by Phillip E. Johnson
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Product Description
Voted one of Christianity Today's 1996 Books of the Year!In his first book, Darwin on Trial, Berkeley law professor Phillip E. Johnson took on the heavyweights of science. And he got their attention, even provoking a response from neo-Darwinist Stephen Jay Gould in the pages of Scientific American. Now Johnson's back with a book that expands his critique from science to law, education and today's culture wars.Is God unconstitutional?Why is morality forced out of public school curriculum?Can Christians believe in God and evolution?Why aren't we getting anywhere in the debate over abortion?Will the Grand Unified Theory solve the riddle of the universe?Johnson dares to answer these and other tough, touchy questions. He reveals why naturalism (the philosophy that the material world is all there was, is and will be) has become "the established religious philosophy of America," supplanting Judeo-Christian belief. He shows how naturalism undergirds science, law, education and popular culture. And he argues that naturalism has even infiltrated the church--marginalizing opposition as irrational, and encouraging Christians to adopt a more "reasonable" stance.In Reason in the Balance, Johnson writes energetically and persuasively--chapter by chapter zeroing in on the chinks in the argument for naturalism. He explores nearly every acre of today's cultural battlefield: God, sex education, evolution, abortion, cosmology and particle physics, what our public schools should teach, the basis of law, the meaning of reason and a few other things that matter. Armed with biblical truth, common sense and a clear understanding of his foe, he steps out like David to fell the intellectual Goliath of our day.
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
 This should be read w. "The trouble with Physics", 2007-07-28
In "The trouble with Physics" the author frequently slams christans as illogical and irrational while using terms like "faith on science" etc. "The trouble with Physics" is not an easy read but it is enligtening as to the humanity that science is done under. The politics, money and passions which make it less tha absolute truth.
This is the point that Philip Johnson makes as well. While these learned folks have huge bias and egos which are prejudiced automatically against certain points of view. Reason and logical rational thought that is objective overcomes these barriers in all of us.
7 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
 In Praise Of Illogical, Irrational Thought From A Very Bitter Angry Old Man, 2007-05-19
For years University of California, Berkeley law professor Phillip Johnson has been on a fanatical crusade against what he perceives as the evil aspects of modern American society, placing blame primarily on the shoulders of atheistic liberal evolutionists like the late Stephen Jay Gould, Niles Eldredge and Richard Dawkins, to name but a few of the eminent scientists who have found themselves unexpected targets of his well-written, but nonetheless, quite vitriolic, and intellectually bankrupt, prose. How sad it is to read the words of a gifted writer like Johnson who truly is out of his league with respect to comprehending what science exactly is, and why evolution makes a lot of sense as both a scientific fact and a scientific theory. His harsh, dismal view of American society stands in stark contrast to the optimistic vision expressed by my friend Ken Miller, a Brown University professor of biology, in his excellent book "Finding Darwin's God", which was published originally around the same time as this vitriolic diatribe. Ken, a devout Roman Catholic Christian, has no problems reconciling his faith in God and his acceptance - based on years of excellent scientific research - of the fact of evolution, and of the Theory of Evolution via Natural Selection as the most likely explanation for the rich biological diversity which Planet Earth holds. Johnson's "Reason in the Balance: The Case Against Naturalism in Science, Law & Education" argues so strongly in favor of injecting a supernatural bias into science, law and education that it expresses a view which would be regarded by the United States Supreme Court as contrary to the original desires and hopes of the Founding Fathers responsible for drafting the United States Constitution; in plain English, they would rule that his view is unconstitutional. A view that isn't "reason in the balance", but instead, a dubious, deceitful one that praises illogical, irrational thought. Instead of wasting your time thinking of buying this book, please strongly consider instead the superb books written by Ken Miller, philosophers Richard Pennock and Philip Kitcher, paleobiologist Niles Eldredge, and anthropologist Eugenie Clark which I cite in my Listmania! List entitled "Why Evolution is Science & Creationism Isn't" (http://www.amazon.com/Why-Evolution-Is-Science-amp-Creationism-Isn-t/lm/R1288DTMHQJI13/ref=cm_lm_byauthor_title_full/103-2708890-6723846). Otherwise, by purchasing this book, you are unwittingly giving some credit - when none is due - to the inexcusable, deceitful declarations of a very bitter angry old man.
0 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
A Clear Look at the Devastating Consequences of Modernism, 2007-05-04
This is a must read for parents and those planning on attending college. I smile at the reviewer that says science is based on observable data, while omitting that much of evolution is based upon assumptions that cannot be observed, much less proven. Students beware. If you have faith in God, your faith will challenged, marginalized, scoffed at, and maybe worse when you enter college. Read Darwin on Trial and Reason in the Balance to bring you hope. Phillip Johnson is meticulous in his examination of 'scientific naturalism', 'materialism' or in his words, modernism. His point is that it is not science, but religion and it is antagonistic towards God.
Mr. Johnson does not discuss "possible" outcomes of relativism. Instead, he provides clear examples of severe problems in our schools and universities and the fervent attempts by secularists to remove religion from education. I taught school for 9 years and saw continuing examples of Arthur Leff's famous "Sez who?" Is this book easy to read? No. Is it essential to understanding the religious dogma of scientific naturalism and how to combat it? Yes.
3 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
Brilliant, insightful analysis , 2007-02-06
One of the most important books I have read. A masterful discussion of the merits of Theism and Naturalism for the claim to truth and reason. Dr Johnson gives a stunningly compelling defense of the rational merits of Theism, carefully exposing the false claims and destructive effects of Atheistic Naturalism in science, education and law. If you want to be equipped to know and win battles against the rising tide of secularism, "Reason in the Balance" is essential reading. You can make a secularists head spin exposing their absurdity, and get them thinking critically about the bankruptcy of dominant secularist presumptions in the culture today.
3 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
Excellent assesment of the perennial struggle between faith and naturalism in society, 2007-01-24
After reading Desmond Curran's ill-informed review, all I'm left to wonder is whether or not he even bothered to read the book. If he had, he might have actually addressed the purpose of the book, which was to show that basing law, education and science purely on naturalism produces very questionable results. Johnson notes that it produces societies that begin to lose their notion of acting in the common good and instead turn inward and focus on creating their own personal space and prosperity to the detriment of society as a whole. Naturalism rejects the notion of any concrete moral guideposts, and therefore people who subscribe to it feel no obligation to act on anything except their own subjective and ever-changing beliefs. It's a good and fair point he makes, and even a number of athiests over the centuries have noted that mankind would probably lose all moral sense of direction without some sort of faith in their lives.
This isn't to assume that the faith community is without flaw...it certainly has its share of skeletons in the closet. But overall, naturalism and its focus on subjective laws has brought us such horrors as Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot and Mao Tse Tung (all fervent believers in "natural" law). These men were responsible for nearly 100 million deaths in the 20th century alone, and to a large degree acted that way because they had no moral absolutes to follow, only their own subjective guidelines.
Mr. Curran's comments about religion may contain a hint of truth in them, but rather than offer any evidence to support his attack, he just levels a rant at Johnson while ignoring the horrific track record of his own worldview, apparently that of naturalism. I would suggest he reread the book with an open mind, since his comments show he didn't bother to read very far. Mr. Johnson wasn't "preaching" to scientists as Mr. Curran alleges ... he simply showed that the worldview that's largely accepted by scientists (naturalism) provides a weak foundation for building a healthy society.
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