Re: [asa] Recommendation for a book on evolution?

Dick Wright's "Biology Through the Eyes of Faith" has been around for
some time. It has recently been put out in a new edition. Dick is at
Gordon College and is a member of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.

TG

On Dec 13, 2007, at 3:50 PM, Steve Martin wrote:

>
> Hi David,
>
> I don't have Wilcox's book handy but from what I remember it really
> doesn't tackle the theological issues that deeply either. I do
> remember appreciating his stuff on human evolution though & thinking
> that it was a great complement to Falk's book. For the science
> perspective (which was Paul's original query) these two probably fit
> the bill as a good introduction - probably more so than
> Collins' (although to be fair, I read Collins' book last - so by the
> time I got to it much of the discussion was old hat).
>
> What I find fascinating is that as of 10 years ago there were
> virtually no books on evolution written from an Evangelical
> perspective (were there any? corrections welcome.). In the recent
> past there have been a flurry of books on the topic, but virtually
> all of them have been by Evangelical scientists. There are none by
> Evangelical theologians that are not also scientists (eg. mcgrath,
> polkinghorne, george murphy "The cosmos in the light of the
> cross"). (Again, corrections welcome). My take on what is
> happening:
> • For a very long time (basically since the early 20th century
> fundamentalist / liberal split) Evangelicals were almost by
> definition anti-evolution (probably betraying my North American
> perspective here - might be different across the pond).
> • Although there certainly were some Evangelicals (mostly
> scientists?) in the mid-late 20th century who disagreed with this
> opposition, these voices were completely marginalized
> • Only very recently has the Evangelical scientific community
> become more public with their view that acceptance of biological
> evolution is compatible with an Evangelical expression of the
> Christian faith.
> • The Evangelical theological community has in my view remained on
> the sidelines so far. So the scientists are forced to work with
> the tools they have. No professional help is being provided.
> My summary: I don't think we should be too hard on Evangelical
> scientists like Collins, Falk, and Wilcox for not demonstrating
> theological depth. They are doing a great service on the scientific
> side and doing the best they can on the theological side (believe
> me, its better than I could do!). Maybe we just need to be
> patient. Then again, maybe we should be lobbying the theologians.
>
> thanks,
>
> On 12/13/07, David Opderbeck <dopderbeck@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I enjoyed Falk's book as well, particularly his personal story.
> However, I thought it was exceedingly weak theologically. He really
> doesn't address any of the key theological or hermeneutical issues,
> except with the same kind of hand waiving as Francis Collins: "it's
> all figurative." If people want to engage these things from an
> evangelical perspective, they have to do a better job on the
> theology. I didn't see any Amazon reviews for David Wilcox's book
> -- how was it on the theological issues?
>
>
> On Dec 13, 2007 1:33 PM, Steve Martin <steven.dale.martin@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> Hi Paul,
>
> I agree with Allan. I definitely recommend Falk's book as the
> place to start. That being said, one aspect of Falk's book that I
> found disappointing was his almost complete silence on human
> evolution (hominid doesn't even appear in the index!). For that,
> you might want to check out God and Evolution: A Faith-Based
> Understanding by David Wilcox.
>
> thanks,
>
>
> On 12/13/07, steamdoc@aol.com < steamdoc@aol.com > wrote: Paul
> Bruggink asks "for one recent mass market book that makes the
> scientific case for evolution."
>
> No question in my mind, THE book that best fits that description is
> "Coming to Peace with Science" by Darrel Falk (IV Press, 2004). It
> isn't clear whether you were asking for a book from a Christian
> perspective (which this is, Falk is a biology Prof. at Point Loma
> Nazarene), but this is the best accessible presentation I have seen
> from any perspective of the evidence that evolution has happened.
> Maybe the lack of such "making the case" books (at least that I am
> aware of) from non-Christian sources reflects that it is mostly only
> Christians who need convincing at that basic level.
> The book by Francis Collins also makes the scientific case to some
> extent, but Falk's book is much stronger in that regard.
>
> Allan (ASA Member)
> ------------------------
> Dr. Allan H. Harvey, Boulder, CO, steamdoc at aol dot com
> (usual disclaimers here)
> More new features than ever. Check out the new AOL Mail!
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Steve Martin (CSCA)
> http://evanevodialogue.blogspot.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> --
> Steve Martin (CSCA)
> http://evanevodialogue.blogspot.com

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Received on Thu Dec 13 18:16:38 2007