For this week, I wanted to focus on larger volumes that might make good last minute Christmas gifts. Or, if you prefer, books you should keep in mind for when you get that Amazon Gift Card. I decided to work through them in pairs, and we’ll start with the science books.
Some might take offense that I’m including a book called Theistic Evolution here. However, it’s dealing with scientific material, and a good third of the book is essays from scientists. It is, as the subtitle suggests, a critique of theistic evolution, or evolutionary creation as is more common among proponents of the view.
Now, I’ll return to this volume later in the spring as I continue the Genesis series. But, for now, here’s some initial thoughts. First, this might seem trivial, but there no discussion of dinosaurs. The reason I think that’s relevant is, according to mainstream scientific timelines, their demise was the most recent mass extinction event (there have been several). The smaller dinosaurs survived the event and became modern birds. Mammals used the opening to proliferate, and millions of years later, humans came on the scene.
Whether or not you agree with this picture, there is a fair amount of events for it, which I’ll get into elsewhere. I bring it up here because the entire first part of the first section of Theistic Evolution aims to critique the mechanism of evolution, but there is no discussion of mass extinction events, which is big piece of the puzzle.
The remainder of the first part takes up the issue surrounding common descent, which I’m looking forward to reading more closely (I have lingering questions about genetics, and pre-hominids). The second section of the book moves to more philosophical critiques before a third section offers the biblical critiques. Of the three, the latter is the least substantial, but it seems intended to hammer the point home after one has waded through the scientific and philosophical issues.
On the whole, I think this is a useful volume to have for research purposes. If you’re deeply interested in this subject, it’s a book to at least familiarize yourself with, if not purchase and read. Many pastors might just be comfortable knowing the book exists and the gist of the contents in order to properly direct those with questions.
On the other hand, Zondervan’s Dictionary of Christianity and Science is a must have if you’re interested in these topics. Like a good theological dictionary, it has short articles on topics related to Christian theology and science (like John Calvin and dinosaurs to pick two randomly). As the cover boasts, it has entries for over 450 key terms, theories, individuals, debates, and more. Neat!
What I found particularly valuable though, is that is the new king of multi-view books. For entries related to terms or debates that have multiple perspectives, the editors went ahead and included multiple entries. This was an incredibly smart move from a marketing perspective because both young earth creationists and evolutionary creationists can get on board with this book. As such, it really does introduce readers to the relevant arguments and the differing points of view in a way that encourages good critical thinking.
Toward that end, here are some multi-view entries I found helpful:
- Adam and Eve (first couple or representative couple)
- Age of the Earth (thousands or billions)
- Climate Change (global warming or natural variations)
- Creationism (support and criticism of old-earth and young-earth)
- Days of Creation (24hr, Day-age, or framework hypothesis)
- Human Evolution (evolutionary creation or unique origin)
- Fossil Record (evolutionary creation or young earth view)
- Genesis Flood (global or local/theological)
And that’s just through the first 300 pages! Honestly, I’ll probably read this cover to cover, and skip entries I’m not super interested in, which aren’t very many.
From what I can tell, the dictionary covers all the bases. It might not have the depth of details you want on a specific topic, but you can comb through the recommend readings to find more if you need it. For really anyone who is new to the issues, or like me has been reading around them for years, this book needs to find its way under your Christmas tree (or on the UPS truck headed to your house after Christmas).
I’ll have more to say on both of these books in the new year as I keep writing on this topic. But, for now, definitely pick up Dictionary of Christianity and Science and if the conditions are right, get Theistic Evolution as well! And many thanks to Crossway and Zondervan for sending them to me!