Not a Chance: God, Science, and the Revolt against Reason
Overview
Modern scientists often write and speak of chance as some kind of being or force that can actually cause things to happen—despite their avid unbelief in God or a creator! They have excluded any designer but filled in the resultant void with faulty reasoning. In this classic book, R. C. Sproul and Keith Mathison call the scientific world to employ logic and clarity in their discourse and to stop using the word “chance” to describe an ontological entity that can cause change. This expanded edition includes a new chapter dealing with the most recent attempts to defend irrational scientific statements. A new appendix reviews other literature on scientific discoveries that support belief in a creator God.
Top Highlights
“Where the word was once largely restricted to describing mathematical probability quotients, it took on a broader application to include far more than probabilities or coincidences. It has been used as a word to describe either the absence of cause or even a causal power itself.” (Page 14)
“Bohr’s dictum was not so much an act of arrogance as it was an act of desperation to justify the unjustifiable.” (Page 30)
“Indeed chance requires little authority at all if it is to depose God; all it needs to do the job is to exist” (Page 19)
“Why not? Because chance has no power to do anything. It is cosmically, totally, consummately impotent” (Page 22)
“Aristotle when he said that in the minds of the brightest men often resides the corner of a fool” (Page 30)
Powerfully argued. Here science, philosophy, and theology meet.
—Ravi Zacharias, author of The Real Face of Atheism
eadable, well researched, and compelling. The authors commend Christianity as the best explanation for our world of cause and effect and meaning.
—Douglas Groothuis, professor of philosophy, Denver Seminary
Sproul shows the reader that a self-creating universe is a self-contradiction. Every Christian who wants to make an effective defense for his or her faith should read this book.
—Steven B. Cowan, coauthor of The Love of Wisdom and coeditor of In Defense of the Bible
A needed correction for errors that have crept into modern-day science. It is a refreshing and enlightening book that tackles difficult topics and brings them down to the layman.
—Dr. Robert Waltzer, professor and chair of biology, Belhaven University
- Title: Not a Chance: God, Science, and the Revolt against Reason
- Authors: R. C. Sproul, Dr. Keith A. Mathison
- Edition: Expanded Edition
- Publisher: Baker
- Print Publication Date: 2014
- Logos Release Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Serendipity in science; Chance; Science › Philosophy; Cosmology
- ISBNs: 9781441227447, 9780801016219, 144122744X, 0801016215
- Resource ID: LLS:NOTACHANCE
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T01:53:12Z
R.C. Sproul (1939– 2017) was a respected teacher, theologian, and pastor. He was the founder and chairman of Ligonier Ministries where he served as executive editor of Tabletalk magazine. Sproul held degrees from Westminster College, Pittsburgh-Xenia Theological Seminary, Free University of Amsterdam, and Whitefield Theological Seminary. He taught at several colleges and seminaries including Reformed Theological Seminary and Knox Theological Seminary. He served as senior minister of preaching and teaching at Saint Andrew’s Chapel, in Sanford, Florida. Sproul’s teaching can be heard daily on the ‘Renewing Your Mind’ radio broadcast which plays in over 40 countries. He wrote numerous articles and over 70 books, including the classic The Holiness of God and a regular monthly column in Tabletalk magazine.
Keith A. Mathison (Ph.D., Whitefield Theological Seminary) is professor of systematic theology at Reformation Bible College. He is author of several books and served as an associate editor for the Reformation Study Bible and as associate editor of Tabletalk magazine.