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Little Black Books: Science and God
Reviewed by Andrew Laird
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Reviewed by Andrew Laird

Little Black Books: Science and God

By Scott Petty

Reviewed by Andrew Laird

05 Nov 2011

1:00am Saturday, 5th November 2011

Science and God is the latest release in the Little Black Books series, a series of short, but informative, guidebooks aimed at those in their late teens/early twenties. They're designed to answer some of the tricky questions of the Christian faith and this one is no exception. It sets out to answer simply some of the questions of science and faith which are especially pertinent given the rise of the ‘New Atheists'.
Author Scott Petty opens the book arguing why science and faith aren't enemies, but can in fact happily co-exist. He explains that each sets out to answer a different question and when we understand that a number of other questions are easily solved. For me this is the most helpful chapter in the book - it provides the platform from which to answer almost every other question one has about science and faith.
The remaining chapters of the book cover three of the big issues - how everything came to exist (Big Bang or big God?), the complexity of the universe (Dramatic design or a risky existence?) and how humans were formed (Evolution or evil-ution?). I was impressed by how much science Petty could squeeze into each chapter without it becoming too overwhelming. Of course the downside is that some readers may be wanting more, but given the intended audience I suspect it might be just the right amount of information.
The great strength of this book is that it has a reassuring effect. That is, it gives young Christians confidence that their faith does stand up in the face of science. And it does this while still maintaining a healthy respect for the field, and indeed encouraging Christians to embrace science as a field which provides profound insights into how God's creation works.
A downside is that at times I did wonder about whether it was too technical for some of its intended audience. It does require a certain level of understanding which some in their teens/early twenties may not have. And its (necessary) reliance upon the authority of Scripture may be an easy excuse for those influenced by the ‘New Atheists' to ignore the rest of the argument. The chapter which answers some of the questions about the authority of Scripture perhaps comes too late for those already dismissing the argument based on Scriptural grounds.
However, overall, I was most impressed by Science and God. For teenagers and young adults wrestling with questions of science and faith this book is a great place to start.