The imagined conflict: On science and God

Last autumn, John Lennox, emeritus professor of mathematics at the University of Oxford, suggested I make an English version of my book from 2021, shown to the right. John has visited the University of Oslo several times (in 2018 and in 2024). 

The first step thas now been taken in the form of an initial draft. John also helped me find someone to go through it, and it has now been read through by a native speaker of British English who is himself an author of several books.

Here is the outline with page numbers from Word (A4 paper format):

Introduction                                                                        6
    God has arranged all things
    The big questions

1 God's two books                                                            14
    Does science make religion unnecessary?
    A faith to be proud of
    Too much to doubt and too little to believe
    Seven different perspectives

2 The amazing creation                                                                     26
    Consciousness and language
    The finely tuned water molecule
    Created from stardust
    Cosmic evolution and intelligent life
    A creation that points to a creator

3 Serious science in the Middle Ages and the unwavering Galileo    39
    Eighteen dark centuries
    Tycho Brahe and his rational arguments
    Johannes Kepler thinks "God's thoughts"
    Galileo Galilei was right, and so were his critics

4 The history of life and the universe                                             70
    Eternal universe or a beginning?
    Life has a beginning
    The Beginning of the universe

5 Philosophy of science                                                                     95
    Is science possible?
    Aristotle's four explanations
    Laws of nature

6 Evolution and purpose                                                                     110
    Evolution is not what you think it is
    Evolution and philosophy of science
    Beyond Neo-Darwinism

7 Man and Evolution                                                                     129
    Intellect, rationality, and intention
    Human nature and consciousness

8 The perceived and the real conflict                                             145
    Newton of all people was no Newtonian
    The real conflict
    The testimony of Christian scientists

Appendix A: The Bible and science                                             155
    The Bible and cosmology
    The Bible and the age of the earth
    The Bible and evolution
    The Bible, soul, and human nature

Appendix B: The complex complexity argument                                 171

Afterword                                                                                              176

References                                                                                           177

The translation mostly follows the original. One difference is that Chapter 8 is new, based on experience in presenting the material since 2021. Appendix A consists of material which originally was at the end of chapters 3, 4, 6, and 7. Likewise Appendix B was originally in chapter 6.