Byl, John Archives - Banner of Truth UK https://banneroftruth.org/uk/store/theauthor/byl-john/ Christian Publisher of Reformed & Puritan Books Tue, 06 Aug 2024 10:04:33 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://banneroftruth.org/uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2018/02/cropped-cropped-Banner-FilledIn-WithOval-1-32x32.jpg Byl, John Archives - Banner of Truth UK https://banneroftruth.org/uk/store/theauthor/byl-john/ 32 32 God and Cosmos https://banneroftruth.org/uk/store/theology/god-and-cosmos/ https://banneroftruth.org/uk/store/theology/god-and-cosmos/#respond Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:38:00 +0000 http://54.225.232.228/us/product/god-and-cosmos/ A Christian view of time, space and the universe. 256pp.

The post God and Cosmos appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

]]> Book Description

In his book A Brief History of Time, the famous Cambridge cosmologist Stephen Hawking held out the prospect of a complete theory of the universe by means of which we would know ‘why it is that we and the universe exist…then we would know the mind of God.’ Christian mathematician John Byl disagrees: ‘Hawking overestimates the value of a Theory-of-Everything, while underestimating the content of God’s mind.’ We already have in Scripture a source of knowledge superior to all other sources and already know ‘the mind of God’. so far as He has been pleased to reveal it to us. On this basis, Byl questions much of modern cosmology, including the Big-Bang theory of origins. He deals with the limitations of human knowledge, biblical teaching relevant to cosmology, the quest for extra-terrestrial intelligence, the existence of the spiritual realm, heaven, angels, life after death, and much else. Byl’s approach is a refreshing counter to the dreary and ultimately meaningless outlook of modern cosmology.

Table of Contents Expand ↓

Preface xi
1 THE BASIC QUESTIONS
Reconciling Cosmology and the Bible 2
Evaluating Cosmological Models 2
The Role of Religious Commitments 5
Epistemology and Revelation 6
Interpreting the Bible 9
The Scope of Biblical Authority 11
Preview 13
2 A BRIEF HISTORICAL SKETCH
Ancient Cosmology 15
Origins of Greek Cosmology 16
Classic Cosmology 17
Saving the Phenomena 19
Medieval Cosmology 22
The Perfect Harmony 22
The Demise of Medieval Cosmology 26
Galileo versus the Church 27
Theological Consequences 32
Pre-Modern Cosmology 35
Newtonian Cosmology 35
The Dynamic Universe 38
Heat Death 39
3 MODERN COSMOLOGY
A Brief History of the Big Bang 42
Explaining the Observations 48
1. Red Shifts 49
2. Abundances of Elements 53
3. The Cosmic Microwave Background 55
Further Big Bang Problems 59
1. Inflation 61
2. Galaxy Formation 62
3. Missing Mass 63
4. Acceleration 64
5. More Puzzles 65
Basic Cosmological Assumptions 66
The Problem of Verification 71
4 COSMOLOGY AND GOD’S EXISTENCE
The Cosmological Argument 77
Philosophical Arguments 78
The Big-Bang Singularity 82
The Second Law of Thermodynamics 92
The Argument from Design 96
Alternatives to Design 99
Design and Evolution 108
Conclusions 108
5 COSMOLOGY, LIFE AND THE FUTURE
Life in the Universe 113
A Brief History of ETI 114
The Scientific Case for ETI 115
Motivation for Belief in ETI 119
Theological Considerations 120
The Future of Life in the Universe 125
Future Life in a Closed Universe 127
Future Life in an Open Universe 128
Future Life in a Plasma Cosmology 130
6 THE STRANGE GODS OF MODERN COSMOLOGY
The Evolving God of Natural Theology 133
Natural Evolving Gods 134
Self-Caused Gods 139
An Evolving God and Christianity 144
1. The God of Teilhard de Chardin 144
2. The God of Process Theology 146
Life After Death 149
7 THE BIBLE ON COSMOLOGY
The Being and Nature of God 153
The Doctrine of Creation 156
The History of the Universe
Creation Events 159
The Fall and Its Consequences 163
Eschatology 164
The Date of Creation 165
The Spiritual Realm 167
Further Cosmological Questions
The Stars as Signs 172
The Size of the Universe 178
An Expanded Universe? 179
The Biblical Frame of Reference 180
The Big Bang and the Bible 181
8 BIBLICAL COSMOLOGIES
Young Universes
1. A Variable Speed of Light 189
2. Time Dilation 192
3. Curved-Space Models 193
4. Mature Creation 194
Geometric Models 202
Limits of Biblical Cosmology 209
9 CONCLUSIONS
Summary 215
Final Concluding Remarks 221
Bibliography 226
Index of Names and Subjects 238
FIGURES
2.1 The Geocentric Universe according to Peter Apian 18
2.2 Epicyclic Theory 21
2.3 The Medieval View of the Universe 23
2.4 Dante’s Conception of the Universe 25
2.5 The Heliocentric Universe according to Copernicus 28
2.6 The System of Tycho Brahe 30
2.7 The Heliocentric Universe of Thomas Digges 36
3.1 Distribution of Matter in the Universe 43
3.2 Comparison of Space Geometries 45
3.3 Distribution of Nearby Galaxies 57
3.4 Size of the Universe versus Time 60
7.1 Constellations of the Northern Sky 176
7.2 Constellations of the Southern Sky 177
8.1 The Effect of Curved Space on Apparent Distances 195
8.2 The Inverted Universe 205

