This was a most difficult book to read but I found the correlation between the creation of the universe and explanations of its existence through scientific explanations and faith based thought extremely interesting.
The book, though some will think slow and divisive, is actually something to ponder.
Even science itself has begun to believe that there's more to the creation than mathematical formulas.
Certainly, it is a book to be read and reread.
Thank you NetGalley, publisher and author for the opportunity to read and review the e-ARC. It took much longer than anticipated, it's quite deep.
#NetGalley #TheReturnoftheGodHypothesis

Fantastically written and poignant for a time such as this. Meyer's description of current research was interesting and easily understood. I would recommend.

A bit over my head, but I enjoyed this one and found the points made by the author thought-provoking. Would recommend if you're interested in philosophy, theism, or religion.

The Return of the God Hypothesis by Stephen C Meyer is full of studies, experiments, workshops, debates, and seminars by famous and not so famous scientists, a poet, and the author himself in their search for how the earth was created. It is quite scientific and reads almost like a textbook. There is a great use of diagrams and photos of the men who developed the various theories mentioned.

While non-fiction or science are not my usual genre and I found it overwhelming with information, it is quite the informative collection that is brought together in a very orderly fashion. I am personally impressed at how much work must have went into a book like this! All these diagrams included seem to be drawn by the same person as the handwriting is all very much the same and strategically placed.

This book discusses multiple competing metaphysical hypothesis of how the earth was created: materialism, pantheism, panspermia, deism, and theism. Each metaphysical hypothesis is explained in great detail and as the book progresses, it eliminates the possibilities of most. It is quite interesting how so many people, even highly educated, have such varying ideas on how this earth we live on was first created. I’m not sure we will ever really find the answer to that, but the work that goes into trying to prove or disprove each is astronomical.

Special thanks to HarperOne and NetGalley for the wonderful work of The Return of the God Hypothesis by Stephen C Meyer. I give this book 4 out of 5 tiaras only because it is overwhelming with scientific information that I cannot seem to wrap my head around. It is definitely a book to use when people disagree with the creation of earth.

Stephen C. Meyer’s “Return of the God Hypothesis” is a thought-provoking read that definitely shines a light on the reality of an intelligent being who is personal. It really is hard to be an atheist after reading this.

Stephen C. Meyer has written a terrific new book entitled “Return of the God Hypothesis.” For the uninitiated, Dr. Meyer is a major contributor to the “Intelligent Design” scientific theory, which he has defended admirably despite the derision he has received from the Church of the Darwinian Worshippers. I have followed the movement since reading about the ID movement over 20 years ago when I became aware of Dr. William Dembski’s research. Meyer’s previous scholarship has made a compelling argument for theistic intelligent design while not ignoring counter arguments.
This book provides a healthy historical review of the history, and the philosophy, of the origin of life theories throughout the past few centuries. He points to both the strengths, and the weaknesses, of the RNA world, evolutionary biologists (long have they reigned!), even those literally out-of-our world multiverse theories and compares and contrasts with competing hypotheses of naturalism, pantheism, and deism.
I was out “over my skis” with some of this book. Some portions of this book were quite dry for a layperson such as myself. However, these criticisms reflect directly on the reader (me) and not on Dr. Meyer’s handiwork.
So a huge “thanks” to NetGalley for the chance to dive deep into the topic of Intelligent Design. May it reinforce those that already are “true believers” and hopefully Meyer’s review can open up some minds on the topic for those that are inclined to argue against it.
Definitely 5 stars!

For a long time, people have tried to fill their need for God by relying on science. It is a fairly widespread belief that science has disproven God, but there are discoveries that show this to be incorrect. Stephen C. Meyer addresses three of the major ones in Return of the God Hypothesis.

Science has been one of my favorite subjects since I was in elementary school. I went through classes that said God was not necessary, though it was not stated in those words. In recent years, that idea has gotten stronger support. Seeing this book, I was hoping to read it for information that I could use in discussions that I may encounter. I got that and more, as there is plenty to read and think about in the book.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

The author presents a thought-provoking work on the origin of life. Often, we hear that God and science are in conflict with one another and “good” science requires the elimination of God from the equation. However, in this book, the author takes on this argument and presents it in clear, plain language that allows the lay person to follow his presentation with ease.

Still, this is not a book you will read in one sitting. Instead, it will provide much material for the reader to digest. From this, they will have a clearer idea as to their stance on the origin of life.

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by the publisher and Net Galley but the thoughts expressed are my own.

