Mitch Stokes

Isaac Newton, Mitch Stokes
What a profound man! I actually requested this book primarily as a resource for home school. I think it will serve as an excellent resource and that it should also be brought into the public school. I may have been more interested in the work and theories of Mr. Newton when I was in high school had I known the driving force behind them. It seems so often we focus on the discoveries, inventions, theories, and philosophies, and equations of man that we rarely take time to look at the man that made them and the questions that they asked in order to come to the conclusion they did. The book is short enough to read fairly quickly and though filled with very interesting facts can sometimes be a little dry and to matter of fact in it’s presentation, taking away from the “realness” of Isaac Newton as a person. I did find it rather interesting that Isaac Newton sought to discover the truth of things around him always holding to the ultimate truth of the bible. I did not know that he had an “unswerving adherence to the authority of scripture”, or that he believed religion was a “personal relationship with God /[he:] recognized God as his father”. It even said that these beliefs led him in his pursuit of knowledge as he believed all things were created and “set in motion by God and that it was imply waiting to be discovered”. His tenacity and fire are inspiring and the fact that although his accomplishments were great he did not struggle with pride because he held that he was to walk in humility according to scripture and recognized that all his accomplishments were built upon the shoulders of other great men. Excellent resource book for school and personal studies.
Thank you Thomas Nelson for providing this book for review. To become a book reviewer visit booksneeze.com
… (mehr)

A good, short biography of Newton, built on some primary sources, especially from the copious amounts of Newton material now available online, but built mainly on the many biographies and scholarly journal articles available on Newton. There is nothing new here, per se, about Newton's biography, but it is breezily and engagingly told. What is interesting here, and that is the purpose of the "Christian Encounters Series" from Thomas Nelson Publishers, is putting Newton in a Christian context. As such, his science is shown to be firmly ensconced in a Christian worldview. Far from Newton calling God a divine watchmaker who sets the universe in motion and leaves it alone, à la deism, Newton believed in a personal God, whose power and majesty could be discerned by how he operated in nature. Viewing Newton's work through this Christian lens was exciting and illuminating. The author does not shy away from Newton's work on alchemy, which wasn't that bad considering the time period, and it doesn't shy away from discussing his heterodox view on the Trinity. The author here states that Newton did not hold to the Trinity in an orthodox Christian manner (as many churches, such as his own Anglican, held), but that he was no Arian when it came to the Trinity, as he "believed... in the eternality of the Son" (p. 85). He also held that Father and Son are one (pp. 85-86), but (p. 86): "What Newton did not believe, however, was that the Father and Son were one in the sense that they were consubstantial or of the same substance. According to Newton, the Father and the Son were one, but this unity was not metaphysical unity; rather, it was one of dominion and purpose." That's a strange sentence to parse. Still, despite his heterodoxy, he was Christian through and through, and an interesting fellow to boot. Nice endnotes, but no bibliography and no index, which detract from the book's usefulness. Still, as a short appetizer biography of Newton, it does the trick.… (mehr)

Mitch's goal in this book is to show Atheists, sceptics are not consistent or skeptical enough, I think he has given a good base for it.

Personally, I think Atheists are good people, some are really loving but I am not interested in that, but more on the system of beliefs when challenged.
If you are an Atheist, be a consistent one, and you'll find areas in this book, where Mitch says, it can't stand firmly. Lastly, Mitch ends with, Be it, what's the point?

He covers a wide array of subjects on Scientific methods. Most of the topics are familiar to whoever is into Christian Philosophy. I learnt more on, differences on history of science from Aristotle and Newton. This really piques my interest more on him, I will read him seriously.

He clearly explains the differences in science like instrumentalism, empiricism and how it is an underlying epistemology. I would recommend all scientists to learn more history and philosophy, I think sometimes our pride in knowledge, methods of science leads us to make grand claims like
God is dead, we don't need God, God is merely a hypothesis.

Mitch shows how we are not even close in understanding a lot of things about reality, we are not skeptical enough in science.

Overall, It's a great introduction book to those who are into Atheism, Christianity, Philosophy.

… (mehr)

Mitch's goal in this book is to show Atheists, sceptics are not consistent or skeptical enough, I think he has given a good base for it.

Personally, I think Atheists are good people, some are really loving but I am not interested in that, but more on the system of beliefs when challenged.
If you are an Atheist, be a consistent one, and you'll find areas in this book, where Mitch says, it can't stand firmly. Lastly, Mitch ends with, Be it, what's the point?

He covers a wide array of subjects on Scientific methods. Most of the topics are familiar to whoever is into Christian Philosophy. I learnt more on, differences on history of science from Aristotle and Newton. This really piques my interest more on him, I will read him seriously.

He clearly explains the differences in science like instrumentalism, empiricism and how it is an underlying epistemology. I would recommend all scientists to learn more history and philosophy, I think sometimes our pride in knowledge, methods of science leads us to make grand claims like
God is dead, we don't need God, God is merely a hypothesis.

Mitch shows how we are not even close in understanding a lot of things about reality, we are not skeptical enough in science.

Overall, It's a great introduction book to those who are into Atheism, Christianity, Philosophy.

… (mehr)