Theology Today
"Well and comprehensively argued. . . . I recommend it strongly."

National Catholic Register
"Readable, enlightening and seasoned with humor."

Perspectives on Science & Christian Faith
"This book is a must read."

Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams
— Times Literary Supplement
"Despite its length, Darwin's Pious Idea is a very readable book, engaging and often acerbically witty. It has some serious and original things to say about what always threatens to turn into a sterile debate between rather fictionalized and trivialized versions of science and religion. . . The sheer exuberance of the presentation is a delight. . . [Conor Cunningham is not afraid to immerse himself in the literature of scientific controversy, to raise some of the essential philosophical questions that both scientists and theologians often shirk, and to carry the battle behind the opponents' lines. . . Certainly the most interesting and invigorating book on the science-religion frontier that I have encountered."

Justin L. Barrett
— University of Oxford
"Cunningham's Darwin's Pious Idea is a fascinating book that reveals the behind-the-scenes issues and controversies that nonspecialists rarely see or consider. Those who think scientists have nothing to learn from theologians should give this theologian a fair listen: they might learn something — maybe even something about science."

John Hedley Brooke
— Oxford University
"Conor Cunningham pulls no punches in his full-frontal assault on the ultra-Darwinism of Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett. But this is no anti-evolution diatribe. Cunningham is equally merciless in his critique of latter-day 'creationism,' which he rightly portrays as a deviation from classical Christian orthodoxy. This is a work of intellectual depth, informed by a study of the latest genetics as well as by theological erudition. Also drawing on the work of historians who have demythologized the popular stereotypes of 'science' and 'religion,' Cunningham's book will delight the discerning who observe with dismay the puerility of much that passes for authoritative judgment."

David Depew
— author of Darwinism Evolving
"Conor Cunningham argues vigorously that the new atheism is not based on good science or on anything that looks remotely like religion, since what passes for science among these folks is mostly bad metaphysics — and it might not be a science at all."

William Desmond
— University of Leuven
"Conor Cunningham's book is a vigorously written and marvelously engaging work. It is highly informed and hugely informative with regard to both scientific theory and theological reflection. It is constantly judicious in the way it lifts current debate to a genuine level of seriousness, beyond the sometimes thoughtless, even shrill rhetoric associated with recent debates on God and evolution. Cunningham engages those with whom he disagrees with properly respectful consideration, not lacking in frequent touches of deft humor. This is a most welcome contribution to these current controversies. First-rate and very highly recommended."

Louis Dupré
— Yale University
"This work of stunning scientific erudition and critical insight differs from the common polemics with Dawkins's and Dennett's theories which, while accepting their extreme Neodarwinist thesis, isolates it from their atheist conclusions. Conor Cunningham shows on a wealth of scientific evidence how vulnerable the thesis is that lies at the root of those conclusions and how its genetic one-sidedness undermines the ground of Darwin's evolutionary biology."

David Fergusson
— New College, University of Edinburgh
"In a study that is both readable and scholarly, Conor Cunningham offers a sustained philosophical and theological engagement with Darwinian science. Eschewing tired images of a simple conflict between progressive science and benighted faith, he shows how the resources of the Christian tradition enable a constructive conversation with evolutionary theory. A rich and bold treatment of the subject, this book should command the attention of all working in the field."

David Bentley Hart
— author of The Beauty of the Infinite and Atheist Delusions
"Cunningham has taken the time to immerse himself in the literature of contemporary evolutionary biology (of which he provides a far bet