A Book Review from Books At a Glance
by Jeff Erickson
This excellent apologetics book analyzes physicalist answers to the question of cosmological quintessence. Edgar Andrews a PhD chemist, professor, and long-time consultant at Dow Chemical Company, begins his apology by analyzing materialist philosophy’s internal inconsistencies. Then he presents the biblical narrative as consistent with reality.
This book is a complete criticism of evolutionary and materialist thinking and attacks on theism. A major portion of the book is devoted to answering Victor Stenger’s God; The Failed Hypothesis: How Science Shows that God does not Exist. However, Andrews’s intent is not to merely answer Stenger. Andrews covers materialist thinking end to end, thoroughly addressing the beliefs of scientism and how they interfere with true science and scientific thinking. Among the many authors he discusses are Richard Dawkins, and Stephen Hawking.
Andrews points out that one of the challenges that Christian apologists face in debate is that secularists set the terms and the categories through which discussion takes place. Even before this, he points out the absurdity of modern attempts to use quantum theory as the driving force for levels of the universe governed by the standard model. He reminds his reader that science is a discipline that describes things but does not explain them.
Andews’ apology is pithy and entertaining. Though he uses enough detail to articulate the nuances of the positions he critiques, he purposefully tries to avoid being overly technical. Andrews succeeds in being sufficiently detailed, easy to read, and accessible to any reader with general science knowledge. For reading difficulty, this book is on par with Dawkins’ The Blind Watchmaker, and Hawking’s The Universe in a Nutshell. Who Made God? makes an excellent counterpoint for the Christian and companion reader for anyone interested in scientific material written at the popular technical level.
Jeff Erickson