Thank you to HarperOne and Netgalley for the ARC to read and review.

As a non academic searching for answers to the most basic of questions, What or Who created life and existence, I just want to thank Stephen C Meyer for writing this book. I cannot write a succinct summary of this book as it will take more time to read (at 500 pages) this than I have available to give a review.

As a person who is a theist, but struggling with normative Christian doctrines about the origins of life and a creator, this book is a food for thought. Meyer's writing style is approachable which is a great help to my scientifically untrained mind.

This is quite good and is essentially a summary of a long list of scientists' (and other's) theories and ideas about the existence of God. It's readable for a layman and includes lots of illustrations. Recommended for the curious and scientific minded.

I really appreciate the review copy!!

A challenging read that was difficult for me with a weak to non-existent background in the various sciences. Many of the chapters explained the theories and evidence fairly well and I could grasp the general idea being set forth. Other sections were either more difficult or not clearly explained. I appreciate and respect the effort the author put forth. I am academically minded and enjoy research based books, but I struggled overall with this book. I think I would only recommend this book those who are at least moderately knowledgable with the debates and topics of the sciences covered in the book.

I am neither a theologian nor a scientist and the relationship between the two subjects fascinates me. It is not hyperbole to say I think about it every day of my life. One could say that there has been a war between scientists: those that believe science “proves” the existence of God and those that believe science discredits God’s existence and this book explores both sides of this argument. It is really heavy stuff. So heavy that I found my eyes glazing over while reading this immensely dense text. This did not detract much from my reading experience but enough so that I didn’t love it as much as I hoped. Now please don’t let this dissuade you hardcore scientists or theologians. There is a lot of great material here (though it leans more toward religion) and the research and work that went into this is something to be admired. It just isn’t for someone with a passing interest like myself.

Thank you for this opportunity.

A very solid 3.5-star work of non-fiction, combining and explaining ever opposed and forever in competition worlds of religion and science. Sure, this book is another attempt to synthesize both branches of world-understanding: religion and science.
Interestingly, these 2 complex systems of understanding the world have been always presented as opposed and in competition, always being pushed against one another, and in human understanding, these 2 complete phenomenons are mutually-excluding. As someone deeply interested in both, I am sure most of the time this opposition is very artificial and this opposition limits the development of both branches...
The book attempts to include recent scientific wins in the explanation of the existence of outer power responsible for the creation and control of human living and trying to remove the artificial opposition we have for more than a millennium.

This book tries to take arguments that have been put forth by atheist authors in all their books and works in the past and tries to find flaws in the logic or the prima facie evidence. The author asks questions about the basic premise of how things came to be in such an orderly fashion and alludes to the reasoning that there is an intelligent creator.

I enjoyed this book, albeit from the aspect of somebody that didn't need much convincing. It starts with a quick review of the "war" between science and faith, pointing out how religion (specifically Christianity) help jump start what eventually becomes the scientific method, the foundation of modern science today. Then it moves into a discussion [in Part II] on the improbability of life anywhere in the universe if the conditions for life were not so finely tuned, suggesting the existence of intelligent design (very similar to Schroeder's Science of God, it more detail and better support). Unfortunately the bulk of the argument in support of the "God Hypothesis" realistically stops there ... without definitive proof of Divine Creator, the author then advances the idea that Intelligent Design is the most probable hypothesis ... and he does this by developing poorly constructed strawman arguments to undermine materialism/naturalism, pantheism, panspermia (aliens ... which IMHO was never a true contender for intelligent life on earth) in Part III. Seriously ... I am already a believer and even I wasn't convinced here. I really had a hard time pushing through this part. Unfortunately it just gets more incoherent as the books goes on. I may not have a PhD; however, I do have formal training in thermodynamics and information theory and I really don't think the author gets these right ... or else he just does an abysmal job with his explanation; either way it makes it difficult to trust his portrayal of the science as accurate. By the end it feels like the author is trying hard to insert a square peg into a round hole ...

I was given this free advance reader copy (ARC) ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
#TheReturnoftheGodHypothesis #NetGalley

This was ok but nothing mind blowing or new to learn about. All about the author's own observations or thoughts about creationism, Darwinism and science. and how religion may or may not have a role. Interesting but heavy on the religion. This may be a little off putting for those who do not have a religious background and are science first, but this book merges some of the ideas together.

Thanks to Netgalley, Stephen C Meyer and Harper One for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. It was annoying for me to read this on Netgalley shelf app and not a Kindle version, but it did not bother me too much.

Available: 3/30/21