Battle Of Beginnings - 96 edition

Summary: Creation versus evolution. The debate is growing louder and hotter--whether in lecture halls or in between the pages of bestselling books. But neither side seems to be winning. Why?

In The Battle of Beginnings Del Ratzsch examines the history of the debate and critiques the entrenched positions that he argues merely impede progress toward the truth. Dissatisfied with both creationist fallacies and materialist misconstruals, he seeks to lay the ground ...show morework for more fruitful dialogue.

In considerable detail Ratzsch looks at the history and development of Darwin's theory and common creationist misunderstandings of evolution. He then moves on to examine the history and development of creationist theory and pervasive evolutionist misunderstandings of it. He also discusses the nature of science and common creationist and evolutionist abuses as a prelude to showing why both sides have remained critical of theistic evolution.

Above all, Ratzsch argues that until philosophical confusion, logical missteps and various other snarls have been untangled, little real progress can be made in sorting out competing theories of life and its origin. With this book he challenges and equips all of us to think more clearly.



FEATURES & BENEFITS

• 1997 Christianity Today Book Award Winner!
• argues that both sides of the creation-evolution debate have become entrenched
• examines the history of the debate
• describes the theory of evolution and common misunderstandings of it
• describes the creationist position and common misunderstandings of it
• discusses the nature of science, its limitations and the abuses it has suffered from both sides of the debate
• shows why both evolutionists and creationists are skeptical of theistic evolution, which attempts to bridge the differences between the two sides
• helps readers think more clearly about the issues at the heart of the creation-evolution controversy

Edition/Copyright: 96
Cover: Paperback
Publisher: Intervarsity Press
Published: 01/28/1996

View Author Bio

Ratzsch, Del : Calvin College

Ratzsch earned the Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of Massachusetts. He is professor of philosophy at Calvin College, and he is author of The Philosophy of Science (published by IVP in the Contours of Christian Philosophy series) and several other books. Much of Ratzsch's work over the last seventeen years at Calvin College has sought to relate science and religion (and more recently creation and evolution) in a way that is philosophically informed, scientifically defensible and theologically meaningful. Although Ratzsch is optimistic that design theory can avoid past mistakes in the creation-evolution controversy, he stresses that fundamental clarifying work remains to be done in this area.

View Table of Contents

Preface

1. Introduction
2. Darwin: The Historical Context
3. Darwin's Theory: A Brief Introduction
4. Darwin's Theory: Popular Creationist Misunderstandings
5. Twentieth-Century Creationism: The Historical Context
6. Creationist Theory: A Brief Introduction
7. Creationist Theory: Popular Evolutionist Misunderstandings
8. Philosophy of Science: Twentieth-Century Background
9. The Nature of Science: A Contemporary Perspective
10. The Nature of Science: Popular Creationist Mistakes
11. The Nature of Science: Popular Anticreationist Mistakes
12. Theistic Evolution: Catching It from Both Sides
13. Conclusion

Notes
Bibliography