actually learn from science than does atheism. On his way to this conclusion he also points out the scientific and logical inadequacies of evolutionism. He succeeds in doing so with a deceptively light touch but there is nothing lightweight about either his analysis or the rigour with which he pursues his case. This is apologetics at its best: immensely instructive for the Christian and utterly devastating for the atheist. -- Daniel Webber, European Missionary Fellowship

As a distinguished scientist, Professor Edgar Andrews is well qualified to counter the current outpouring of attempts to airbrush God out of existence -- and in this book he does so with intelligent and infectious enthusiasm. Richard Dawkins' The God delusion is an obvious target and he expertly dismantles its atheistic claims, reducing them to rubble with a lightness of touch I had never before come across in a book of this kind. Readers, with or without scientific backgrounds, are likely to find themselves turning the pages with smiles on their faces. I know of nothing quite like it. -- John Blanchard, author and lecturer

With vigorous panache and deft argument, Dr Andrews tackles one of the key issues of our times -- does God exist and why should we believe that he does? In a masterly combination of science and theology, he reveals the absurdity of the so-called `new atheism' and presents a solid case for Christian theism. Highly recommended. -- Prof. Michael Haykin, Southern Baptist theological Prof. M. Haykin, Southern Baptiist Theological Seminary

From the Publisher

Edgar Andrews is thought-provoking, witty, extremely readable, and ultimately devastating in his critique of evolutionary atheism. He demonstrates that a right understanding of the scientific enterprise poses no threat to biblical Christianity -- indeed, that the kind of world we live in is precisely what the biblical account of God and creation would lead us to expect.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: EP Books (September 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0852347073
• ISBN-13: 978-0852347072
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #114,976 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An accessible, considered, and thoughtful book, November 24, 2009

By 

Greybeard "Greybeard" (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Who Made God? Searching for a Theory of Everything (Hardcover)

This is a really amazing little book.

I was expecting an apology for Christianity, however that is not what I got. Certainly the book makes no bones about Christianity, and it clearly and concisely repudiates (in places with gentle humor at their flawed reasoning) the so-called new atheists. However, that is not its purpose. It might almost be described as an expose, rather than a defense.

What it does is to offer overtly something that I have heard discussed quietly (and usually behind closed doors) by a number of noted scientists. It provides a concise, understandable explanation of modern science from a Christian perspective. Through the fundamental hypothesis of the book, it clearly reconciles modern science and Christianity. It also proves that, contrary to the dogma of Dawkins and company, the more scientist learn about the physical universe and about life, the more unavoidable the conclusion that God exists becomes.

I expect that Dawkins and company will ignore this book, or possibly address it with the kind of rage and bombast that characterized recent books by the "new atheists". That seems to be how they have dealt with Professor Andrews in the past. Their reasons then, and the reason now is simple: They cannot answer his arguments from science and honest reason.

Professor Andrews is not just a man with high scientific and academic qualifications. He is also an excellent teacher, able to communicate complex and abstract concepts (including the nature of science, and many of the theories of modern science) in a way that is clear and understandable to ordinary readers, who don't have the background or training that he himself brings to the table. Perhaps the best of the reviews on the back of the book in that regard was written by a housewife.

Note that even though it is readable and easily understood, it is accurate and precise in its handling of the scientific material it covers (unlike many of the "new atheists"). While its logic runs contrary to evolutionary dogma, it is careful to treat science itself with honesty and respect.

I recommend the book to anyone with an interest in science or technology. If you are open-minded enough to handle what it has to say, you will find it well worth your while. Be warned, that Professor Andrews goes where the science leads him, which may give doctrinaire Creationists heartburn (particularly in the US) as well as doctrinaire humanists. While the book is accessible, gentle, and easy to read it will make you think. I was forced to take my time going through it in order to think through some of the ideas and reasoning it presented.

54 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Powerful Book, November 17, 2009

By 

Tim Challies (Oakville, Ontario) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Who Made God? Searching for a Theory of Everything (Hardcover)

Why should the Devil get all the good scientists? It sometimes seems that way, doesn't it? We hear of scientists like Stephen Hawking and Richard Dawkins and others who are acclaimed as being at the top of their field and almost inevitably it seems that they are atheists or otherwise committed to explaining the world in terms of Darwinian evolution. Occasionally we find a great dissenting mind, but then we discover that that person is committed to beliefs that seem opposed to the plain account of Scripture. So we have Francis Collins who writes The Language of God but who in the book says that, though God exists, life and creation can be explained in terms of natural laws and processes that do not depend on the Divine hand of God. It is both tiresome and frustrating.

