I've been meaning to write this book review for some time now, but having a second baby around the house means a lot of my time has been eaten up lately! I've been waiting for this book ever since I first heard about the project a couple years ago, and I must say it's been worth the wait!
God's Word or Human Reason is one of the better books I've ever read on the subject of creationism. It tackles the case from the perspective of five former young earth creationists; a rather unique take amongst the numerous books published on the matter. The title references a display in Ken Ham's creation museum, and sets up the book's theme that such a statement reflects an insidious false dichotomy.
This book is actually rather personal for me, but while I will go into that in some detail below, I had best describe the book itself first. How does it stack up? Each author tackles a different subject, going through a list of common creationist arguments on the topic, answering them one by one. The authors follow each of their chapters with a personal story about their experiences as young earth creationists, and their journey away from that viewpoint. The technical rigor of the scientific sections handily accomplish their goals throughout the book, and I strongly recommend this book to anyone wrestling with the evidence. The principal subjects covered include geology, radiometric dating, bird evolution, human evolution, and Biblical interpretation. The topics within these subjects range for too widely and delve far too deeply for me to recount in a single blog post; the authors do it far better than I ever could anyway! Suffice it to say I really enjoyed the read. I particularly appreciated the chapters on geology and bird evolution, though my own interests may bias me here. The bird evolution chapter also includes a dozen wonderful illustrations by Emily Willoughby of various feathered dinosaurs, beautifully presenting them as natural-looking, real animals.
Glenn Morton represents a real catch for this book. As a former full-fledged creation scientist, Morton brings a particularly poignant perspective to the table. Both his data and his personal story cut deep into the heart of the young earther narrative. I found it particularly enlightening when he examined the various competing ideas about flood geology among "mainstream" creationists. Each handily refutes each other's ideas about which rock layers record correspond to what parts of the flood process, and so one could say the flood geology has been defeated by flood geology (indeed, that is
the title of a paper by Phil Senter which Morton cites that critiques the same creationists). This peek behind the curtain demonstrates that no matter how much Ken Ham insists that "the Bible says it, that settles it", the people who actually write about creationism in fact cannot settle on any kind of detailed shared narrative.
I appreciated that the final chapter of the book examined the issue from a Biblical perspective. Christian Bible scholar James Comer demonstrates the inconsistencies that arise from a so-called "plain reading" of Scripture, and demonstrates the unconscious biases that in fact determine what one consider a "plain reading" to be. I still shudder at Comer's description of the disturbing circular logic of the Cataclysm Chronology Research Group, formed with the stated goal of reinterpreting the accepted grammatical character of Hebrew (specifically the sequential nature of
wayyiqtols) in order to make it conform to their presuppositions about the Noah's Flood narrative. I also found Comer's discussion of the ways in which creationism actually
harms Christianity particularly enlightening.
I only have a few critiques of the book, mostly minor quibbles. Several of Willoughby's illustrations appear to come from earlier in her career. The contrast between them and her newer pieces seems quite noticeable to me, and I personally would have enjoyed seeing newer artwork. However, I can appreciate the competing priorities going into the making of a book that apparently took as long to put together as this one, and as even her earlier illustrations beat the pants off most popular dinosaur depictions, I suppose I can't truly complain.
I thought Jonathan Kane perhaps over-emphasized certain confirmed predictions made about bird evolution, particularly in the case of "Tetrapteryx" vs.
Microraptor. I felt Kane could have said more about the competing ideas about bird evolution that existed in William Beebe's time, a discussion of which would have given the reader a stronger background to work with. Also, a sidebar in his chapter directs the reader to supplementary material at the Panda's Thumb blog, in a post titled
Creationist Classification of Theropods (also authored by Kane). I found this information really helpful, and I wish Kane had included it in the chapter proper. However, that's mostly the nerdy, fact-consuming part of my brain talking, and this cartoon (which DOES appear in the book) more or less sums up the gist of the article.
I thought perhaps Comer's chapter on the Biblical case against young earth creationism felt perhaps a little over-complicated at times. As this issue represents the major stumbling for most American Christians, I appreciate the desire to exhaustively make one's case, but pitching it a little more towards the lay audience might give this perspective more traction. I enjoyed the chapter myself, but I also don't necessarily represent the average reader, either. If the reader would enjoy both more extensive and perhaps more approachable supplemental discussion on the topic, I recommend the blog
Resurrecting Orthodoxy, by Joel Edmund Anderson. He posts on many topics, including the culture wars, but he has proven himself quite adept in particular at tackling young earthers from a Biblical perspective.
