The Evidential Power of Beauty [Paperback]

I am not a scientist,a theologian, or a Catholic. You don't have to be to enjoy this book immensely and even learn a thing or two about something you probably never thought twice about--for example,water. Dubay takes time to explore the "givens" in our world that are so casually seen as "miraculous accidents." His marvelous prose and fire for God lights every page. The underlying push for even beginning to ponder God's mystery,awe, and love is, as Dubay quoted, the "ability to have the humility to sit at the foot of a dandelion."

The book is simply a masterful work of art, a lovely tour of how theology and science merge together at the point of Beauty. Though both disciplines have opposite starting points, they lead to many of the same conclusions about our Universe.

Buy or borrow this book, find a comfortable chair, and take your time absorbing the "evidential beauty" in this book.

"... simple observation shows that people, including academics, readily welcome intellectual interventions and therefore design, when the question is free of cultural biases and does not impinge on their personal lifestyle and chosen philosophy. I find it both amusing and instructive that when scientists come upon evidence in their field (anthropology, for example) that seems to support a theory popular among their colleagues, no one hints that an apparent causal connection was due to random chance. In an archeological dig, if the investigators find a stone so chipped that it could have served as a knife, they conclude that it was deliberately made, that is, designed for that purpose by a human ancestor. Their inference may well be true, but all the same, it is enormously weaker than design in a bird's wing, and fantastically weaker than design throughout any living cell. In the latter, the case for design is overwhelming. When it is rejected, the cause must be due to personal philosophy and bias having nothing to do with science. In more plain language, the rejection has all the appearance of a materialistic dogma that no divine mind must be admitted. This is bad science because it is a position based on a personal philosophy and not on scientific data. The carefully arranged and massive blocks of stone at Stonehenge are a more detailed example of a scientific acceptance of design when such is popular. Their precise positioning is explained, most likely correctly, by the deliberate will to align them to the sunrise at the summer solstice. This likelihood seems stronger than that of the chipped stone, but it remains far, far weaker than the endless examples nature furnishes ... Yes, something less than cool, objective scientific thinking lies behind the rejection of mind behind nature."

The science here isn't always precise, but where it is not it seems that Dubay has understated his case. Thus the discrepancies do not damage the author's thesis. The greater flaw to this volume is that the author has presented not only an apologia for the reality of a wise Creator but for the Roman Catholic Church. Cases against atheism suddenly incorporate attacks on Protestants, rock n roll, contraception, etc. If the book had been edited into something more lean and 'on-task' this would be a tremendous book. It's pretty good as is.

I have always been fascinated by science and nature but lately in my work with the elderly and with prisoners in the criminal justice system as well as my growning sprituality which includes contemplative prayer. Thomas Dubay's book has helped to to understand how both of these aspects of my walk with God tie to my early appreication of science and nature.

I have also developed a great appreciation for Han Hurs Von Balthasar from this book.

Thomas Dubay is a truely gifted writer and I hope to see many more of his books in the future.