 

The post God and Cosmos appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

]]> https://banneroftruth.org/uk/store/theology/god-and-cosmos/feed/ 0 The Divine Challenge https://banneroftruth.org/uk/store/theology/the-divine-challenge/ https://banneroftruth.org/uk/store/theology/the-divine-challenge/#respond Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:37:00 +0000 http://54.225.232.228/us/product/the-divine-challenge/ Byl argues convincingly that only a Christian worldview based on the truth of the Bible and the sovereignty of God can give life the coherence, meaning, purpose and hope men crave. 336pp.

The post The Divine Challenge appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

]]> Book Description

Since the Beginning of time man has challenged God’s supremacy, striving to dethrone God and reinterpret the universe according to his own standards and purposes. In response God, who is determined to destroy the wisdom of the wordly wise and to unmask it for the foolishness that it really is, issues his own challenge to sinful man. Arrogantly, modern scientific man takes up that divine challenge, arming himself with scientific knowledge and technological power. Indeed, man has convinced himself that this rational wisdom has made foolish the wisdom of Scripture, with its tall tales of a personal God, of life after death, and of heaven and hell. ‘Such notions’, Einstein declared, ‘are for the fears or absurd egoism of feeble souls.’

John byl argues that the Christian worldview provides the only foundation for logic, mathematics, science and morality. The Divine Challenge aims to substantiate this bold claim. Byl shows the failure of today’s predominant philosophies to provide a coherent worldview that can yield a plausible account of the various aspects of life as we experience it. Only a Christian worldview, squarely based on the truth of the Bible and the comprehensive sovereignty of God, can give our lives coherence, meaning, purpose and hope.

