Thank God For Evolution!

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Sample Image In THANK GOD FOR EVOLUTION, Reverend Michael Dowd explores the relationship between science and religion, showing that one can accept evolution in a way that strengthens rather than undermines religious faith and values. Backed by some of the world’s top scientists, including 5 Nobel Prize winners and a long list of religious leaders , Dowd’s new book boldly declares that the war between faith and reason is over. He offers the missing link in the debate over Darwin vs. Design: Evolution Theology.

WHY: For decades, the evolution vs. creation conflict has divided schools, families, and American society. Polls and headlines show that the evolution debate rages on across America, with intelligent design gaining popularity over biblical literalism on the one hand and a rash of New Atheist authors riding bestseller lists on the other. Michael Dowd forges a radically fresh “third way” beyond the current impasse and is inspiring a growing meta-religious movement that sees evolution as holy. From pulpits and on campuses across the country, Rev. Dowd preaches that celebrating the universal truth of evolution does not mean turning one’s back on God. “Facts are God’s native tongue,” Dowd asserts.

Viking Penguin to publish new edition Summer 2008

Sample Image According to Reverend Michael Dowd, the war between religion and science is over. In THANK GOD FOR EVOLUTION: How the Marriage of Science and Religion Will Transform Your Life and Our World (Viking/On-Sale Date: June 19, 2008/978-0-670-02045-4/$24.95), Dowd transforms the current debate and clearly presents why it is now possible to view evolution as deeply meaningful, even sacred. Just as scientific theories evolve and expand over time with new discoveries and new information, Dowd proposes that divine revelation is not limited to the Bible, but continues to be discovered through science. “Facts are God’s native tongue,” he writes.

THANK GOD FOR EVOLUTION brings together believers and non-believers on both sides of the generations-old debate by showing how evolution is not meaningless blind chance; rather, it is the sacred story that embraces and includes all religions. As a Christian minister, Dowd addresses the concerns that many Christians have about evolution and offers insights that ring true to people of any spiritual tradition, or none at all. For Dowd, “studying evolution is like following cosmic breadcrumbs home.” Drawing on the full range of cosmological, geological, biological, and human-related sciences, THANK GOD FOR EVOLUTION presents the history of the universe as an epic drama in which the generations alive today have a crucial role to play. It offers a shift in public perception on a scale not experienced since the Copernican Revolution or the Protestant and Catholic Reformations. By acknowledging the global, collaborative scientific endeavor as public revelation, we can newly appreciate the timeless insights within the private revelations of the world’s enduring religious traditions. Moreover, Dowd shows how the discoveries of science—notably, evolutionary brain science and evolutionary psychology—offer astonishing gifts for understanding and overcoming the challenges in our personal lives and relationships. This, he declares is “the gospel according to evolution.”

In rejoining our heads with our hearts, Rev. Dowd speaks to what matters most to us: our personal struggles, breakdowns, and pain; our closest relationships; our choices about where to spend our time, energy, and money; and the wellbeing of our communities and our world. Endorsed by Nobel Laureates in the scientific community and religious leaders alike, THANK GOD FOR EVOLUTION builds bridges, provides guidance, and restores realistic hope for virtually everyone, regardless of belief or worldview.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Reverend Michael Dowd is one of the most inspiring speakers in America today. For the past six years he and his wife, Connie Barlow, a noted science writer, have lived permanently on the road sharing a sacred view of evolution with religious and secular audiences of all ages, as America’s evolutionary evangelists. At home in both conservative and liberal settings, and uniquely gifted at building bridges between religious and nonreligious people, Michael is passionate about sharing the 14-billion-year epic of evolution in ways that uplift and expand heart, mind, and soul.

THANK GOD FOR EVOLUTION
How the Marriage of Science and Religion Will Transform Your Life and Our World
By Michael Dowd
Viking/ On-sale date: June 19, 2008
$24.95 / ISBN 978-0-670-02045-4

For additional information please contact:
Shannon Twomey, Publicist/Viking Penguin
212/366-2227 (direct), Shannon.twomey@us.penguingroup.com

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Penguin Group (USA) Inc. is the U.S. member of the internationally renowned Penguin Group. Penguin Group (USA) is one of the leading U.S. adult and children’s trade book publishers, owning a wide range of imprints and trademarks, including Berkley Books, Dutton, Frederick Warne, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, Grosset & Dunlap, New American Library, Penguin, Philomel, Riverhead Books and Viking, among others. The Penguin Group is part of Pearson plc, the international media company.