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This Christmas, Intelligently Design Your Gift List with Resources from the Center for Science & Culture!

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Editor’s note: We are delighted to welcome a new contributor, Rachel Aldrich, who besides being a valued member of the Evolution News editorial staff, serves as Assistant to the Associate Director of the CSC and Special Projects Coordinator.

With the Christmas season squarely upon us, it’s time to start compiling gift lists. In our current culture, it’s more important than ever to understand how modern scientific advances interact with faith. As you’re looking for Christmas gifts this year, give your friends and family gifts that will both entertain and educate! Below we’ve compiled some new and classic resources that can inform your discussions of science, faith, and society. Some of the resources focus on the science, while others explore the theological and cultural implications of science:

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God and Evolution: Protestants, Catholics, and Jews Explore Darwin’s Challenge to Faith is a great resource because it combines some of the best discussions about the relationship between faith and Darwinian evolution into the same book. Edited by Jay Richards and including chapters by William Dembski, Stephen Meyer, David Klinghoffer, and many others, this book carefully teases out the nuances of the conversation and clarifies the issues at stake.

Biologist Wayne Rossiter critiques efforts to combine theism and Darwinism as both bad science and bad theology in his new book Shadow of Oz: Theistic Evolution and the Absent God. Polish priest Michael Chaberek, meanwhile, has authored Catholicism and Evolution: From Darwin to Pope Francis, which carefully documents the history of Darwinian evolution and its relationship to the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Resources 3.jpgInterested in how the theory of evolution impacts our understanding of humanity? Science & Human Origins, by Ann Gauger, Douglas Axe, and Casey Luskin, explores the evidence surrounding the evolution of humans. In The War on Humans, Wesley J. Smith details the consequences of society believing that people are merely another animal, and describes the deep misanthropy latent in radical environmentalism.

Darwin Day in America: How Our Politics and Culture Have Been Dehumanized in the Name of Science, by John West, explores the effects of scientism and Darwinism on western culture. Re-released with a new chapter on the rise of “totalitarian science,” this book is an invaluable resource on the interaction of science and culture.

Resources 1.jpgFor the C.S. Lewis fan in your life, The Magician’s Twin: C.S. Lewis on Science, Scientism, and Society, also by John West, may be the perfect gift. Not many know about the powerful criticisms Lewis leveled against putting science on a cultural pedestal, and West carefully documents the importance of Lewis’ arguments. While you’re at it, check out the book’s companion documentaries on DVD or at YouTube.

Illustra Media has a variety of beautifully filmed videos that would make great Christmas presents, especially for blossoming young scientists. Their three-part Design of Lifecollection is now available, including Flight: The Genius of Birds, Metamorphosis: The Beauty and Design of Butterflies, and Living Waters: Intelligent Design in the Ocean’s of the Earth.

Discovery Institute’s Center for Science & Culture has also released other short documentaries, including Privileged Species, featuring CSC Senior Fellow Michael Denton, and The Information Enigma, featuring CSC Director Stephen C. Meyer.

Christmas isn’t too soon to start planning ahead for the next school year. Discovering Intelligent Design is the CSC’s curriculum for homeschool and private school students. Don’t miss the online companion, including video lectures with Casey Luskin and quizzes.

Image: � suzanam / Dollar Photo Club.