Biology Through the Eyes of Faith

by Richard T. Wright

Newly Revised
The Council of Christian Colleges and Universities Series Stressing the biblical message of stewardship, biologist Richard T. Wright celebrates the study of God's creation and examines the interaction of the life sciences with society in medicine, genetics, and the environment. The author brings a biblical perspective to theories on origins, contrasting creationism, intelligent design, and evolution. Highlighting the unique nature of biology and its interaction with Christian thought, Wright demonstrates that Christian stewardship can be the key to a sustainable future. This comprehensive work, one of a series cosponsored by the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, addresses the needs of the Christian student of biology to align science and faith. It demonstrates that the study of biology penetrates to the core of human existence and has much to contribute to the construction of a consistent Christian worldview.

Genres: Science, Religion, Evolution, Christian, Biology, Theology

320 pages, Paperback

First published May 3, 1989

Reviews

[Kessia Reyne · Rating 1 out of 5]

Meh.

He makes a case as a Christian for doing biology with methodological naturalism and I found it only somewhat compelling. Even less compelling was his argument in favor of "creationary evolution." But it is a useful read if you're interested in options for Christian scientists and hearing an apologetic from this point of view.

[Kenny Kidd · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s fine!

A lot of the chapters surround topics that I’ve gotten very tired of due to how much we’ve had to talk about them in my high school and college courses, but to someone unfamiliar with the dialogue between Christian faith and scientific practice, it’s pretty neat! It’s also nice to read a Christian saying that climate change is real and bad and pretty much advocating for socialism at various points from a scientific, preservation-of-life basis

[Taylor Diehl · Rating 2 out of 5]

I will always respect this book for being the first to suggest to me a unity between faith and science. At that time in my life (my freshman year of college), it was a new and exciting idea for me. However, now that I am out of school and decided to finally read the entire book for myself, I have found that there are many other books which are much more enjoyable and do a much better job at addressing these topics. Not only is this book a hard and boring read, but it is quickly becoming out of date. Science and the world have already changed (and continue to change) drastically since this book was written.

[Chris Summey]

This book had some meaningful commentary on how a Christian should view faith and science, but felt like more of an opinion piece on how he believes we should think.

[Evan · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a minute there when I read the first few pages and saw this is required reading at a couple colleges, I thought this would be boring but I promise it isn't. It's really interesting, and has a lot of great points and perspectives that I had never thought of before. Might not be as interesting if you're not into science, but I think even then, most people would enjoy reading it but just might not get some of the more technical things he talks about.

[Kitap Yakıcı · Rating 2 out of 5]

After I finished The Quantum and the Lotus , I was drawn to this volume. Instead of a conversation between two individuals from two interesting backgrounds—a scientist turned Tibetan Buddhist and a scientist raised Vietnamese Buddhist—the conversation here is within one individual, and it seems on its face to be a much more challenging discourse than the one between "new physics" and Buddhism. Biologists seem to me to be far less amenable to "spiritual" themes than their peers in physics, particularly when those themes are explicitly theist and Christian.

I anticipated an interesting read. Alas, this was mostly a slog. Firstly, his take on evolution was weak. Wright accepts the fact that evolution occured/occurs pretty much as per biology textbooks, but rejects the concomitant philosophical naturalism (a "worldview") he dubs evolutionism. He lays out three possible views of evolution for Christians (all of whom he assumes to be conservative when it comes to "Scripture"): Young Earth Creationism, Intelligent Design, and Evolutionary Theism, and affirms that the last is most in line with his own beliefs. He never acknowledges that Neo-Darwinian evolution is a major challenge to theistic faiths; not just because its explanation for where we all came from undermines the central importance of a Creator, but also because much apparent ugliness and cruelty in nature suggests that such a Creator, if one were to exist, would be malign rather than beneficent. Secondly, Wright discusses performing science as a "methodological naturalist," without going into much detail of what this looks like or what challenges it poses to the Christian scientist (not to be confused with the Christian Scientist). Third, these crucial issues were cursorily dealt with before the author went on to talk about (monolithic) Christian approaches to genetic engineering, population, global warming, etc.

Maybe this book will challenge the thinking of a Young Earth Creationist, or other blinkered fundamentalists, and open them up to accepting the fact of evolution. Maybe it will encourage another kid from a Christian home to continue to study and practice science. Those would good things. Otherwise, meh.

[Perry Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Professor Wright is a better biologist than writer, as one sees in this book. Not badly written, it is still a bit of a plod at times, and he proves a bit too fond of the exclamation mark as well. Wright does a more than passable job of presenting what are the most common perspectives of cosmogony and more especially biology and evolution with a Biblical consideration of each. Unfortunately, though, the book, written originally in the late '80s and updated in this edition in 2003, shows its age as being a little long in the tooth. A good presentation of the basic issues, but missing some of the deeper and subtler considerations of both science and Scripture. Recommended for those with an interest in the topic, but don't stop here.

[Kevin Joannou · Rating 4 out of 5]

A useful read; was lent to me by a professor. Wright is more of a Biologist than a theologian, but there are lots of theologians out there writing about their perspectives on Biology, so this book has its place. What I appreciate is that it isn't just about arguing against tired old young Earth arguments. Biology, and environmental science, have important ways to inform faith about what is going on in the world. And faith has an important place at the table discussing the ethical dilemmas that scientific power brings. Its good to see discussion on those things, rather than just science that has been settled for over a century.

[Moonburst · Rating 2 out of 5]

Though not a terrible book, the ideas addressed in it are very interesting. However, I hope to find better books addressing the same issue.

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I've read, and definitely the clearest and best on the subject I have encountered so far. I strongly agree with the author.

[Robert Kiehn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book from a Christian Science perspective
on biology, ecology and the environment.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read while at Crown.

[Bobbettylou · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the 1989 edition, not knowing it had been extensively revised more recently. Dated, but still worth the read.