A Brief Book Notice from Books At a Glance
Fred Zaspel
I have consulted this book here and there over the years, but today I sat down to read it through, and once again I am struck by the learning and multi-giftedness of Vern Poythress. Vintage Poythress – profound thinking matched with simplicity and clarity of communication and a heart to see God. I am no scientist, but reading this book was a sheer delight. If only we could have learned science like this the first time!
At the heart of Poythress’s thesis is that the scientific endeavor is an exploration of God’s self-revelation. The scientist may not profess belief in God, but his work presupposes it. Recognizing this makes the scientific endeavor a joy and a marvel for the Christian. Indeed, the implications of Poythress’s work extend far beyond the laboratory and has glorious impact on the way Christians (ought to) think and how we understand our world. For the scientist, for the Christian apologist, for an understanding of creation, for the interpreter of Genesis, and for a broad Christian understanding of the world and God’s self-revelation, this book is very likely the best place to begin. A real gem. I wish I had read it more carefully when it was first released.
If you work in the scientific fields, you must read this book. If you even dabble in apologetics, you must read this book. If you’re not a scientist you may assume you don’t need or want to read this book, but I assure you – you’re missing a treat.
A thoroughly enjoyable read.
Note: Poythress has famously set out to redeem everything, it seems, and his related titles are equally valuable contributions to their respective fields:
- Redeeming Mathematics
- Redeeming Philosophy
- Redeeming Sociology
- Logic: A God-Centered Approach to the Foundation of Western Thought
- Knowing and the Trinity: How Perspectives in Human Knowledge Imitate the Trinity
- In the Beginning Was the Word: Language—A God-Centered Approach
- Chance and the Sovereignty of God: A God-Centered Approach to Probability and Random Events
- Philosophy, Science, and the Sovereignty of God
Other Poythress titles related to Genesis and creation:
- Interpreting Eden
- Did Adam Exist?
- Christian Interpretations of Genesis 1
Other
- Theophany: A Biblical Theology of God’s Appearing
- Reading the Word of God in the Presence of God: A Handbook for Biblical Interpretation
- God-Centered Biblical Interpretation
- The Lordship of Christ: Serving Our Savior All of the Time, in All of Life, with All of Our Heart
- The Inerrancy of the Gospels: A God-Centered Approach to the Challenges of Harmonization
- Inerrancy and Worldview: Answering Modern Challenges to the Bible
- The Miracles of Jesus
- What Are Spiritual Gifts?
- The Gender-Neutral Bible Controversy: Muting the Masculinity of God’s Words
- The Returning King: A Guide to the Book of Revelation
- The Shadow of Christ in the Law of Moses
- Understanding Dispensationalists
- Symphonic Theology: The Validity of Multiple Perspectives in Theology
- Science and Hermeneutics