There’s no question but that Scott Petty writes well, with a style and a passion that is engaging. Neither is there any question that he is up for a challenge. Here, in this addition to the Little Black Book series from Matthias, he takes on the relationship between Science and God and much of it is informative, entertaining and enlightening. He debunks the idea that science and religion are incompatible; he persuasively argues for design rather than chance and shows how just as there are many sceintists who sometimes get it wrong there are also plenty of intellectually credible scientists who believe in a Creator God. It’s good as far as it goes, but then it fails miserably.
He doesn’t actually use the term, but Petty is clearly a theistic evolutionist who does not believe in the biblical record of itn six 24 hour periods as taught by Genesis. He argues that sometimes, even within Genesis 1, the Hebrew word yom can mean a period of time rather than a 24 hour period, failing to recognise that when accompanied by a number, as in “1st” and “2nd”, yom only and always ever means a 24 hour period. He fails to take into account the repeated pattern of “morning and evening” which is undoubtedly meant to make us think of a normal 24 hour day, and he fails to see the necessity of a 24 hour period in the context of the broader Scriptural principle of the Sabbath which makes absolutely no sense if the Genesis `days’ are simply periods of time, even possibly millenia.
Petty also allows for a `Big Bang’ beginning to the universe, albeit caused by God, but there’s no reference to everything in the universe coming into existence by the spoken word of God. Most interesting by its absence is any reference to the special creation of humans by God. Genesis 2 is completely ignored and Genesis 1 is described as “expressing…truths about God and his relationship to creation in dramatic poetic ways” (p95).
For all the good in the book I wouldn’t recommend it because of its failings in this vitally important aspect which questions the ultimate authority of Scripture.
For the purpose of review, I received a complimentary copy of the book from the Publishers. I was under no obligation to write a positive review.
Matthias Media (2 Dec. 2012) Review written in 2012