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“A superbly argued book.” —Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion The New York Times bestselling author of Why Evolution is True explains why any attempt to make religion compatible with science is doomed to fail In this provocative book, evolutionary biologist Jerry A. Coyne lays out in clear, dispassionate detail why the toolkit of science, based on reason and empirical study, is reliable, while that of religion—including faith, dogma, and revelation—leads to incorrect, untestable, or conflicting conclusions. Coyne is responding to a national climate in which more than half of Americans don’t believe in evolution, members of Congress deny global warming, and long-conquered childhood diseases are reappearing because of religious objections to inoculation, and he warns that religious prejudices in politics, education, medicine, and social policy are on the rise. Extending the bestselling works of Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, and Christopher Hitchens, he demolishes the claims of religion to provide verifiable “truth” by subjecting those claims to the same tests we use to establish truth in science. Coyne irrefutably demonstrates the grave harm—to individuals and to our planet—in mistaking faith for fact in making the most important decisions about the world we live in. Praise for Faith Versus Fact: “A profound and lovely book . . . showing that the honest doubts of science are better . . . than the false certainties of religion.” —Sam Harris, author of The End of Faith

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Excerpt from Our Faith and the Facts, Vol. 2 of 2: Religion's Story, What Catholics Believe and Practice, What We Have Done and Are Doing, Answers to Charges Made Against the Church, a Busy Person's Reference Work, a Home Library The Ceremonies at Mass. No more serious obligation is placed upon us than that which tells us to hear Mass on Sundays and holidays. The Church strongly impresses the importance of this precept upon us for several reasons, of which none is greater than the fact that the Mass is a repetition of the Sacrifice of Cal vary. Since this is so, then we, who receive the benefit of the Sacrifice, should be present and learn to ap preciate, as far as we can, the extent and depth of our Savior's love for us. But it is not this feature of Sun day worship that we wish to consider. We know what the Mass is from our Catechism; we understand it according to our lights, even if we are not sufficiently appreciative. It is more to the point to consider our attitude while present at Mass. We go for various reasons. But being there, what does the Mass mean for us? How do we conduct ourselves during Mass? Meaning of Ceremonies. It has been suggested, as a remedy for distractions during Mass, that we should endeavor to learn the meaning of the things we see about us; and by a better understanding of the ceremonies of the Church, we might be helped to a greater degree of devotion. First of all, what is the meaning of the word "Mass"? For, of course, the word has a meaning, since everything connected with the Church has a meaning, and there is no reason why we should not understand it. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from Our Faith and the Facts, Vol. 1 of 2: Religion's Story, What Catholics Believe and Practice, What We Have Done and Are Doing, Answers to Charges Made Against the Church, a Busy Person's Reference Work, a Home Library Ours is a duty to practise what we believe. There must be just as many answers to enquiries concerning the doctrines of the Church as there are con sistent, practical Church members. We meet so many non-catholics, sincere and well-disposed, that we must be ready to answer their enquiries with facts and information drawn from authentic and easily accessible sources. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.