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Book Review: Did Man Create God? Is Your Spiritual Brain at
Peace With Your Thinking Brain? By David E. Comings
M.D.
Yes, this is a volatile title, and the contents are just as
incendiary. As David Comings himself explains in the foreword
he has indeed met some resistance over the years. The
discussion of who came first, God or Man, has been hotly
debated for thousands of years.
This is a subject that almost everyone has a theory about, and
it breaks down into two camps, on the one hand you have the
evolutionists, and at 180 degrees different you have the
various flavors of Creationism. One side relies on scientific
proof, while the other tends to ignore any kind of scientific
proof, preferring instead to create a story that fits within
the religious texts.
Regardless of your leaning, most people point at Charles Darwin
as the culprit that has caused this rift. But as Comings
reveals, Darwin is not really guilty, much of his theories were
way off mark. Even worse, much of his scientific observations
make the forensic team involved with prosecuting OJ Simpson
look like heroes.
Did Man Create God? is a complex book, and at 700 pages hardly
a quick read.
Did I like it? Yes. Would I recommend it to the regular reader?
Maybe. This is 700 pages of University level Biology,
Chemistry, Physics, and Math. Unfortunately I found a lot of it
beyond my high school class abilities.
That said, I also found this book very thought-provoking.
One of the arguments opposing the evolutionary story is the
inordinate length of time required for an animal to evolve.
That combined with the incredible complexity of the human body
and mind makes it impossible for us to be anything else than a
divine creation. Not so says Dr. Comings, there are a number of
examples of 'quick' evolution. One of the examples cited
involved the Peppered moth during the Industrial Revolution. As
the pollution increased the peppered moth changed its
camouflage going from a white with black spots to a dark brown
color. This change did not occur over thousands of generations,
but happened within a very few generations. This is a great
example of natural selection.
Another fine example is Peter and Rosemary Gant's study of
finches on one of the smaller of the Galapogos Islands. This
study lasted for over 3 decades and the results were very
curious. During times of plenty the predominant beak shape was
narrow, making it adept for small soft seeds; however, when a
period of drought arrived the shape became broader, making it
better suited for crushing hard seeds.
While these are only two isolated cases, it does bolster the
case of rapid evolution under certain circumstances.
The question of did man create god is likely one that will
never have a definitive answer that all people can agree on
regardless of the scientific evidence. It has been argued since
man first learned the art of language, and no doubt will be
argued for many generations to come.
One aspect though that Dr. Comings does make strongly though is
that maybe your particular answer to the question is, it may
not really matter to the human race. When it comes to good and
evil we lean towards good, and we are overall a very spiritual
race. Spirituality does not necessarily have to involve
religion.
This is a book that is almost guaranteed to start a fight in
even the meekest and mildest household. My wife for example
took one look at the title and asked "So how are you and your
book going to enjoy sleeping on the couch?" Luckily she calmed
down later, and only the book had to sleep on the couch!
You can get your copy of Did Man Create God from
Amazon.
by Simon Barrett - 16th September 2008
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Simon Barrett is an adult educator in Calgary, Alberta. With
the 11 months a year of winter, he reads a lot of books! He is
also a contributing editor for http://www.bloggernews.net
and maintains a personal blog at http://zzsimonb.blogspot.com
.
Article Source:
http://www.creativewriter.me.uk
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