Species of Origins: America's Search for a Creation Story

For those interested in a helpful introduction into the conflict between science and religion the book by Giberson and Yerxa is a good place to begin. The authors describe in helpful detail (yet without too much technical jargon) the entire spectrum of America's search for an explanation for the origin of life. This spectrum runs from scientific creationism (a literal 6 day event) to scientific evolution and its conclusion that creation has spanned 5 billions years. In between these two extreme positions are several alternatives, each considered a via media or middle way. In this last category one will find intelligent design. The book examines in particular the components of evolution, the thinking behind scientific creationism (3 chapters out of a possible 10) and the strategy of intelligent design. While providing a good overview of these competing voices, the book also isolates the main reason for the contention, namely a cultural war which pits naturalistic materialism (including evolution) against a theistic worldview, which holds to some kind of being (divine or superhuman) who has influenced creation in some way. After reading this book, one will come away with the feeling that the conflict may be more about philosophical differences than simply who does the best science. The book is well written and well documented and includes the major players on all sides. The authors deal directly with an underlying tension: the extreme positions sacrifice clarity for truth and the middle positions hedge toward truth but at the cost of clarity. This book will not replace reading the major players but it will surely provide an important overview by which one can begin to make sense of a public debate that will, in all likelihood, be around for a long time to come.

This is an incredible introduction into the "evolution-creation" debate, literally covering almost every position. Widely hailed as the most comprehensive intro book on the subject, this is how I would have gone about writing a book about the subject to be fair.