The Return of the God Hypothesis: Compelling Scientific Evidence for the Existence of God
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- Create Date：2021-04-04 02:31:46
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Stephen C. Meyer
- ISBN：0062071505
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Summary
The New York Times bestselling author of Darwin’s Doubt and Intelligent Design scholar presents groundbreaking scientific evidence of the existence of God， based on breakthroughs in physics， cosmology， and biology。
In 2004， Stephen C。 Meyer， one of the preeminent scientists studying the origins of life， ignited a firestorm of media and scientific controversy when a biology journal at the Smithsonian Institution published his peer-reviewed article advancing the theory of Intelligent Design。 Then， in his two bestselling books， Signature in the Cell and Darwin’s Doubt， he helped unravel a mystery that Charles Darwin did not address: how did life begin？ and offered further scientific proof to bolster his arguments on the history of life and our origins， concluding that life was designed。
In those previous books， Meyer purposely refrained from attempting to answer questions about “who” might have designed life。 Now， in The Return of the God Hypothesis， he brings his ideas full circle， providing a reasoned and evidence-based answer to the ultimate mystery of the universe， drawn from recent scientific discoveries in physics， cosmology， and biology。
Meyer uses three scientific points to refute popular arguments put forward by the “New Atheists” against the existence of God:
The evidence from cosmology showing that the material universe had a beginning。
The evidence from physics showing that， from the beginning， the universe was been “finely tuned” to allow for the possibility of life。
The evidence from biology showing that since the universe came into being， large amounts of genetic information present in DNA must have arisen to make life possible。
In analyzing the evidence from these three fields， Meyer reveals how the data support not just the existence of an intelligent designer of some kind—but the existence of a theistic creator。
In 2004， Stephen C。 Meyer， one of the preeminent scientists studying the origins of life， ignited a firestorm of media and scientific controversy when a biology journal at the Smithsonian Institution published his peer-reviewed article advancing the theory of Intelligent Design。 Then， in his two bestselling books， Signature in the Cell and Darwin’s Doubt， he helped unravel a mystery that Charles Darwin did not address: how did life begin？ and offered further scientific proof to bolster his arguments on the history of life and our origins， concluding that life was designed。
In those previous books， Meyer purposely refrained from attempting to answer questions about “who” might have designed life。 Now， in The Return of the God Hypothesis， he brings his ideas full circle， providing a reasoned and evidence-based answer to the ultimate mystery of the universe， drawn from recent scientific discoveries in physics， cosmology， and biology。
Meyer uses three scientific points to refute popular arguments put forward by the “New Atheists” against the existence of God:
The evidence from cosmology showing that the material universe had a beginning。
The evidence from physics showing that， from the beginning， the universe was been “finely tuned” to allow for the possibility of life。
The evidence from biology showing that since the universe came into being， large amounts of genetic information present in DNA must have arisen to make life possible。
In analyzing the evidence from these three fields， Meyer reveals how the data support not just the existence of an intelligent designer of some kind—but the existence of a theistic creator。
Reviews
Trevor Rolls
，
If you follow Stephen C。 Meyer， then whether you are friend or foe， you likely know what to expect from this book。 I do want to try to tailor this review to the person that might not know what to expect， but I also think it only fair to disclose my bias。 I have been following Dr。 Meyer for some time now， read much of his previous work， and enjoyed several occasions to speak with him through webinar and zoom conferences， so keep that in mind when considering my opinion。 Finally， I want you to und If you follow Stephen C。 Meyer， then whether you are friend or foe， you likely know what to expect from this book。 I do want to try to tailor this review to the person that might not know what to expect， but I also think it only fair to disclose my bias。 I have been following Dr。 Meyer for some time now， read much of his previous work， and enjoyed several occasions to speak with him through webinar and zoom conferences， so keep that in mind when considering my opinion。 Finally， I want you to understand what Meyer is trying to do here， so be aware that my summary will contain some content from the book。 While I will try to keep it at a minimum， avoid my review if you direly disapprove of spoilers。Summary:While Dr。 Meyer presents a sophisticated argument for theistic intelligent design， he does so in a fairly straightforward argumentative format。 He starts with background of the areas he will discuss， in two parts。 He then offers an explanation of the methodology he will use before applying it to the areas of interest regarding his thesis。 From there he considers counterarguments to his points。 Finally， he offers his conclusions。The background begins with sort of a tour of the history and philosophy of science in order to refute the pervasive warfare myth between theism and science。 The second part of his background treatment offers the history and current beliefs regarding the origin of the universe， the fine tuning of the universe， and the presence of information in both the origin and explosion of life。Explaining his methodology and reasoning， Dr。 Meyer discusses various modes of evaluation as well as various worldviews and their positions on metaphysical components to reality。 From here， Meyer， using the method of abductive reasoning， seeks to show the adequacy and explanatory power of the God hypothesis， that is， theism， as compared to the competing hypotheses of deism， naturalism， and pantheism， to account for the beginning of the universe， the design of the universe， and the design of life。After applying his methodology in examination of the three main ideas， Dr。 Meyer addresses responses， potential refutations， and conjectures on behalf of the positions he claims are inadequate causally and explanatorily regarding his main thesis points。 Some of these include chemical evolution， RNA world， evolutionary biologists （theistic and atheistic）， various multiverse theories， quantum theories， and more。Finally， Meyer moves to his conclusion， which is as the title suggests， that the God hypothesis has come full circle and is， once again， a viable and （in his opinion） superior explanation for the previously named phenomena。Critique:As I am fond of， I will offer my critique in a， “The good， the bad， and the ugly” format。First， the good。 Meyer is a storyteller。 