In The Creator Revealed, Dr. Michael Strauss does a great job of putting the intellectual cookies on a lower shelf. Rather than talking down to his readers, or over their heads, he lays out a clear and convincing case that the facts of science and the words of scripture are compatible. He makes the case that Christians can truly love God with both their minds and their hearts, since God is the author of all truth.
He makes the case for the reality of an old universe, with a beginning of space, matter, energy, and even time from nothing! He then goes on to show how this is not only compatible with a reasonable interpretation of the Bible, but that it is also the most reasonable interpretation that fits all the facts of nature and also that of the context of the Bible as a whole. More than once, he says that the truth revealed in nature can impact people.
Dr. Strauss gives three main reasons for believing that God used the Big Bang as His method of creation.
- The Big Bang reveals the character of God.
- The Bible's account of origins aligns with our best understanding of science.
- Truth always brings Freedom & Freedom changes people's lives!
- the observed expansion, which implies a beginning
- the uniform cosmic microwave background radiation
- the abundance of light elements in the universe fits the expectations of scientific models
- the mathematics of General Relativity reliably describes the past and future behavior of the universe
In a section on fine-tuning for life, especially intelligent life, he covers several topics such as how the balanced nature of matter and energy (both normal and dark) resulted in a livable universe. He also touches on the tuning of various forces and resonances in nature that resulted in the right combination of elements for carbon-based life to thrive. Now could these all be "happy coincidences", or could there be meaning and purpose behind the design? He argues that, "Yes", there is purpose and meaning because it was orchestrated by a transcendent, super-intellect, who cares about His creation.
An important section of the book is where he discussed some of the errors of the past that the Christian church has made, and in many ways, is repeating today. In the Galileo conflict, the Church leaders failed because they clung to narrow interpretations of scripture and rejected multiple other reasonable alternatives held by other Godly believers. They failed to follow sound rules of interpretation, including those of context, perspective, language, author's intent, and culture, to name a few. In the same way, many in the Church today hold to narrow interpretations of the creation accounts that not only contradict God's natural revelation, but also the context of the Bible as a whole and the character of God. He believes that we should not rigidly hold to scriptural interpretations that other Bible-believing Christians, who faithfully hold to the authority and special nature of God's Word, reject or give different weight to. Christians should be very careful to handle truth well and to not repeat unsubstantiated, and many times false, claims about the natural world or the scientists who honestly study it. In this light, Dr. Strauss rightly points out that Young Earth Creationism (YEC) is not an option when discussing the natural world with non-believers.
I do, however, have one major disagreement with Dr. Strauss. On page 45, he states that "real Star Trek fans" prefer to be called "Trekkers" and not "Trekkies"! As I sit here typing this review, wearing my Star Trek shirt that says "I was a Trekkie… Before it was Cool… Not to Mention, Before You Were Born!", I have to admit that it has always bugged me to hear the term "Trekker" instead of "Trekkie". "Trekker" just sounds ridiculous! I will always be a "Trekkie" -- and proud of it!
Anyway, great book. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in science/faith issues. In particular, I encourage Christians who may not be technically inclined to pick up a cookie from the shelf and take a small bite. I'm confident that you'll come away with a better understanding of the evidence for an old, big bang, creation that fits with the Bible's description of it.