Stories of Desire and Narratives of Faith: From Neanderthals to the Postmodern Era

Stories are the foundation for identity and the ground of understanding. Stories of Desire and Narratives of Faith addresses humankinds search for identity and meaning through the stories of science and religion. Both arose in the mists of history. Both are awe inspiring. Both beggar the imagination. Both have always competed for authority. Science gained preeminence in our postmodern pluralistic globalized world as evidenced based while religion (for many reasons) lost credibility. Yet religion has not disappeared. Stories is a concise engaging inspiring accessible account of the history of science (geological and biological evolution perceived through increasingly sophisticated technology) and the history of nine text-based world religions of antiquity. Stories avoids insider language democratizing both God talk and scientific jargon without patronizing either. There is no attempt to identify the best or truest religion and Stories disavows dogmatic religious triumphalism. The authors do follow the tradition of giving an account of their Christian faith the only religious story with which they have experience. They invite others to do the same paying attention to their own stories as they grapple with modern science do theology and engage faith. Stories proposes how and in what manner these disciplines can meaningfully converse in todays world.