Philosophy of Religion in The Books Store

The story captured the attention of broadcast and print media in the United States and around the world. By Tuesday morning some fifty television crews had clogged the small village of Nickel Mines, staying for five days until the killer and the killed were buried. The blood was barely dry on the schoolhouse floor when Amish parents brought words of forgiveness to the family of the one who had slain their children.

The outside world was incredulous that such forgiveness could be offered so quickly for such a heinous crime. Of the hundreds of media queries that the authors received about the shooting, questions about forgiveness rose to the top. Forgiveness, in fact, eclipsed the tragic story, trumping the violence and arresting the world's attention.

Within a week of the murders, Amish forgiveness was a central theme in more than 2,400 news stories around the world. The Washington Post, The New York Times, USA Today, Newsweek, NBC Nightly News, CBS Morning News, Larry King Live, Fox News, Oprah, and dozens of other media outlets heralded the forgiving Amish. From the Khaleej Times (United Arab Emirates) to Australian television, international media were opining on Amish forgiveness. Three weeks after the shooting, "Amish forgiveness" had appeared in 2,900 news stories worldwide and on 534,000 web sites.

Fresh from the funerals where they had buried their own children, grieving Amish families accounted for half of the seventy-five people who attended the killer's burial. Roberts' widow was deeply moved by their presence as Amish families greeted her and her three children. The forgiveness went beyond talk and graveside presence: the Amish also supported a fund for the shooter's family.

From religion as the foundation of morality to the authority of sacred books, the compelling religious testimony of influential people, near-death experiences, theories from intelligent design, and much more, Harrison respectfully describes each rationale for belief and then politely shows the deficiencies that any good skeptic would point out. He also offers something in return--a hopeful and optimistic view of science, the universe, and humanity without the divisiveness, prejudice, and hatred caused by conflicting religious doctrines.

A remarkable discovery has gradually emerged in astrophysics over the past two decades and is now essentially undisputed: that certain key physical constants have just the right values to make life possible. Most scientists prefer to explain away this uniqueness, by claiming that a huge, perhaps infinite, number of universes must therefore exist, each with unique properties, each randomly different from the other, with ours only seemingly special because in a universe with different properties we would never have originated.

Haisch proposes the alternative that the special properties of our Universe reflect an underlying intelligence, one that is fully consistent with the Big Bang and Darwinian evolution. At this time both views are equally logical and equally beyond proof. However exceptional human experiences and accounts of mystics throughout the ages do suggest that we live in a purposeful Universe. Haisch speculates on what this purpose might be and what that purpose means for our lives.

This is not incompatible with science. Astrophysicist Sir James Jeans wrote that "the universe begins to look more like a great thought than like a great machine" and Sir Arthur Eddington, who proved that Einstein's general relativity was correct, wrote about "science and the unseen world." Cosmologist Sir Fred Hoyle called the Universe "an obvious fix."

Haisch also discusses the popular, but often misrepresented, topic of zero-point energy from the perspective of a multiyear NASA-funded study he led at Lockheed Martin.

"Part of the appeal of this book is that Dr. H. presents his hypothesis as a scientist, conditioned by decades in the halls of science. In particular there is no pulpit pounding insistence on his viewpoint. Rather he discusses topics such as creationism vs. evolution without the emotional upheaval of belief systems.

Of particular interest is his writing on the zero point field. I had been aware of the astounding discovery, where some scientists were able to derive Newton's second law of Physics, F=ma, by considering that inertia was simply the 'drag' encountered by mass in the zero point field. I first read of this in Lynn McTaggart's book the Field. This is astounding because (i) that basic law was thought to be a primary law of the Universe and thus not-derivable, (ii) it made the zero point field a basis of all matter (iii) the scientific community largely ignored this amazing discovery.

What I was not aware of was that Bernard was one of those responsible for this discovery! So if you are interested in the zero point field from someone with the scientific and metaphysical credentials - go no further.

So if you want to put your metaphysical conception of the universe on a more solid scientific basis, and/or have great discussions...get a little God Theory in your life."

Surveying the contemporary religious landscape, the division between atheist and believer seems stark. However, having long struggled to understand the purpose of life and the meaning of suffering, Michael Novak finds the reality of spiritual life far different from the rhetorical war presented by bestselling atheists and the defenders of the faith who oppose them.

In No One Sees God, Novak brilliantly recasts the tired debate pitting faith against reason. Both the atheist and the believer experience the same “dark night” in which God’s presence seems absent, he argues, and the conflict between faith and doubt stems not from objective differences, but from divergent attitudes toward the unknown. Drawing from his lifelong passion for philosophy and his personal struggles with belief, he shows that, far from being irrational, the spiritual perspective actually provides the most satisfying answers to the eternal questions of meaning. Faith is a challenge at times, but it nonetheless offers the only fully coherent response to the human experience.

Ultimately, No One Sees God offers believers and unbelievers the opportunity to find common ground by acknowledging the complicated reality of the human struggle with doubt. Novak provides a stirring defense of the Christian worldview, while sidestepping the shrill tone that so often characterizes the discussion of faith, and given the challenges faced in the present age, all who value liberty will find hope in his new way of conversing.

The Perennial Philosophy is defined by its author as "The metaphysic that recognizes a divine Reality substantial to the world of things and lives and minds." With great wit and stunning intellect, Aldous Huxley examines the spiritual beliefs of various religious traditions and explains them in terms that are personally meaningful.