WHAT IS MAN? ADAM, ALIEN OR APE? This new book by scientist and Bible expositor Professor Edgar Andrews explores the nature of mankind against the backdrops of the cosmos, the biosphere and the Bible. The book is a sequel to the author’s international best seller Who made God? Searching for a theory of everything and like the earlier book its style is reader-friendly, entertaining and gently humorous, with clear explanations of technical matters.

The appended list of contents will serve to illustrate the broad scope of this work, concerning which Dr Robert Strivens, formerly Principal of the London Seminary, UK, writes;

“The question of human identity is one of the most pressing issues facing this generation. Edgar Andrews employs his scientific expertise to respond to some of the key humanistic and evolutionary answers provided to that question, and then sets out the biblical case for humanity as made in the image of God with Jesus Christ as the perfect exemplar. Professor Andrews has a rare ability to make complex issues plain to non-specialists, without dumbing-down his explanations, and that ability is on full display in this book which will be useful to all who want to understand the debate more clearly.”

WHAT IS MAN?

by Edgar Andrews

A lay-person-friendly book exploring (with a degree of humor but also scientific integrity) the way different Western world-views understand the nature of Man, finally embracing the biblical view of Man as the only satisfying answer to the question ‘What is Man?’.

Ch.1. Who do you think you are? (What is Man? A summary)

            The chapter introduces and summarizes the topics covered in the book

 PART 1. MAN AND THE COSMOS

Ch.2. The Cheshire cat cosmos (Can a universe create itself from nothing?)

            The chapter considers various atheistic explanations of the origin of the cosmos and not only finds them wanting but also that they lead to the logical necessity of a Creator.

Ch.3. Small flat bugs (Exoplanets and the search for extraterrestrial life)

            The chapter reviews the past and current efforts to find evidence for extra-terrestrial life and the atheistic thinking behind this fruitless search.

Ch.4. The cosmic cook-book (The fine-tuned cosmos)

            Here we consider the apparent fine-tuning of the cosmos and what it tells us, with particular attention to Martin Rees’ popular book ‘Just six numbers’.

Ch.5. Deutsch’s dauntless dinosaurs (Exploring the multiverse)

            Here we consider the increasing popularity (and failure) of the ‘multiverse’ as an attempt to explain fine-tuning.

PART 2. MAN AND THE BIOSPHERE

Ch.6. Death and taxes (Human uniqueness)

            This chapter considers Man as a member of the animal kingdom but demonstrates the enormous existential and behavioural gap between Man and his closest alleged relatives.  

Ch.7. The devil in the details (digging deeper into genes and genomes)

            We tackle the common assertion that the genomes of Man and chimpanzee are 98% identical and show that they are not.

Ch.8. Dem dry bones (what fossils really tell us about the rise of man)

            We see here how little we can learn about Man’s origins from primate fossil remains.

Ch.9. Aristotle and the snowball (The enigma of human consciousness)

            We discuss how Man’s non-physical mind (spirit, soul) relates to his physical brain.

PART 3. MAN AND THE BIBLE

Ch.10. Worldviews at war (on the nature of reality)

            Validating, explaining and understanding the biblical worldview

Ch.11. Adam and the apple (the historicity and fall of Adam and Eve)

            We argue in favor of the historicity of the Genesis accounts of the special creation and fall of Adam and Eve.

Ch.12. The image of God (Why Man is unique)

What does it mean that Man is made in God’s image? We look in detail at the way God’s image explains why Man is unique despite our fall into sin.

Ch.13. The second Adam (Jesus Christ, the perfect man)

            On the Person, claims and redeeming work of Jesus Christ — the ‘second Adam’ and the Son of God.

Ch.14. The resurrection; fact or fiction? (The claim, the evidence, and the implications)

            In this final chapter we zero in on the historical and theological centre of the biblical worldview. The resurrection of Christ provides the ultimate answer to our question ‘What is Man?’ and has personal implications for each one of us.