Reviews for Magic, Miracles, and Religion: A Scientist's Perspective (Cognitive Science of Religion Series)

The average rating for Magic, Miracles, and Religion: A Scientist's Perspective (Cognitive Science of Religion Series) based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-11-16 00:00:00 Greet Van Thillo This is a good book. The author is funny, thoughtful and has a point. The basic point of this book is that we need to work to the best of our ability and for God. The central biblical story is the building of the temple and the 200 pomegranates that were put on the top of the columns where no one could see them but God. The builder could have just not done anything up there but instead choose to put some of the best work there, for his audience of one (God). Strangely I think it is a good complement to NT Wright's book on heaven (Surprised By Hope). Wood is talking about what we do we should do for God, whether others know we do it or not. And Wright was talking about how being too focused on heaven prevents us from living in the now. We should view the current life as preparatory for the work that we will have in the next life. The reason I gave it a four star review instead of five is that I read it on kindle. (Amazon gave it away last week!) The formating on kindle is not the greatest. It is a topaz formated book (which as I understand it is at base and Optical Character Recognition instead of formated directly from the text). There are also a couple places where there are some discussion questions at the end of chapters and those are not at all readable. They are images and just too small. A bit more work formating and this would have been a much better read. A longer review is on my blog at

Review # 2 was written on 2011-08-10 00:00:00 John Mcconnell "Here is what I know about you: Right now there is a work in you that God has not given up on. You may have; but God has not." In 200 Pomegranates, Shawn Wood looks at 10 verses from 1 Kings 7 that tell the story of Huram - a skilled craftsman from Tyre who is called upon by King Solomon to do some work in the Temple. His work? To create 2 columns 18 cubits high (~35 feet) on which he carved 200 pomegranates each. And all this beautiful craftsmanship was located at the top of the columns - in a place where no one would notice or see - in a place where only his "audience of one" would appreciate. From this vantage point, Wood launches into a portfolio of "artists" - people who have lived and are living their lives full of purpose and meaning, despite facing difficult and distracting circumstances. He writes, "God's gallery is filled with broken-down people with great upswing potential. We are a group of people who now have the opportunity to grow and expand the investment God made in us by following the model of Christ and investing in others and things that will last." I loved Wood's honest and humorous writing style and am so encouraged to do whatever I do (even if it's carving 200 out-of-sight pomegranates) as if I'm doing it only for my "audience of one." I highly recommend this little book with a powerful message.