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Laramie, WY, July 20, 2010
- Religion versus Science: Where Both Sides go Wrong in The
Great Evolution Debate (O-Books), by Ron Frost, is a
comprehensive, unbiased view of evolution that bridges the
apparently unbridgeable gap between creationism (an Intelligent
Design) and the scientific view of evolution. Having studied
and practiced Shambhala Buddhism for over twenty-five years,
Frost became aware there were aspects of his mind that occurred
from outside his ego. He realized that if one posits a
transcendent aspect of consciousness it has a major implication
on how one interprets the scientific evidence for evolution.
Ron Frost wrote his in-depth and well-researched book on the
premise that the great debate over evolution is driven more by
misconceptions held by proponents on both sides of the debate
than by the actual facts of evolution itself. The basic facts
of evolution – that the Earth is immensely old, that all life
can be traced to one ancient progenitor, and that natural
selection causes species to change - are indisputable. The
error that materialistic scientists make is to assume that
evolution is a random, pointless process and that the only value
to human life is to act as a carrier for all-important genes.
It is this interpretation of evolution, more than the actual
facts themselves, which has long irritated Evangelical
Christians.
Frost believes the mistake that Creationists and advocates of
Intelligent Design make is in attacking the facts of evolution
rather than the materialistic manner in which the facts are
presented. Frost’s goal in writing Religion Versus Science
is to present a view of evolution that is compatible with both
the scientific evidence for evolution and with the core
teachings of all but the most fundamentalist of the world’s
religions. Science deals with the objective, material aspects
of reality and religion deals with the subjective way we relate
to the outer world – two different yet complementary ways of
viewing the world.
Knowing that many Christians disagree with the atheistic lens
through which evolution is presented yet also have misgivings
about a solely Creationist’s view, the idea that evolution and
Darwinism can be compatible with faith in a transcendent reality
will be very appealing. For the secular, technical population
this book will provide answers to why Creationists hate
science. Because Frost’s book is not written from a purely
Christian point of view, he can discuss the role of
consciousness in evolution without having to worry about the
problem of a Creator – resulting in a theory of evolution that
is applicable to both theistic and non-theistic religious
traditions.
Ron Frost has been an editor for two major scientific journals
and a professor of Geology at the University of Wyoming for many
years, and has studied the chemical composition of rocks, the
minerals they contain, and what they tell us about ancient
geologic processes. This, together with his twenty-five years
as a practicing Buddhist, makes the perfect combination in a
writer to find a common ground between science and religion.
For information on this fascinating subject, please visit Ron’s
website at:
www.ronfrost.com
and watch him on a live
interview:
http://geology.uwyo.edu/?q=node/281.
TIP SHEET:
Karl Giberson, Ph.D.,
author of Saving Darwin: How to be a Christian and Believe in
Evolution, and Oracles of Science: Celebrity Scientists Versus
God and Religion with Mariano Artigas:
“Frost’s
remarkably wide-ranging volume offers the reader a helpful
survey of the troubled road that led to the current controversy
over scientific theories of origins. More than just another
book on creation versus evolution, Science vs. Spirituality
locates the controversy in the inability of science to deal
effectively with the realm of consciousness and mind, where our
deepest needs and most profound experiences reside. Writing
from an eastern, Buddhist perspective, Frost offers a fresh
perspective on one of the deepest questions of our time.”
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