This post contains affiliate
links. Please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy
page for more information. Thank you.
I received Can Science Explain Everything? as a gift after my husband and I watched John C. Lennox on Takeaways with Kirk Cameron. I mentioned that I wanted to read a book by Lennox or learn more about his ideas to my husband, and he surprised me with this introductory book.
I think I did Can Science Explain Everything? a disservice by not reading the front flap before digging into the book. I thought I would be walking away from my time reading with a firmer set of arguments to share with those who think science and God do not belong in the same sentence. I ended up disappointed as I read through the book, but that was my own fault. John C. Lennox states in the very beginning:
"I hope you enjoy reading this introduction to the question of science and the Christian faith, and that it stimulates you to approach this question in a scientific way; that is, open to what the outcome may be and prepared to follow the evidence where it leads."
He even addresses this idea in the preface, stating the book was written for young people and adults who asked for a more accessible book than God's Undertaker: Has Science Buried God? I can allow thinking that I was distracted by real-world problems when I failed to take into account Lennox's explanation for the book.
This book is meant to be a primer for your studies in science and Christian faith. And the author even suggests other works, including his own, where you can find out more information. He does a great job providing an introduction demonstrating that science and religion can mix.
About the Book
Can Science Explain Everything? is a 127-page paperback book with ten chapters, a preface, an introduction, and a list of books for more reading. Each chapter moves through different arguments as to why science and religion can mix and why the common viewpoint that you can't be a scientist and believe in God is wrong.
Lennox provides quotes and examples discussing C. S. Lewis, Galileo, Hawking, Newton, and more to examine worldviews and reconcile how scientists can believe in God. He tries to correct people's incorrect viewpoints of historical events and people. Lennox also provides real-world examples of conversations he has had with atheists and others during his lectures and travels.
In the book, there are also definitions of faith and science and a look at how Daniel uses the scientific method in the Bible. Lennox looks at the beginning of the world and the miracles of Jesus to help his readers better understand the connection between science and the Christian faith.
My Thoughts
After taking a step back from my mistake, I really enjoyed this introductory book. I think it is very well-written and highly accessible. And it makes me want to read more by Lennox. I loved the points he made, such as the one refuting that the world of the early Christians was pre-scientific.
"To suppose that Christianity was born in a pre-scientific, credulous, and ignorant world is simply false to the facts. The ancient world knew the law of nature as well as we do, that dead bodies do not get up out of graves. Christianity won its way because of the sheer weight of evidence that one man had actually risen from the dead." (79)
I think it is very sad that in today's world, people are ready to believe in psychics, haunted mansions, luck, and coincidences, but the idea that miracles happened as described in the Bible is easily dismissed. Why? "When a miracle takes place, it is the laws of nature that alert us to the fact that it is a miracle" (81). Why is the Christian faith so easy to dismiss?
I would recommend Can Science Explain Everything? for those who wish to start exploring how science and faith actually are "good friends" and that we can "enjoy and benefit from both of them."
