38 REVIEWS
SCIENCE AND THE CHRISTIAN FAITH
A Guide for the Perplexed
Christopher C . Knight ( SVS Press , US , November 2020 ) 232pp , paperback , RRP £ 19.99
Autistic Thinking in the life of the church
Stewart Rapley ( SCM , August 2021 ) 192pp , paperback , RRP £ 19.99
Ray Taylor
The overarching argument of this demanding book is that science and Christian faith need not necessarily be strange bedfellows but there is room for both in our modern world . Knight is uniquely placed to write on these matters because he is a practising Christian with a degree in Christian theology and a PhD in astrophysics . He really knows what he is talking about but the question remains whether he can convey his arguments to a non-academic ordinary believer . I feel he has only partially succeeded in this .
Knight points out the common and mistaken notion that science and theology have always been in conflict whereas , in practice , there has often been a more complex relationship . The issue is not having to choose between the two , but of interpreting scientific methods and theories from an adequate philosophical and theological perspective . By doing this there is no conflict but rather theology is enriched . To put it simply , science and faith should work together rather than against each other .
Knight addresses the fundamental questions of the relationship of science and faith , and makes the crucial distinction between science and scientism , and faith and sheer literalism . It ’ s pointless to describe the different viewpoints between ‘ New Atheists ’ ( like Richard Dawkins ) and ‘ Biblical Literalists ’ because these positions have no room for each other . Scientism is the viewpoint of atheists , which is that only scientific methodology can provide legitimate knowledge and that the ‘ why ’ questions that humans ask – Why am I here ? Why do bad things happen ? Why does evil exist ? and so on – are not legitimate questions at all . If we take creation as a case in point , there is overwhelming scientific evidence of the history of the cosmos that reasonably confidently points to the universe as beginning more than 13 billion years ago , and the biblical picture of creation is a serious question that needs to be addressed . It is far too simple to accept that this was all done in six days by an all-powerful God who can accomplish anything just because he is God . Today , most thinking Christians would accept the notion that the Genesis account of ‘ days ’ of creation really refers to aeons .
It is instructive to know that there are examples of early Christians who did have enlightened views about the literal interpretation of creation , such as St Augustine of Hippo and St Basil the Great , and the early Christian philosopher Origen argued that certain passages of scripture could be figurative rather than literal . Knight devotes a whole chapter and provides an overview of how , over the centuries , orthodox writers have responded to the sciences of their time .
The sub-title of this book is ‘ A Guide for the Perplexed ’ and I must confess to still being a bit perplexed by the end of it ! But I suspect that there is never going to be a definitive answer to all the questions Knight explores and his book does at least succeed in being a valiant attempt .
Ray is a Messianic Jew , a local Methodist Preacher and the chairman of the local branch of Good News for Everyone ( formerly Gideons ).
This book is based on a dissertation written while studying for an MA and includes interviews with a panel of autistic interviewees . The author himself was diagnosed with autism relatively late in life in his mid-fifties . It serves as a useful study of how those with autism can struggle in local churches where autism can be treated as a condition which needs healing .
The book sets out to expand the range of experience in church beyond the neurotypical to the neurodiverse . Chapter by chapter , it goes through biblical interpretation , preaching , prayer , and the use of liturgy and creeds , and how the panel of interviewees negotiate these . The problem with the study is that to properly establish the issues around autism , there would need to be a parallel sample of neurotypical Christians whose experience was analysed blind , to compare with those of his sample of nine Christians with autism . Without this , many of the conclusions could be just as attributable to the experience of many Christians who struggle with the public expression of their faith in church , without autism making their experience more difficult . And it made me wonder whether certain denominations which are more authoritarian would be more comfortable for those who are neurodiverse .
The book concludes with suggestions for a model of engagement and setting up a pilot . I had hoped that the book would say more about how neurodiversity can be a blessing to the church where it brings new insights which the neurotypical miss out on , but at least the book has a useful reading list for those who want to explore further . As you start to uncover what neurodiversity entails , Stewart Rapley has helped us realise how much further we have to go to make our churches a lot more inclusive than many of them currently are .
John Griffiths
John is a preacher and a Church of England lay reader , and a trustee of Leaders of Worship and Preachers Trust ( LWPT ) and on the board of Preach magazine .