Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The so-called 'new materialism' argues that science and religious belief are incompatible. From Cosmology to Biology, its exponents have included such eminent names as Stephen Hawking, Richard Dawkins, Peter Atkins and Michael Ruse.

With a carefully argued, point by point refutation of scientific atheism, God, Chance and Necessity shows that modern scientific knowledge does not undermine belief in God, but actually points to the existence of God as the best explanation of the way things are. Thus, it sets out to demolish the claims of books like The Selfish Gene, and to show that the overwhelming appearance of design in nature is not deceptive.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

That all of life is a wondrous accident, a fantastic conglomeration of chance happenings subject to the whimsy of natural selection, is particularly troubling to Oxford don and Anglican priest Ward (Religion and Creation, Oxford Univ., 1996). A blind and purposeless universe denies the existence of God‘the very thing Ward strenuously argues for in his latest work. Taking on scientific materialism in general and the theories of two Oxford scientists in particular (biologist Richard Dawkins and chemist Peter Atkins), Ward methodically challenges their atheistic hypotheses point for point, arriving finally at the affirmation of a purposeful creator God, although one not given to overruling the laws of nature and, therefore, one who allows suffering. Quite a few notches above the creationist fight, Ward's work requires familiarity with the philosophical and scientific arguments involved to comprehend adequately the issues raised. Intellectual, detached, and deliberate in tone, this will appeal only to specialists in the area.‘Sandra Collins, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary Lib. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

Recent breakthroughs in the cosmological and quantum understanding of the origin of the universe, life and consciousness have caused scientists like Richard Dawkins and Stephen Hawking to feel that they have proved that God is unnecessary, irrelevant and illusory. In this well-reasoned and probing book, Ward, Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford, seeks to expose what he sees as logical inconsistencies in the arguments railed against God. Meticulously, he builds up an impressive series of arguments in favor of theism by examining what he sees as the flaws in the conclusions of Darwinian evolutionary biology, sociobiology and cosmology. Ward argues that scientific materialism, which he believes colors many of the interpretations of science's findings, and not science itself, is the culprit in undermining belief in God. Although he argues that modern scientific knowledge points to the existence of God, Ward returns again and again to the argument that a focus on the attributes and qualities of God provides resolution to any conflict between science and religion. While the book is well written, the great flaw is Ward's failure to demand of religious argument the same rigors he demands of the scientists whose arguments he attacks. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

CHOICE Review

Ward (Regius Professor of Divinity, Oxford) has produced an impressive and carefully argued essay that updates the age-old controversy over science and religion. He contends that "the universe emerges out of the unrestricted actuality of the mind of God, by an intentional act of creation," and that on most issues facing science and religion "there are no conflicts, and that the success of science investigation corroborates theism, rather than the reverse." The author confronts head-on some of the later proponents of what he calls the "new materialism"--among them Michael Russ (sociobiology), Richard Dawkins (biology), and Stephen Hawking (cosmology)--and systematically refutes their antitheistic bias. Ward has all the scholarly credentials and deserves a sympathetic open hearing with his vigorous reaffirmation of the distinct teleological bent in the natural process. "If science shows the mind of God, religion shows the heart of God." This vigorous theistic defense is a welcome catalyst and ally to Peter Scott's Theology, Ideology, and Liberation (CH, Sep'95) and Richard Grigg's When God Becomes Goddess (CH, Apr'96). A solid bibliography is included. Upper-division undergraduate; graduate; faculty. D. W. Ferm; formerly, Colby College

Booklist Review

With his famous remark that God was not a necessary hypothesis, the nineteenth-century astronomer Laplace anticipated the views of many of the most prominent scientists of our own time. But distinguished theologian Ward finds in God the only possible guarantor of intellectual coherence. Hence, he believes, scientists who follow Laplace into godless theories are soon entangled in self-contradictions. Ward deftly exposes these self-contradictions as he demonstrates that human consciousness, freedom, and morality could never have originated in merely accidental natural phenomena but must have derived from divine purpose. Hardly a fundamentalist defending a literal interpretation of Genesis, Ward evinces a sophisticated understanding of modern cosmological and evolutionary theories. But he finds these theories rational and meaningful only when interpreted within a divinely governed cosmos. A rare synthesis of intellect and conviction, this book offers valuable insights to readers struggling to reconcile faith and science. --Bryce Christensen

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Keith Ward is the Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford.