What a wonderful little book!
This short little book is not the easiest read, but it is certainly manageable for anyone who has a basic familiarity with theology or science so long as they are willing to read slowly and carefully. The book juxtaposes two systems of inquiry designed to lead to a truthful description of reality. That theology is a discipline with rigorous controls and review and rules for inquiry seems to surprise many materialists, but it is a fact.
I have spent some time here at amazon and in the world dialoging with those who hold a materialistic view of the universe, and I am shocked at the level of disdain given to the disciplines of philosophy and theology. As the author of this book points out, the word "theological" is often used pejoratively to denote an unexamined or untested bias or belief. I too take umbrage with this usage, and I find myself wondering if the decline of traditional liberal education in the West marks the end of literate and competent discourse and debate in our society.
I am impressed by this book's economy, even while I was challenged by some of the vocabulary and concepts. I was relatively unfamiliar with the history of quantum physics, and I found this book very edifying as a result. The sections on Christology, the historicity of the resurrection, and the parallels between scientific and theological inquiry were concise, challenging, and largely convincing.
One point the author could have hit a little harder, in my opinion, is the history and philosophy of science, and why scientific inquiry of a high level is largely a product of Western Civilization. A belief in a God of love and reason who cannot, by His nature, be a deceiver, led Western man to engage in scientific inquiry, because their God was not capricious and made creation in a way that was understandable and knowable. When the University was founded in the Middle Ages, natural philosophy as a discipline was a natural outgrowth of this belief about God's nature, and is what led to the development of modern scientific method.
The author does point this out, but briefly, and a history of scientific inquiry in those early universities is far more rich than the author has time to allow for in this short book. However I think inclusion of the history of science during the middle ages and the Church's role in essentially inventing the university would have strengthened the author's thesis.
Still, this was a very powerful book, well reasoned and well argued. I could not recommend it more highly.
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