God and the Folly of Faith: The Incompatibility of Science and Religion (48 page)

15
. John Maynard Smith,
On Evolution
(Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press, 1972), p. 89.

16
. Stephen Jay Gould,
Ever Since Darwin: Reflections in Natural History
(New York: W. W. Norton, 1977).

17
. William B. Provine, “Darwinism: Science or Naturalistic Philosophy?”
Origins Research Archives
16, no. 1 (1995): 9.

18
. Frank J. Tipler,
The Physics of Immortality: Modern Cosmology, God, and the Resurrection of the Dead
(New York: Anchor Books, 1994).

19
. Victor J. Stenger, “Scientist Nitwit Atheist Proves Existence of God,”
Free Inquiry
15, no. 2(1995): 54–55.

20
. William Grassie,
The New Sciences of Religion: Exploring Spirituality from the Outside In and Bottom Up
(New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), p. 166.

21
. Ibid., p. 168.

22
. Philip W. Anderson, “More Is Different,”
Science
177, no. 4047 (1972): 393–96.

23
. Philip Clayton and Paul Davies, eds.
The Re-Emergence of Emergence: The Emergentist Hypothesis from Science to Religion
(Oxford, UK; New York: Oxford University Press, 2006).

24
. Stuart A. Kauffman,
Reinventing the Sacred: A New View of Science, Reason, and Religion
(New York: Basic Books, 2008), p. 230.

25
. Grassie,
The New Sciences of Religion
, p. 107.

26
. James Gleick,
Chaos: Making a New Science
, 20th anniversary ed. (New York: Penguin Books, 2008).

27
. Philip Ball,
The Self-Made Tapestry: Pattern Formation in Nature
(Oxford, UK; New York: Oxford University Press, 1999).

28
. Philip Ball,
Critical Mass: How One Thing Leads to Another
(New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2004).

29
. Friedrich Wöhler, “Über künstliche Bildung des Harnstoffs” (“On theArtificial Formation of Urea”),”
Annalen der Physik und Chemie
88, no. 2 (1828): 253–56.

30
. See, for example, Thomas Crean,
God Is No Delusion: A Refutation of Richard Dawkins
(San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2007), p. 10.

31
. Victor J. Stenger,
God: The Failed Hypothesis
(Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2007).

32
. Richard Dawkins,
The God Delusion
(Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 2006), p. 109.

33
. William A. Dembski,
Intelligent Design: The Bridge between Science and Theology
(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999).

34
. Michael J. Behe,
Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution
(New York: Free Press, 1996).

35
. Paul Davies,
The Cosmic Blueprint: New Discoveries in Nature's Creative Ability to Order the Universe
(Philadelphia, PA: Templeton Foundation Press, 2004), p. 142.

36
. George F. R. Ellis, “True Complexity and Its Associated Ontology,” in
Science and Ultimate Reality: Quantum Theory, Cosmology, and Complexity
, ed. John D. Barrow et al. (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004), p. 613.

37
. Philip D. Clayton, “Emergence: Us from It,” in
Science and Ultimate Reality: Quantum Theory, Cosmology, and Complexity
, ed. John D. Barrow et al. (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004), pp. 577–606.

38
. Arthur Peacocke, “The Sciences of Complexity: A New Theological Resource?” in
Information and the Nature of Reality: From Physics to Metaphysics
, ed. Paul Davies, and Niels Henrik Gregersen (Cambridge, UK; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010).

39
. Ibid., p. 265.

40
. Ibid., p. 253.

41
. Paul Davies,
The Physics of Time Asymmetry
(Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1974).

42
. Heinz-Dieter Zeh,
The Physical Basis of the Direction of Time
, 5th ed. (Berlin; New York: Springer, 2007).

43
. Peacocke, “The Sciences of Complexity,” p. 255.

44
. Stephen K. Scott,
Oscillations, Waves, and Chaos in Chemical Kinetics
(Oxford, UK; New York: Oxford University Press, 1994).

