Tuesday 25 April 2017

20 Answers Faith & Science - Trent Horn- 20 Answers Series from Catholic Answers

20 Answers - Faith & Science 
20 Answers Series from Catholic Answers 
Trent Horn
Catholic Answers Press
ISBN 9781938983870
eISBN 9781938983894
ASIN B01HDV7YNE



Some good news first, this series has just been expanded from 20 to 23 books and I believe more will release in the fall expanding it even further. Of the 23 books now available Trent Horn has written 10. His books are always great reads. And I can say the same for this one.

This past Lent I did the 20 Answers Challenge, read all 20 books in the Catholic Answers series (that were available at the time).  Currently you can get the first 20 books for 50% off, an amazing deal, so get them with this deal while you can! They are really great reads. I have rated 18 of the 20 with 5 out of 5 stars, and the other two got 4 stars. I hold a BA in Religious Studies with a focus on Roman Catholic Thought, and I love the clarity of through and the format of this series. My son age 9, recently came home from school saying kids were bugging him because he wants to be a scientist priest when he grows up. This book is a little beyond him but I cannot wait until he is a little older to share it with him. The 20 questions that Trent answers in this volume are:

1. Didn't the Catholic Church condemn science and as a result send us into the medieval "Dark Ages"?
2. Did the Catholic Church teach that the Earth was flat?
3. Did the Catholic Church condemn human dissection and so stifle understanding of the human body?
4. If the Church was so hospitable to science, then why did it kill the ingenious scientist Giordano Bruno?
5. Why did the Church torture and imprison Galileo for his belief that the Earth revolved around the sun?
6. Doesn't the concept of faith, or believing without evidence, contradict the concept of reason, which means to follow the evidence where it leads?
7. Why can't I just have faith in science as the way to understand the world?
8. Isn't all of the evidence for God just "God of the gaps" reasoning? Won't science eventually explain everything that religion cannot?
9. Hold on a minute. Hasn't science shown that something can indeed come from nothing and that moral behavior exists among chimpanzees and could have come from evolution?
10. How can you trust the Bible when the book of Genesis contradicts the theory of evolution by saying the world was created in six twenty-four-hour days 6,000 years ago?
11. How do Catholics view intelligent design?
12. How can you say God created the universe when science has proven that humans are just an insignificant speck within it?
13. Hasn't science proven there is no such thing as a soul?
14. Why is the Church opposed to stem cell research that could provide medical breakthroughs for millions of people?
15. Why doesn't the Church accept the American Psychological Association's conclusion that homosexuality is not disordered?
16. Why does the Church oppose fertility treatments that can help infertile couples have a baby?
17. Why doesn't the Church support the use of contraceptives that have been scientifically proven to reduce rates of unintended pregnancies as well as sexually transmitted diseases?
18. Does the Church believe that some vaccines are bad because they come from "aborted babies"?
19. How do you explain the fact that the majority of scientists are atheists?
20. What have religious people ever done for science?

The introduction of this booklet states:


"Didn't the Catholic Church ban science in the Middle Ages in order to protect the Faith? Wasn't Galileo tortured for proving the Church was wrong about the sun orbiting the Earth? Didn't Columbus bravely defy a Church that believed he would sail off the edge of a flat planet?
These and many other myths about the relationship between the Catholic Church and science are just that: myths. In fact, you can find the origins for many of them in two books written more than a hundred years ago: Andrew Dickson White's A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom (1896) and John Draper's History of the Conflict between Religion and Science (1874). 
Today, historians have largely abandoned the conclusions reached by Draper and White, who promoted what is now called "the conflict thesis," the belief that science and religion are at odds. In the book Science and Religion: A Historical Introduction, science historian Colin Russell writes, "The conflict thesis, at least in its simple form, is now widely perceived as a wholly inadequate intellectual framework within which to construct a sensible and realistic historiography of Western science. . . . At different phases of their history, science and religion were not so much at war as largely independent, mutually encouraging, or even symbiotic."

Unfortunately, as Mark Twain said, "A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes." The purpose of this booklet is to help the truth catch up to the lies about the Catholic Church and to show that there is no contradiction in worshipping the God who created the universe and in using science to explore and understand that creation."

And this book then goes on to counter many of those lies and misconceptions about the church and its stance on science over the years. He debunks a lot of myths, and provides a reality check from historical sources. Of particular interest were the chapters on Intelligent Design and the section on Stem Cell research. 

No to be honest not all of the answers in this book are easy to take, especially in a western culture that has drifted so far from its roots. But the book does give clear concise answers that are in alignment with church teaching. This book was a bit more of a surprise than some of the other books. But in many ways that made it even a more important read for me.