He doesn’t simply make assertions， such as， say， “The big bang suggests a big banger。” Rather， he will tell you the whole story of the big bang， how it was arrived at， what it means， why it is still around， who likes it， who doesn’t like it， and all such else。 Then， he will， in light of those facts， explain the philosophical implications。 This is just an example， but this is his style。 He is very thorough。 On that note， if you look at the bibliography， you will see over 500 sources。 Again， he doesn’t just make claims， he presents whole accounts。 When you read his work， you really get the feeling that you are getting a detailed and fair treatment of an issue or topic。This leads to the bad。 Sometimes， it is just too much for the average layperson to grasp。 I did okay with this book because I am familiar with most of the material， but if a person is just learning about these topics for the first time， it can seem a little overwhelming。 In his previous works， I had to， at times， skip through some of the more technical explanations and move to the parts in the chapters that were summaries。The ugly。 Dr。 Meyer is on the bleeding edge of development in a philosophical and scientific turf war （or arms race if you prefer）。 He did a great job refuting the myth that science and religion were at odds in times past， but he is completely aware of the war of the worldviews currently in play。 This is an ugly subject， and while he was ever the gentleman in his presentations， I expect a deluge of ad hominem attacks and invective from those who hate him and his position。Conclusion:If you are even at all interested in the relationship between science and religion， buy this book。 If you don’t like having your presuppositions and worldview challenged， don’t buy this book。 If you are open and objective， you will be pressed and stretched， whether theist， deist， or naturalist。 If you buy the book and don’t like what it says， all of the claims are sourced and open for investigation。 。。。more
Arevik Heboyan
，
A very solid 3。5-star work of non-fiction， combining and explaining ever opposed and forever in competition worlds of religion and science。 Sure， this book is another attempt to synthesize both branches of world-understanding: religion and science。 Interestingly， these 2 complex systems of understanding the world have been always presented as opposed and in competition， always being pushed against one another， and in human understanding， these 2 complete phenomenons are mutually-excluding。 As so A very solid 3。5-star work of non-fiction， combining and explaining ever opposed and forever in competition worlds of religion and science。 Sure， this book is another attempt to synthesize both branches of world-understanding: religion and science。 Interestingly， these 2 complex systems of understanding the world have been always presented as opposed and in competition， always being pushed against one another， and in human understanding， these 2 complete phenomenons are mutually-excluding。 As someone deeply interested in both， I am sure most of the time this opposition is very artificial and this opposition limits the development of both branches。。。 The book attempts to include recent scientific wins in the explanation of the existence of outer power responsible for the creation and control of human living and trying to remove the artificial opposition we have for more than a millennium。 。。。more
Kristjan
，
I enjoyed this book， albeit from the aspect of somebody that didn't need much convincing。 It starts with a quick review of the "war" between science and faith， pointing out how religion （specifically Christianity） help jump start what eventually becomes the scientific method， the foundation of modern science today。 Then it moves into a discussion [in Part II] on the improbability of life anywhere in the universe if the conditions for life were not so finely tuned， suggesting the existence of int I enjoyed this book， albeit from the aspect of somebody that didn't need much convincing。 It starts with a quick review of the "war" between science and faith， pointing out how religion （specifically Christianity） help jump start what eventually becomes the scientific method， the foundation of modern science today。 Then it moves into a discussion [in Part II] on the improbability of life anywhere in the universe if the conditions for life were not so finely tuned， suggesting the existence of intelligent design （very similar to Schroeder's Science of God， it more detail and better support）。 Unfortunately the bulk of the argument in support of the "God Hypothesis" realistically stops there 。。。 without definitive proof of Divine Creator， the author then advances the idea that Intelligent Design is the most probable hypothesis 。。。 and he does this by developing poorly constructed strawman arguments to undermine materialism/naturalism， pantheism， panspermia （aliens 。。。 which IMHO was never a true contender for intelligent life on earth） in Part III。 Seriously 。。。 I am already a believer and even I wasn't convinced here。 I really had a hard time pushing through this part。 Unfortunately it just gets more incoherent as the books goes on。 I may not have a PhD; however， I do have formal training in thermodynamics and information theory and I really don't think the author gets these right 。。。 or else he just does an abysmal job with his explanation; either way it makes it difficult to trust his portrayal of the science as accurate。 By the end it feels like the author is trying hard to insert a square peg into a round hole 。。。I was given this free advance reader copy （ARC） ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review。#TheReturnoftheGodHypothesis #NetGalley 。。。more
James McKinley
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I am neither a theologian nor a scientist and the relationship between the two subjects fascinates me。 It is not hyperbole to say I think about it every day of my life。 One could say that there has been a war between scientists: those that believe science “proves” the existence of God and those that believe science discredits God’s existence and this book explores both sides of this argument。 It is really heavy stuff。 So heavy that I found my eyes glazing over while reading this immensely dense I am neither a theologian nor a scientist and the relationship between the two subjects fascinates me。 It is not hyperbole to say I think about it every day of my life。 One could say that there has been a war between scientists: those that believe science “proves” the existence of God and those that believe science discredits God’s existence and this book explores both sides of this argument。 It is really heavy stuff。 So heavy that I found my eyes glazing over while reading this immensely dense text。 This did not detract much from my reading experience but enough so that I didn’t love it as much as I hoped。 Now please don’t let this dissuade you hardcore scientists or theologians。 There is a lot of great material here （though it leans more toward religion） and the research and work that went into this is something to be admired。 It just isn’t for someone with a passing interest like myself。 。。。more
Lisa Konet
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