45
. Alexander K. Dewdney, “The Hodge-Podge Machine Makes Waves,”
Scientific American
259, no. 2 (1998): 104–107; Stephen Wolfram,
A New Kind of Science
(Champaign, IL: Wolfram Media, 2002).

46
. Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, “Roman Catholicism and Abortion Access: Pagan & Christian Beliefs 400 BCE—1980 CE,”
http://www.religioustolerance.org/abo_hist.htm
(accessed January 13, 2012).

47
. Carol E. Cleland and Christopher F. Chyba, “Defining ‘Life,’”
Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biosphere
32, no. 4 (2002): 387–93.

48
. Jeff Schweitzer and Giuseppe Notarbartolo-di-Sciara,
Beyond Cosmic Dice: Moral Life in a Random World
(Los Angeles: Jacquie Jordan, 2009), p. 47.

49
. Stanley L. Miller, “A Production of Amino Acids under Possible Primitive Earth Conditions,”
Science
117 (1953): 528–29.

50
. Paul F. Deisler Jr., “How Did Life Begin? A Perspective on the Nature and Origin of Life,”
Skeptic
16, no. 2 (2011): 34–40 and references therein.

51
. Albrecht Moritz, “The Origin of Life,”
TalkOrigins Archive
, updated July 1, 2010,
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/abioprob/originoflife.html
(accessed December 17, 2009).

52
. Alonzo Richardo and Jack W. Szostak, “Life on Earth: Fresh Clues Hint at How the
First Living Organisms Arose from Inanimate Matter,”
Scientific American
(September 2009): 54–61.

9. TRANSCENDENCE

1
. Some of the material in this chapter has previously appeared in Victor J. Stenger, “Life after Death: Examining the Evidence,” in
The End of Christianity
, ed. John W. Loftus (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2011), pp. 305–32.

2
. Deepak Chopra,
Life after Death: The Burden of Proof
(New York: Harmony Books, 2006).

3
. Dinesh D'Souza,
Life after Death: The Evidence
(Washington, DC: Regnery, 2009).

4
. Corliss Lamont,
The Illusion of Immortality
, 4th ed. (New York: F. Ungar, 1965).

5
. Alan F. Segal,
Life after Death: A History of the Afterlife in the Religions of the West
(New York: Doubleday, 2004).

6
. Most experts agree that the pagan Zoroastrians introduced this idea to the Jews. See Segal,
Life after Death
, pp. 173–203, and discussion and sources in Richard Carrier,
Not the Impossible Faith: Why Christianity Didn't Need a Miracle to Succeed
(
Lulu.com
, 2009), pp. 85–86, 90–99.

7
. Paul Edwards,
Reincarnation: A Critical Examination
(Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2002).

8
. Karen Armstrong,
The Great Transformation: The Beginning of Our Religious Traditions
(New York: Knopf, 2006).

9
. Actually, the speed of light can't change, by definition. See
chapter 7
.

10
. National Academy of Sciences,
Teaching about Evolution and the Nature of Science
(Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 1998), p. 58. Free copy available at
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/5787.html
(accessed January 13, 2012).

11
. H. J. Benson et al., “Study of the Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer (STEP) in Cardiac Bypass Patients: A Multicenter Randomized Trial of Uncertainty and Certainty of Receiving Intercessory Prayer,”
American Heart Journal
154, no. 4 (2007): 934–42.

12
. For a nice summary of the STEP results, see the Templeton Foundation press release, Mechal Weiss, “Largest Study of Third-Party Prayer Suggests Such Prayer Not Effective in Reducing Complications Following Heart Surgery,” June 4, 2007,
http://www.templeton.org/pdfs/press_releases/060407STEP.pdf
(accessed February 12, 2011).

13
. J. M. Aviles et al., “Intercessory Prayer and Cardiovascular Disease Progression in a Coronary Care Unit Population: A Randomized Controlled Trial,”
Mayo Clinic Proceedings
76, no. 12 (2001): 1192–98.