I personally would've also liked to see a chapter on whale evolution (another common creationist standby), though again, with the amount of time it took to create this book, I don't begrudge them that. Besides, whale paleontologist Hans Thewissen has already written another entire book entitled "
The Walking Whales" (which I also heartily recommend) that I suppose one could consider essentially a stand-in for this hypothetical sixth topic. (As a non-believer himself, though, I suppose he wouldn't really fit with the larger character of this book.)
The authors handily anticipate most creationist arguments; however, this would normally only make for a mostly better than average entry into a very crowded marketplace. The authors' recollections of their experiences both with and as young earth creationists set this book apart, and give it an emotional impact most of the books on this subject lack. It's one thing to confront the manipulation of facts by creationist organizations, but it is quite another to see the manipulation of emotions and people on the individual level. My heart breaks for the five authors, three of whom were driven away from Christianity entirely due to their experiences. I felt rather furious on Glenn Morton's behalf at the treatment he received from his fellow young earth creationists when he attempted to enlist their help in fixing flaws he found in creationist theory. Not only did they ignore his attempts to better their own field, he fell on the receiving end of truly vitriolic personal attacks regarding his faith. The inability and unwillingness to wrestle with the hard questions ultimately did more to drive him away from the young earth camp than the ad hominem attacks, however. I'm glad he didn't lose his overall faith as a result, an outcome I would have totally understood had it come to pass.
This aspect of the book really struck a chord with me. While I don't think my history quite matches the injustice many of the authors suffered, I can nevertheless commiserate. Based on the literature presented to me throughout my life, I internalized creationism as the one true light standing against the darkness of atheism in our modern era. Consequently, though I have loved paleontology ever since I can remember, I wasted far more time on romantic fantasies about joining Ken Ham or ICR to go hunt for the Mokele Mbembe in the Congo than I ever did on actually thinking about how I might actually pursue an actual, workable career in the field.
By the time I entered college I had already begun to grow wary of troubling trends I perceived in the major creationist organizations, but a chance discovery partway through really got the wheels in my head turning. As both a Jurassic Park fanboy and a creationist who believed the assertion that reports of feathered dinosaurs were all lies, I naturally rejected any such notion as inherently ridiculous. The utterly garbage "tarred and feathered" raptors that some artists grudgingly illustrated to depict the emerging scientific consensus did nothing to quell my aesthetic revulsion to the idea. However, while searching for dinosaur images one day to turn into desktop wallpapers, I chanced upon Emily Willoughby's DeviantArt account, finding two images in particular that immediately gave me pause.
There on my computer screen were two depictions of a feathered Deinonychus, the first such illustrations I had ever seen that approached something that immediately looked plausibly naturalistic to me. I do not hyperbolize when I say this moment turned my life around. With the sudden realization that feathered dinosaurs did not have to look inherently stupid, I began to rethink the whole notion, and returned to the evidence with a newly open mind. I then saw that the fossils (and the scientists)
hadn't lied; the evidence was plain to see.
Thus began the snowball effect as I began re-evaluating everything I'd ever absorbed from creationist literature, finding it wanting every time. The mainstream explanations proved consistently superior. I spent the next couple years in a state of cognitive dissonance, attempting to remain an "origins agnostic" as my former position became increasingly indefensible. A particularly strong blow came when I realized that several of my old creationist books had flat out lied to me regarding what evolution claimed about the origin of birds,
as I describe in more detail in this older book review (see the image with the ostrich). The final straw came from reading Michael Behe's "Edge of Evolution". In the midst of attempting to poke wholes in the naturalistic explanations for the history of life, he nevertheless made it clear that
he did not dispute that life had in fact evolved.
At this point I abandoned all pretense at agnosticism, and embraced my newfound identity as a Christian evolutionist. This led to a flowering of renewed interest and some of the first genuine effort to deepen my understanding of prehistoric life, leading me to many different books and websites that I had somehow never thought to even search for before, despite being relatively easy to find. I eventually rediscovered the art of Emily Willoughby, who had truly come into her own by this time. Upon hearing that she was collaborating with the other authors of this book, I knew I had to buy it. It gave me immense joy to know that the woman who originally shook me out of my previous creationist mindset was now author on a book formally tackling the subject, especially when I realized she and the other authors had come from backgrounds similar to mine.
Well, seeing as I ended up talking at least as much about myself compared to the book, I suppose I better wrap up. I hope
God's Word or Human Reason helps change the tenor of the creation/evolution debate, exposing the false dichotomy of theism versus atheism that many assume go along with it. I wish I had had this book a decade ago. The rigid monopoly young earth creationism has among American evangelicals went a long way towards my inclination to devalue my own interests.
God's Word or Human Reason has helped bolster my confidence in all that I've learned in years of study, and I hope to similarly help anyone I know going through similar experiences in the future.
In closing, go buy it now! You can find it at Amazon here:
God's Word or Human Reason?
