Title: Little Black Books: Science and God
Author: Scott Petty
Date I Finished Reading: February 14,2013
My Rating: 2/5
Science. The origin of life. Evolution. Creation. Questions about these and similar topics bombard us day in and day out. We, as christians need to be firm and confident in our beliefs and knowledge about God and science. Especially young adults. That is why I was excited about reading this book. I knew that it was directed towards adolescents and was eager to see what this book would contain.
However, this book was not quite what I expected. I had mixed feelings regarding it. As I started out, within the first chapter and about halfway through the second I was impressed, and pleased. Scott Petty made points and discussed the topic of why science and God are not enemies or against one another, and why we do not need to choose between believing in God, or believing in science and scientific evidence, which I believe is an important fact for teens and young adults to realize.
But as I began the third chapter, that changed. I noticed more and more that Petty hinted to, and later flat-out-said that the big-bang theory is likely to be correct, even biblical! He also later explains that we should NOT read the book of Genesis as a scientific explanation to the beginning of the world. Also, he suggests that when Genesis refers to the world being created in six days, he was not referring to literal 24-hour days, but instead he was speaking of time spans, or was simply being poetic. Both of these beliefs seem to point away from the Bible and God instead of towards it.
Another complaint that I would have would be the fact that Petty uses little to no scriptures to support his thesis and points. He sticks them in on rare occasions, until about the last half of the final chapter, where they appear a bit more frequently. That is always a negative for me. If you are gonna try to convince someone to trust in the Bible and biblical teaching, then you need to use more than one or two passages.
Even though I do not like these aspects of the book, there are positive attributes as well. I have already mentioned the fact that Petty speaks of the fact that we do not need to choose between science and God. Also, he directs it towards young adults, and does a good job at connecting with them in his writing style. Throughout his book he uses humor, as well as examples that are easy to relate to and connect to the main point. His writing style is just very easy to read, which is great when it is being directed towards teens.
Overall, though, I am not sure that I would recommend this book. Although the first chapter makes some good points on an important issue, the rest of the book – although written well – could result in the reader being confused, considering the fact that Petty encourages you to believe in and have faith in God, yet at the same time teaches that the big-bang is true, and consistent with scripture.
Note: I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. However, my opinions are my own.
Inner Beauty Forever 