14
. M. W. Krucoff et al., “Music, Imagery, Touch, and Prayer as Adjuncts to Interventional Cardiac Care: The Monitoring and Actualization of Noetic Trainings (Mantra) II Randomized Study,”
Lancet
366 (2005): 211–17.

15
. C. G. Ellison and J. S. Levin, “The Religion-Health Connection: Evidence, Theory, and Future Directions,”
Health Education and Behavior
24 (1998): 700–20; D. B. Larson et al., eds.
Scientific Research on Spirituality and Health: A Report Based on the Scientific Progress in Spirituality Conferences
(Rockville, MD: National Institutes for Healthcare Research, 1998).

16
. Richard P. Sloan and Emila Bagiella, “Claims about Religious Involvement in Health Outcomes,”
Annals of Behavioral Medicine
24, no. 1 (2002): 14–21.

17
. Harold G. Koenig,
The Healing Power of Faith: Science Explores Medicine's Last Great Frontier
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999); Chester L. Tolson and Harold G. Koenig,
The Healing Power of Prayer: The Surprising Connection between Prayer and Your Health
(Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2003); Harold G. Koenig et al.,
Handbook of Religion and Health
, 2nd ed. (Oxford, UK; New York: Oxford University Press, 2011).

18
. Harold Koenig, “What Religion Can Do for Your Health,” Beliefnet,
http://www.beliefnet.com/Health/2006/05/What-Religion-Can-Do-For-Your-Health.aspx
(accessed February 11, 2011).

19
. L. H. Powell et al., “Religion and Spirituality: Linkages to Physical Health,”
American Psychologist
58, no. 1 (2003): 36–52.

20
. Ibid., p. 36.

21
. Elissa Patterson, “The Philosophy and Physics of Holistic Health Care: Spiritual Healing as a Workable Interpretation,”
British Journal of Advanced Nursing
27 (1998): 287–93.

22
. Béla Scheiber and Carla Selby,
Therapeutic Touch
(Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2000).

23
. Joanne Stefanatos, “Introduction to Bioenergetic Medicine,” in
Complementary and Alternative Veterinary Medicine: Principles and Practice
, ed. Allen M. Schoen and Susan G. Wynn (St. Louis: Mosby Year Book, 1997 [Mosby is now an Elsevier Health Sciences imprint]), p. 270.

24
. David Ramey, ed.
Consumer's Guide to
Alternate Therapies in the Horse
(New York: Howell Book House, 1999).

25
. Victor J. Stenger, “Bioenergetic Fields,”
Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine
3, no. 1 (1999): 26–30.

26
. Some of the following material is taken from Victor J. Stenger, “Life after Death: Examining the Evidence,” in
The End of Christianity
, ed. John Loftus (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2011), pp. 305–58.

27
. Janice Minor Holden, Bruce Greyson, and Debbie James, eds.
The Handbook of Near-Death Experiences: Thirty Years of Investigation
(Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2009), chap. 1.

28
. Raymond A. Moody Jr., MD,
Life after Life: The Investigation of a Phenomenon—Survival of Bodily Death
(New York: Bantam Books; HarperCollins, 1976).

29
. Susan J. Blackmore,
Dying to Live: Near-Death Experiences
(Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1993).

30
. Gerald Woerlee,
Mortal Minds: The Biology of Near-Death Experiences
(Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2005).

31
. Kevin Nelson,
The Spiritual Doorway in the Brain: A Neurologist's Search for the God Experience
(New York: Dutton, 2011), pp. 128–31.

32
. Holden et al.,
The Handbook of Near-Death Experiences
, p. 16.

33
. Ibid., p. 27.

34
. Ibid., p. 186.

35
. Ibid.

36
. Ibid., p. 209.

37
. Ibid., p. 210.

38
. Dinesh D'Souza,
Life after Death: The Evidence
(Washington, DC: Regnery, 2009), p. 64.

39
. Kimberly Clark, “Clinical Interventions with NDEs,” in Bruce Greyson and Charles P. Flynn, eds.,
The Near-Death Experience: Problems, Prospects, Perspectives
(Springfield, IL: C. C. Thomas, 1984), pp. 242–55.