But here at last comes Edgar Andrews whose list of academic credentials include more letters than all the names in my family: BSc, PhD, DSc, FInstP, FIMMM, CEng, CPhys (which, according to a site I consulted, is together an anagram for disbenching tscpf fpsps chym- cmd `m). No, I don't know what any of those degrees mean, but they sure sound impressive. He is Emeritus Professor of Materials at the University of London and an international expert on the science of large molecules (not small ones, mind you, only the large ones). His credentials include things that sound like they must set him apart; things such as this: In September 1972 he was one of four specially invited speakers at the dedication symposium of the Michigan Molecular Institute, two of the others being Nobel Laureates Paul Flory and Melvin Calvin.

Put it all together and you find that Andrews is one smart dude. He's smarter than you and me and the rest of us put together. And in his new book Who Made God? he launches a full front assault on the new atheists. He does this not through a point-by-point refutation of their books, but by an insightful look at science and the existence of God. An excellent writer who mixes a subtle British sense of humor with a powerful intellect and a deep understanding of science, he very quickly picks apart the arguments we have for so long been hearing from the likes of Richard Dawkins and Stephen Hawking and even Francis Collins. Yet he still crafts a book that is readable and, best of all, understandable. Even the chapter dealing with string theory is comprehensible--no small feat for a smart guy writing about what lies at the very frontier of science.

The topics Andrews covers range from the existence of God to the nature of hypotheses to the abilities of mutations to create. Through it all, he shows how the claims of atheism and naturalism fall short--how they rely on bad science, how they require bad logic or unfair hypotheses and how they are beneath the very minds that create them. He draws the reader to inevitable conclusion that there is a Creator who is pre-existent and who is living and active in the world today. By the end he draws the gaze of the created to the majesty of the Creator and calls the reader to see God for who he is.

A powerful book and one that is exceptionally well-written, Who Made God? is just the book I've been waiting for. It aptly refutes the claims of the new atheists but does so without giving away the farm in the meantime. And I couldn't ask for much more than that.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not Your Typical Apologetics Book, January 5, 2012

By 

M. Sutherland "Cogito, Ergo Credo" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Who Made God? Searching for a Theory of Everything (Hardcover)

This is the kind of Christian Apologetics book I enjoy reading.

Most apologetics books rehash the same answers and arguments. Occasionally one brings some new insight, or at least a new way of explaining the answers such that it sparks new thought. This is that book.

Fun to read, because the author clearly does not take himself too seriously (he utilizes the English cartoon character `Sooty' in one of his explanations for heavens sake!) yet attacks these serious subjects head on with wit and charm. Yet he shows no mercy to the tired attacks on Christianity of the `new atheists' vis-à-vis physics, miracles, natural law, an immoral God, etc.

One of those supposed argument-ending-money-maker lines of the `skeptic' is always "You say God made everything? Well then tell me who made God?" Andrews spends 278 pages of text and 12 pages of supporting documentation explaining why this is an incoherent question, akin to `Have you stopped beating your wife?' or `how long is string?', and how the answer is evident via a serious analysis of the facts of nature, readily available.

The central thesis of the book is a presentation of the difference between a proof arrived by syllogism, and the preferred and beautiful approach of making a hypothesis and then examining the facts that support it (yes - he is indeed using the Scientific Method to confirm the existence of God!)

This book answers the question with no stone unturned. It's a wonderful primer - a little bit logic, a little bit physics, a little bit philosophy. He makes sure that we don't allow the `new atheists' to get away with phrasing the issues in an incorrect manner, and that we answer the right questions. In doing so, he knocks down fantasy pseudo-sciences such as imaginary time and cyclic universes. He also brilliantly shows why the worn-out complaint of the `God of the gaps', an impotent God (of open theology), a Deistic God, and a Universalist God is NOT the God he is referring to.

The hypothesis Andrews seeks out to prove is status simply: "The God of the Bible exists". He then proceeds to "seek to demonstrate that this hypothesis explains human observation and experience far better than atheism or even science can ever do..." He proves the hypothesis by examining observations in the areas of: Cosmic Origins, the existence and manner of Time, Natural and communal Law, Miracles, Information Theory, the Origin of Life, Abiogenesis, Evolution, and Morality.

Here is an example, regarding miracles, of his unique prose and thought, of which are found throughout...

"C.S. Lewis has a clearer view of the miraculous, pointing out that if a non-material (or spiritual) realm exists at all, there must of necessity be an interface between this realm and the natural world - as a shoreline marks the interface between land and sea. And just as the sea may sometimes flood across that interface and invade the land, so the spiritual may from time to time invade the physical world."

I did have only a few areas of fuss with Andrews - I think he discounts Intelligent Design too quickly, and I think he may have mischaracterized Behe's position on Evolution - but those are easily overlooked in whole.

Too many apologetics books are re-hashed information and arguments - this is not one of those books. This is the kind of book that makes me want to read more of Andrews, and actually write a review recommending him!

Mike-- [...]