Book Reviews
Book Review: Mapping the Origins Debate: Six Models of the Beginning of Everything
Frequently, as we wrap up a Forum discussion on questions of origins, we hear the question, “Where can I read more about these issues?” A bibliography of all the books addressing this topic would be dauntingly long, and of course many of the books listed in it would be quite technical, addressed to highly specialized [...]
Book Review – Science vs. Religion: What Scientists Really Think
Once upon a time, Galileo was tortured at the hands of the Inquisition in a moment that would come to exemplify the age-long conflict between science and religion—at least, this is how the story often goes. But Elaine Ecklund, a sociologist from Rice University, argues that this recounting of the story is more of a…
Book Review – The Language of Science and Faith: Straight Answers to Genuine Questions by Karl W. Giberson and Francis S. Collins
Before reading The Language of Science and Faith: Straight Answers to Genuine Questions, one needs to appreciate the difficult task Karl Giberson took up in putting this book together. The raw material for the book originated from a set of “Frequently Asked Questions” Francis Collins responded to…
Book Review – Among the Creationists: Dispatches from the Anti-Evolutionist Front Line by Jason Rosenhouse
Rather than smugly caricaturing creationists, Rosenhouse spent time at creationist and intelligent design (ID) conferences interacting with prominent creationists, as well as the rank and file. He paints a complicated portrait of modern creationists…
Book Review/Interview – Postliberal Theology and the Church Catholic: Conversations with George Lindbeck, David Burrell, and Stanley Hauerwas by John Wright
I think “postliberal” points toward a return to the intellectual resources of the historic Christian tradition in order to engage the contemporary world with a unified witness of the church. The liberal tradition (including much of postmodern theology) has tried to reduce the great Tradition by…
Book Review – 150: Finding Your Story in the Psalms by Kevin Adams
Kevin Adams’ book 150: Finding Your Story in the Psalms serves not so much as a glossy advertisement promising quick results, nor a buff and brawny trainer to shout us into fitness. Instead, Adams comes alongside as a friendly workout companion – one who knows…
Book Review – The Bible Made Impossible: Why Biblicism Is Not a Truly Evangelical Reading of Scripture by Christian Smith
Smith’s archeology of evangelical biblicism is familiar and true. He describes the ways in which biblicism may, and often does, take humorous and tragic proportions. Evangelicals know all-too-well the tendency to turn the Holy Canon of Scripture into a self-help book or to come to it with sets of questions which…
Book Review – The Evolution of Adam: What the Bible Does and Doesn’t Say about Human Origins by Peter Enns
In this review…I will forego assessing whether or not Christians can or should affirm an evolutionary account of human origins—not because I think that is unimportant or because I don’t have a position but because I think we have a lot of work to do before we get to that question and debate….
Book Review – Should Christians Embrace Evolution? Biblical & Scientific Responses, Edited by Norman C. Nevin
Should Christians Embrace Evolution? is a collection of essays responding to a book by Denis Alexander entitled Creation or Evolution: Do We Have to Choose? Alexander’s book is one of a number recently-published works that attempt to reconcile…
Book Review – The Spirit of Creation: Modern Science and Divine Action in the Pentecostal-Charismatic Imagination by Amos Yong. Part 2
It is obvious that one must reconcile the Pentecostal perspective on the nature of the Spirit’s (miraculous/supernatural) activity in the physical world with respect to the traditional view of “laws governing” physical reality. Does the Spirit temporarily change, intervene…