This is a wonderful book in an amazing series! Another great read from Catholic Answers and Trent Horn.

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2017 Catholic Reading Plan!

Note 2: Currently this is an amazing series of books is being offered at a 50% discount so get it while you can. That is right you can get all 20 physical books or all 20 eBooks for just $34.95! If you want a way to go deeper this year give this series a try! #20AnswersChallenge




20 Answers Series:
20 Answers Abortion - Trent Horn
20 Answers Angels & Demons - Fr. Mike Driscoll
20 Answers Atheism - Matt Fradd
20 Answers Death & Judgement - Trent Horn
20 Answers Divorce & Remarriage - Jim Blackburn
20 Answers End of Life - Jason Negri
20 Answers Faith & Science - Trent Horn
20 Answers God - Trent Horn
20 Answers Islam - Andrew Blezad
20 Answers Jehovah's Witnesses - Trent Horn
20 Answers Mary - Tim Staples
20 Answers Miracles - Karlo Broussard
20 Answers Mormonism - Trent Horn
20 Answers Salvation - Jimmy Akin
20 Answers Scripture and Tradition - Jim Blackburn
20 Answers The Bible - Trent Horn
20 Answers The Eucharist - Trent Horn
20 Answers The Papacy - Jim Blackburn
20 Answers The Real Jesus - Trent Horn

20 Answers The Church - Trent Horn
20 Answers Witchcraft & the Occult - Michelle Arnold
20 Answers Apparitions & Revelations - Michael O'Neill
20 Answers Bible Prophecy - Jimmy Akin
20 Answers Homosexuality - Jim Blackburn
20 Answers The Reformation - Steve Weidenkopf
20 Answers The Sacraments - Fr. Mike Driscoll

20 Answers Bioethics - Stacy A. Trasancos
20 Answers Conversion - Shaun McAfee
20 Answers Faith and Works - Jimmy Akin
20 Answers Anti-Catholic Myths - Jimmy Akin
20 Answers The End Times - Jimmy Akin
20 Answers The Rosary - Tom Nash
20 Answers Seasons & Feasts – Michelle Arnold
20 Answers New Age -  Michelle Arnold
20 Answers Catholic Social Teaching – Mark Brumley
20 Answers Prayer – Hugh Barbour O. Praem and Sebastian Walshe O. Praem
20 Answers Faith & Reason – Christopher Kaczor
20 Answers The New Testament – Jimmy Akin
20 Answers Protestantism – Jimmy Akin
20 Answers Marriage & Sex – Todd Aglialoro
20 Answers The Early Church – Jim Blackburn
20 Answers The Old Testament – Jimmy Akin
20 Answers Judaism – Michelle Arnold
20 Answers The Sacraments – Father Mike Driscoll
... 

Other Books from Catholic Answers:
Hard Sayings: A Catholic Approach to Answering Bible Difficulties - Trent Horn
A Daily Defense: Apologetics Lessons for Every Day - Jimmy Akin
The Apostasy That Wasn't: The Extraordinary Story of the Unbreakable Early Church - Rod Bennett
Answering Atheism - How to Make the Case for God with Logic and Charity - Trent Horn
Persuasive Pro Life: How to Talk About Our Culture's Toughest Issue - Trent Horn and Fr Frank Pavone
The Protestant's Dilemma: How the Reformation's Shocking Consequences Point to the Truth of Catholicism - Devin Rose
Behold Your Mother: A Biblical and Historical Defense of the Marian Doctrines - Tim Staples
Handed Down: The Catholic Faith of the Early Christians - James L. Papandrea
Demons, Deliverance, Discernment: Separating Fact from Fiction about the Spirit World - Fr. Mike Driscoll
Navigating the Tiber: How to Help Your Friends and Family Journey Toward the Catholic Faith - Devin Rose
100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura - Dave Armstrong
The Drama of Salvation: How God Rescues You from Your Sins and Brings You to Eternal Life - Jimmy Akin
The Truth is Out There (Brendan and Erc in Exile Book 1 - Brother Amadeus and Amadeus
...Memorize the Reasons! Defending the Faith with the Catholic Art of Memory - Kevin Vost
Marching Orders: A Tactical Plan for Converting the World to Christ - Dan McGuire

The Fathers Know Best - Jimmy Akin
Why We're Catholic: Our Reasons for Faith, Hope, and Love - Trent Horn
The Old Evangelization: How to Spread the Faith Like Jesus Did - Eric Sammons
What the Saints Never Said - Trent Horn
...

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