In this issue of Crisis: a review of The Language of God

The current issue of Crisis brings a review of the book by the well known head of the Human Genome Project, Francis S. Collins, entitled The Language of God. Juxtaposing Collins with "arch-atheist" Richard Dawkins, Benjamin Wiker's beefy review tells of Collin's conversion to evangelical protestantism and his troubles with the concept of ID aka Intelligent Design. At almost two pages, the review is filled with interesting facts and quotes, and also with a short presentation of the author's newly coined term: BioLogos.

Certainly a must-read review for readers who look to stay abreast of the current waves of the theistic evolution dialogue.

Illustration source here

Update: Time's cover article this week is about this book,
with a debate between Collins and Dawkins!

From the publisher's website:

Dr. Francis Collins, head of the Human Genome Project, is one of the world's leading scientists. He works at the cutting edge of the study of DNA, the code of life. Yet he is also a man of unshakable faith in God and scripture. He believes that God cares about us and can intervene in human affairs -- on rare occasions, even miraculously. Collins has personally discovered some of the scientific evidence for the common descent of all living creatures, even though he repudiates the materialist, atheistic worldview argued by many prominent Darwinists.

In short, Dr. Collins provides a satisfying solution for the dilemma that haunts everyone who believes in God and respects science. Faith in God and faith in science can be harmonious -- combined into one worldview. The God that he believes in is a God who can listen to prayers and cares about our souls. The biological science he has advanced is compatible with such a God. For Collins, science does not conflict with the Bible, science enhances it.

For many years Dr. Collins kept his views largely to himself, as he helped oversee the Human Genome Project's stunning sequencing of the code of life. Now, in what may be the most important melding of reason and revelation since C. S. Lewis's Mere Christianity, Dr. Collins explains himself in detail. The Language of God makes the case for God and for science. Dr. Collins considers and rejects several positions along the spectrum from atheism to young-earth creationism -- including agnosticism and Intelligent Design. Instead, he proposes a new synthesis, a new way to think about an active, caring God who created humankind through evolutionary processes.

He has heard every argument against faith from scientists, and he can refute them. He has also heard the needless rejection of scientific truths by some people of faith, and he can counter that, too. He explains his own journey from atheism to faith, and then takes readers on a stunning tour of modern science to show that physics, chemistry, and biology can all fit together with belief in God and the Bible. The Language of God is essential reading for anyone who wonders about the deepest questions of all: Why are we here? How did we get here? And what does life mean?

Find out more: Read an excerpt

Free Press, July 2006

Hardcover, 304 pages
ISBN-10: 0-7432-8639-1
ISBN-13: 978-0-7432-8639-8