God's Ecology and the Dawkins Challenge: A Scientific Guide to the Spiritual Habitat [Paperback]

God's Ecology is deeply inspired by a holistic vision that is firmly grounded in practical experience and a wide acquaintance with science and the healing arts. There is a new culture emerging that joins together the fragmented strands of modernity into a unity of thought and practical action, to which this book is a major contributor. --Prof. Brian Goodwin - Schumacher College

This book takes up the challenge to the religious and spiritual life posed by the publication of The God Delusion by Professor Richard Dawkins in 2006. However, it is not a full-frontal attack, with point-by-point refutation. Rather, the authors painstakingly build up a picture of the universe as a many-layered coherent living wholeness, in which consciousness, matter, information, and energy resonate and interweave in an unending spiral of self-creation. Such a picture only emerges when the full range of human experience and leading-edge scientific speculation are approached without prejudice, i.e. in the true spirit of science . This open-minded approach is contrasted with the anti-spiritual, experience-denying approach of Dawkins and others, dubbed as scientism , and the reader is left free to make up their own mind as to which picture they prefer. The journey to this world-view, which in effect sees the whole cosmos as a gigantic conscious organism, takes us through many branches of human experience and areas of science. The authors who themselves are no strangers to spiritual experiences look at intuition, psychic phenomena, shamanism, spiritual healing and suchlike, citing the accumulated evidence of many studies. The treatment of homeopathy is helpful for those trying to understand how such tiny amounts of substance can have a real effect a puzzle which takes on a different twist when seen in terms of energy and information. The usual accusations of placebo effect by the establishment are here seen in a different light, as providing evidence for the healing effect of the mind. After looking at the endocrine system, the intelligence of the heart, developmental biology, the role of biological liquid crystals etc, there is a critical evaluation of the common view that genetics is the chief determining factor in organisms. This is clearly not the case, as the new epigenetics shows, since there are higher-level mechanisms which govern the genes. Many experiments and phenomena are cited, from the realm of chemistry, biology, and quantum theory, all of which point to the connectedness and coherence of all matter and energy. Sheldrake s Morphic Resonance has its place here, and we are introduced to Spiral Dynamics , a model which tries to accommodate the complexity of a many-layered evolving universe through the image of a creative spiral. The final picture, set against the narrow, deterministic views of Dawkins, has some features in common with the cosmos described by Steiner a cosmos infused with intelligence and will. Other features are not so close and may well challenge the Anthroposophical reader. However, the authors are to be congratulated on a bold contribution to current debate about the validity of spirituality. Even if you are not particularly interested in Dawkins atheism, the breadth of material covered in this book is well worth a read. --Dr Howard Smith in 'New View' magazine (forthcoming issue)

The rise of science has presented a challenge for religious experience to justify itself, trenchantly articulated by Richard Dawkins among others. This book meets that challenge in a comprehensive way, drawing evidence from biology, physics, neurochemistry and psychology, and also includes studies of intuition and psychism, shamanism and holistic healing. It creates a consistent, coherent and complete picture of existence, rooted in scientific evidence and the diverse personal experience of both authors. Refusing to accept that there are two worlds it shows how the spiritual reality fills gaps in scientific knowledge and creates one connected worldview that supports religion and science alike. It explains why prayer is real and why complementary medicine is so successful. Despite complex material, it weaves a picture that can be understood by all. You don't need to be a scientist to understand it and its message lives above the scientific details. For those following religious or spiritual paths who encounter the demand for a rational explanation of their beliefs and experiences, this book will be a major support. It is an excellent gift for sceptical partners and friends. Practitioners and beneficiaries from alternative healing will find strong scientific underpinning for both ancient wisdom and pragmatic experience. For open-minded atheists and agnostics it provides unprecedented strength of argument for a rational view of the Divine, a spiritual approach fit for a new millennium. It is a complete and comprehensive response to God Delusion arguments, which takes the debate away from the ground of simplified presentations and historical dogmas and places it firmly within the depth and breadth of modern understanding with profound implications for the way we live. The resulting view of creation is profound, empowering and optimistic.