Thinking God’s Thoughts: Johannes Kepler and the Miracle of Cosmic Comprehensibility

Why is the cosmos intellectually accessible to the human mind? A host of philosophers, theologians, scientists, and mathematicians of the Great Western Tradition have been struck by the uncanny interconnection between three fundamentally distinct domains of reality: nature, mathematics, and the human mind. This resonance has been discussed since antiquity and often attributed to a transcendent rational source of both material and immaterial aspects of reality. Johannes Kepler, a devout Christian who was greatly influenced by this intellectual tradition, was instrumental in transforming classical astronomy into a true celestial physics. He was convinced that a tripartite harmony of archetype, copy, and image explained the interconnections that made his natural philosophy possible–that allowed him to share in God’s own thoughts. Rather than being diminished by the past few centuries of scientific progress, Keplerian natural theology is a more robust explanation of cosmic comprehensibility than ever before. Endorsements “Melissa Cain Travis’s Thinking God’s Thoughts provides a clear, thorough, and thoughtful analysis of one of the leading pioneers of modern science, Johannes Kepler, and the deep role of faith and theology that undergirded his scientific research–and that persists to the present day. For Kepler, science did not point to atheism.” Stephen C. Meyer, from the Foreword “In a work of marvelous intellectual and historical retrieval, Dr. Travis has lucidly explained the great Kepler’s significance for the philosophy of science and the philosophy of religion. Those interested in these disciplines as well as in the ongoing project of natural theology and Christian apologetics will be richly rewarded by Thinking God’s Thoughts.” – Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D. Professor of Philosophy, Denver Seminary Author of Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith, 2nd ed. (IVP Academic, 2022) “This beautiful book fills an important gap in the apologetic literature on arguments for the existence of God and is a must read for everyone interested in the great questions of life.” – Dr. Gunter Bechly Paleontology, Eberhard-Karls University of Tubingen; scientific curator from 1999-2016 at the State Museum of Natural History in Stuttgart, Germany; senior scientist at Biologic Institute. “This book gives us a wonderful example of how STEM and the humanities are ultimately a single discipline, countering today’s artificial siloing of academic subjects.” – Dr. Mitch Stokes, Senior Fellow of Philosophy at New Saint Andrews College, and Head of Math, Science, & Music. Author of A Shot of Faith (to the Head): Be a Confident Believer in an Age of Cranky Atheists (Thomas Nelson, 2012), How to Be an Atheist: Why Many Skeptics Aren’t Skeptical Enough (Crossway, 2016), Calculus for Everyone: The Mathematics of Change (Roman Roads Press, 2020).