Table of Contents Expand ↓

Preface xiii
List of Diagrams xii
1. THE CHALLENGE FRAMED 1
Is God Dead? 4
The Mysterious Trio – Matter, Mind and Math 7
2. WORLD VIEW WARS 12
World view Questions 13
We Need Assumptions 15
World views in Conflict:
Theism, Naturalism, Relativism 17
Judging Worldviews 19
Science and Common Sense 21
Basics of Common Sense 22
Basics of Science 23
Logic and Truth
Contradictions of Absurdity 24
Refuting Oneself 25
What Is Truth? 26
Everything Has a Reason 27
Conclusions 28
Appendix: A Brief Primer on Logic 28
3. NATURALISM 32
The Days of Myth and Magic 33
The Impact of Christianity 35
The Scientific Revolution 36
Basics of Naturalism
Nature Is the Ultimate Reality 40
Nature Is a Closed System 41
Man Is a Mere Machine 41
Only Sense Knowledge Counts 42
Man Sets the Standards 42
History Has No Purpose 42
Conclusions 42
4. MYSTERIES OF MATTER 44
Why Does the World Exist 45
Why Is the World Orderly? 48
Why Is the World Uniform? 51
Why Can We Understand the World? 53
How Can Math Make Matter? 57
How Does the One Relate to the Many? 59
Conclusions 61
5. CHANCE, CAUSE AND CHAOS 63
The Puzzle of Gravity 64
Causes of Chaos 66
The Strange World of Atoms 68
Predicting Uncertainty 71
Is Chance a Cause? 72
Does Everything Have a Cause? 73
Making Sense of the Atomic World
An Unknowable World 74
A Determined World 75
Mind Makes Reality 77
Many Worlds 78
Taking Your Pick 78
Mind over Matter? 80
Conclusions 81
6. FROM MATTER TO MIND 82
Making Matter Come Alive 84
The Complexity of Life 84
The Tale of the Selfish Genes 87
Implications of Information 90
Detecting Design 91
Does Life Have a Purpose? 93
Turning Matter into Mind 95
Mysteries of Mind 96
What Are Thoughts about? 97
Is Mind More than Brain? 98
Emerging Mind 98
Dismissing the Mind 100
Are You for Real? 101
Meme Machine Minds 103
Can You Believe Your Beliefs? 106
Thoughts about Thoughts 108
Turning Thought into Action 109
Conclusions
7. FROM MIND TO MATH 111
Let’s Be Reasonable 112
Who Knows? 112
Can You Trust Your Mind?
Survival or Truth? 113
Physics or Purpose? 115
Justifying Truth
Where in the World is Truth? 116
A Question of Logic 117
Math Is Ideal 118
Are There Absolutes? 118
Where Are the Standards? 121
How Do You Know? 122
Is Non-Science Nonsense? 123
Making Sense of Sense 124
The Ideal Connection 125
The Gift of the Gab 126
Beauty and the Naturalist Beast 129
Conclusions 131
8. MYSTERIES OF MATHEMATICS 133
The Classical View on Math 134
Math is an Ideal World 135
Math in the Mind of God 136
Removing God from Math 137
Putting Math on Its Feet 138
Math in Crisis 140
Man-made Math 144
Evolution-made Math 147
Are Numbers Real? 149
Conclusions 153
9. BEYOND NATURALISM 155
Naturalism’s Failures 156
The Magic of Emergence 157
The Dangers of Self-Refutation 159
The Post-Modern Backlash 160
The Loss of Truth 160
Playing with Words 160
Power Makes Truth 162
Post-Modern Post-Mortem 163
The Ghost of Naturalism 166
What Does a Worldview Need? 167
Creating a Natural God 168
Do Atoms Have Feelings? 170
Finding Firm Ground 171
Appendix: How to Refute Scepticism 173
Testing Assumptions 173
Trying out the System 174
An Impossible Life 175
10. THE CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW 178
Basics of the Christian Worldview
God Is the Ultimate Reality 179
The Universe Totally Depends on God 183
Man Was Created to Be God’s Steward 185
God Created Man to Know 187
God Sets the Standards 189
History Unfolds God’s Plan 190
Examining the Christian Worldview 190
A Total Worldview 190
Justifying Worldview Tests 191
The Test of Experience 191
The Test of Scripture 192
The Test of Consistency 193
The Test of Livability 193
The Danger of Compromise 194
Conclusions 195
11. GOD AND THE PHYSICAL WORLD 196
God’s Creation 197
Why We Can Understand the Universe 197
God’s Providence 198
God Uses Secondary Causes 199
Miracles Happen 199
Does God Play with Dice? 201
Providence and Chance 202
Does God Limit Himself? 204
Knowing an Uncertain Future 206
Butterflies and Storms 208
Conclusions 208
12. FREE WILL AND RESPONSIBILITY 210
What Is Human Free Will? 212
Two Views on Free Will 213
Freedom within Uncertainty 214
The Need for Chance 214
A Missing Proof 215
Freedom Shackled 216
Limiting God 216
God’s Knowledge of Our Choices 218
Where Does It Lead? 220
Freedom within Reason 221
More than Physics 222
Forming Your Fate 223
Do You Really Have a Choice? 224
Who Is Responsible? 226
The Bible and Responsibility 227
The Problem of Evil 231
Conclusions 235
13. BODY AND SOUL 237
What Is the Soul? 239
Body and Soul in the Bible 240
Human Souls Survive Death 241
Body, Mind and Common Sense 243
Do You Need a Soul? 244
Probing an Immaterial Mind 245
How Do Minds Operate? 246
Minding Energy 248
Where Is Your Mind? 250
Who Made Your Soul? 251
Conclusions 253
14. A CHRISTIAN VIEW OF MATHEMATICS 254
God and Math 256
God and Logic 257
God and Number
Infinity 258
The Trinity 259
Connecting the One to the Many 261
God and Necessary Truths 262
How Do We Learn Math? 265
Our Inborn Abilities 265
The Rule of Logic 267
The Leaps of Intuition 267
How Can We Justify Math? 269
A Bible-based Math? 269
Classical Math and God 270
Some Simple Set Theory 271
Counting beyond Infinity 273
The Axiom of Choice 274
Justifying Math as a Whole 276
Conclusions 277
15. THE CHALLENGE SETTLED 279
Brief Summary
The Nature of Worldviews 280
Naturalism and Relativism 281
The Christian Worldview 282
Assessing Christianity 283
Defending the Faith 284
Why (Post-) Modernists Reject Christianity 286
World Stories: Human and Divine 289
The Return of the Pagans 291
Finale 293
Bibliography 299
Index 311
DIAGRAMS
Figure 1.1: Three Worlds and Three Mysteries 9
Figure 4.1: Some Simple Mathematical Shapes in Nature 50
Figure 5.1: The Double Slit Experiment 69
Figure 6.1: The Simple Cell 86
Figure 6.2: The DNA Molecule 88
Figure 8.1: The Mandelbrot Set 150

The post The Divine Challenge appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

]]> https://banneroftruth.org/uk/store/theology/the-divine-challenge/feed/ 0