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Belief: Readings on the Reason for Faith by Francis S. Collins (HarperOne, 2010; pb $19.99)
Making Sense of Evolution: Darwin, God, and the Drama of Life by John F. Haught (Westminster John Knox Press, 2010; pb $19.95)
For anyone looking to broaden and to deepen their understanding of Christian faith in the world described by modern science, these two new books can be helpful companions. For anyone looking for resources to bolster their faith with reasonable arguments against the criticism of the “new atheists” such as Dawkins, Dennett, Harris, and Kitchens, these two books are worth spending time with. They are different types of books, but they complement each other in the continuing dialogue often called “science and religion.”
Francis Collins became a public figure through his work with the Human Genome Project, and presented an engaging statement of how faith and science work together in his life in The Language of God. He was recently appointed director of the National Institutes of Health by President Barack Obama, and some objected, without evidence, that he would allow his faith perspective to limit the research of the NIH. Belief is a wonderful anthology of diverse writings, introduced by Collins’ explanation of his hopes for the collection. He is deeply convinced that the observed order of the universe leads to a belief in a Creator, and that we have written in our hearts a moral law that points us toward a holy, personal God. Collins is wise enough to know that these are not “proofs for the existence of God” but they do encourage us to seek to know the truth more deeply and more fully.
The readings for this journey begin with N.T. Wright exploring our deep spiritual thirst, and followed by ten sections of readings both classic and contemporary. The strength of this anthology is the interesting variety of writers such as Os Guinness, Madeleine L’Engel, and Dorothy Sayers on “The Meaning of Truth;” Desmond Tutu and Elie Wiesel on the problem of evil; Tim Keller and Martin Luther King Jr. on faith and justice; Annie Dillard and John Polkinghorn on faith and science; Bonhoeffer and Frankel and Mother Teresa on “Love and Forgiveness as Pointers to God.” Collins’ anthology can indeed guide us to follow Jesus’ command to love the Lord with all our mind, and to resist our culture’s effort to separate the life of faith from the life of the mind.
Collins is very clear that Darwin’s theory of evolution has the same scientific standing as Newton’s theory of gravity. Religious thought does not avoid or reject Newton so how can we think we may reject or avoid Darwin.
John Haught has been a reliable guide for theologians seeking to understand theology in the light of modern biology for many years. A theologian at Georgetown University, Haught is truly ecumenical as he draws upon many traditions, but especially is comfortable with process theology and the thought of Teilhard de Chardin. The persistent question throughout the book is: in what sense can God still be called the author of life? The occasion for this book is the celebration of Darwin’s 200th birthday; the challenge is to avoid religious thought from becoming irrelevant or repugnant to educated people today by not engaging new scientific discoveries.
Darwin’s own life and writings reflect the struggle his ideas provoked, and Haught begins each chapter with a reflection on some aspect of life that Darwin’s science calls theology to rethink. The reflections are organized alliteratively with the themes of design, diversity, descent, drama, direction, depth, death, duty, devotion, and deity. Other alliterations are also to be found as Haught addresses the claims of Dawkins and Dennett as the “inerrant representatives of Darwin,” and his experience with the Dover, Pennsylvania school board legal case. Haught claims that the task of theology is to have deep respect for the Scriptures and creeds, but also to interpret belief in the light of new experience and scientific research so that faith remains alive and honest.
These two books can be useful in the life of a pastor and a church looking for guides to intellectual honesty, integrity, and faithfulness today.
JAY WILKINS is pastor of Trinity Church of Berwyn, Pa.
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