Book Review – How to Talk Science and God: Biblical Perspectives on the Big Questions of Life and the Universe

“An apologetic strategy based on challenging science is both unnecessary and likely to fail. By dismissing scientific knowledge, the church risks alienating both its young people and seekers with scientific backgrounds.”

Rev David Jeans, a former science teacher and retired Church of England priest and theological educator, is passionate about helping church leaders learn how to do scientific apologetics well. In his Grove Booklet (2019, £3.95, 28 pages), he explains the basics of how to relate to science from a Christian perspective.

This booklet is an excellent introduction for someone who is not familiar with this topic. Church leaders who are looking to make a start in understanding this area will find this a challenging and encouraging jumping-off point. The chapters look at the main principles for science-oriented apologetics, the relationship between scientific and Biblical accounts of origins, ‘fine-tuning’ arguments in astronomy, and the possibility of life on other planets.

The books and other resources referenced should be helpful to people wanting to go further.[1] Some discussion questions are provided at the end.

[1] My only very slight caution would be that a couple of the authors mentioned, John Lennox and Anthony Flew, occasionally use ‘Intelligent Design’ arguments that many Christian biologists are unhappy about – and which most Biblical scholars feel are not mandated by the Genesis text.