
The Divine Imprint
Finding God In The Human Mind
Russell Stannard(Author)
SPCK Publishing
Published on 20. April 2017
Book
Paperback/Softback
192 pages
978-0-281-07810-3 (ISBN)
Description
The so-called New Atheists receive much publicity, but their demand to be provided with incontrovertible evidence for the existence of God, and that such evidence must come from a scientific examination of the physical world, is the wrong approach.
As many theologians and philosophers have claimed, the search for God begins by looking inwards into oneself.
But what does that mean?
Surely looking inwards we find nothing but the contents of one's own mind. Where does God come in? It is by the examination of the contents of the mind and trying to understand how they got there that one seeks clues about God's influence on the mind. Our consciousness bears a resemblance to that Consciousness from which it is directly derived. It bears his imprint. It is from the characteristics of that imprint we get to know what kind of God we are dealing with. Only then can we be open to realising how that other creation of his, the physical world, also bears his imprint.
As many theologians and philosophers have claimed, the search for God begins by looking inwards into oneself.
But what does that mean?
Surely looking inwards we find nothing but the contents of one's own mind. Where does God come in? It is by the examination of the contents of the mind and trying to understand how they got there that one seeks clues about God's influence on the mind. Our consciousness bears a resemblance to that Consciousness from which it is directly derived. It bears his imprint. It is from the characteristics of that imprint we get to know what kind of God we are dealing with. Only then can we be open to realising how that other creation of his, the physical world, also bears his imprint.
Reviews / Votes
As his BBC 'Thought for the Day' broadcasts illustrate, Russell Stannard is a master at explaining big ideas in simple prose. He is also one of the world's great communicators at the boundaries of science and faith. So-no surprise-The Divine Imprint is a fascinating tour of recent explorations of human nature, theology, and the possibility that God's mind may be revealed in the depths of our own minds. * David G. Myers, Professor of Psychology, Hope College, Michigan * Russell Stannard is one of the very best scientific educators we have. He has a wonderful gift for imaginative exploration. * The Tablet *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (UK-trade)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 11 mm
Weight
213 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-281-07810-3 (9780281078103)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
04/2017
1st Edition
SPCK Publishing
€9.49
Available for download
Person
Professor Russell Stannard OBE. Former Head of Physics and Astronomy atthe Open University, he was a high energy physicist working at the CERNLaboratory in Geneva. A licensed lay minister in the Church of England,broadcaster on BBC Radio 4's Thought for the Day, and award-winning author. Best known in children's publishing for the Uncle Albert trilogy (Faber, now published in 20 languages). He writes for both adults and youngpeople about science, religion, and how the two can be related to eachother.
Content
Contents
Prologue 1
1 False trails 9
Seeking theoretical proof 11
Seeing is believing 12
Filling in the gaps 12
Miracles 14
Argument from design 17
Another argument from design 23
Holy people and holy writings 29
The Ground of All Being 30
2 A new direction 35
Knowing God 37
The conscious God 38
The phenomenon of consciousness 39
The God within 42
The mind: evolutionary psychology 45
The mind: other approaches 104
The otherness of the mind 114
The roots of belief 116
3 Retracing steps 125
The final stage of our journey 127
Why a world? 128
What kind of world? 130
Creation through evolution 145
Evil and suffering 148
Death and eternal life 156
Learning from other people 168
Prologue 1
1 False trails 9
Seeking theoretical proof 11
Seeing is believing 12
Filling in the gaps 12
Miracles 14
Argument from design 17
Another argument from design 23
Holy people and holy writings 29
The Ground of All Being 30
2 A new direction 35
Knowing God 37
The conscious God 38
The phenomenon of consciousness 39
The God within 42
The mind: evolutionary psychology 45
The mind: other approaches 104
The otherness of the mind 114
The roots of belief 116
3 Retracing steps 125
The final stage of our journey 127
Why a world? 128
What kind of world? 130
Creation through evolution 145
Evil and suffering 148
Death and eternal life 156
Learning from other people 168