A thought-provoking attempt to create a faith/science synthesis.
Morris presents a “unified theory of belief” in this nonfiction work.
In this brief but intriguing volume, the author, an engineer with an academic background in statistics, seeks to reconcile science and religious faith by viewing each as a series of estimations (“informed, inspired, meaningful approximations”) that can carry errors. “Not in the spiritual sense of mistake,” he clarifies, “but in the statistical sense of deviation from an unknowable whole.” Religious traditions often take their sacred texts as complete, but Morris proposes that they instead be viewed as portions of the truths they’re intended to convey. In other words, what if we understood these holy works as datasets? In this case, “misinterpretation isn’t just an epistemic error—it becomes a social one. An ethical one.” The author argues that, for example, the Book of Genesis should be seen not as a rival to modern cosmology but as an ancient interpretation of that cosmology. He proposes that the “soul” is not an object but rather a function of moral behavior across species, “an n-dimensional model of agency, awareness, and ethical responsiveness.” Morris allows that spiritual experience can’t be measured in the same way physical data can, and he invites his readers to imagine a world in which belief structures acknowledge the limitations that scenario implies. Still, empirically minded readers may quibble with the author’s contention that the world’s sacred texts are “meaningful approximations” of an aspect of reality in much the same way that, say, population statistics are informed estimates—heads can be counted, but there’s no objective evidence that gods exist. The value of the work is in Morris’ willingness to take a broader view of issues like the transmission of religious faith or the fallacy of human exceptionalism. “When we map animals by genetic similarity, we begin to see the foolishness of anthropocentric arrogance,” he writes. “We are not lords over creation, but kin within it.” That kind of perspective is always refreshing.
A thought-provoking attempt to create a faith/science synthesis.Pub Date: June 27, 2025
ISBN: 9798999339942
Page Count: 34
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Dec. 31, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
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