“I don’t know if we will ever find archaeological evidence” of Moses, Lindberg notes, “but that does not mean he did not exist.” Driven by a passion for the historical and scientific methods, plus classical reasoning, Lindberg’s approach to Genesis and Exodus is an informed and awed acceptance of their errancies—they were written, he argues, by humans inspired by God, but only one human, in his reckoning, has ever been perfect, so there’s no reason to get hung up on points of confusion like whether Moses parted the Red or the Reed Sea. Rather than reject complexities or confusions in the Bible’s accounts of history, Lindberg brings logic to their mystery. His passages concerning the possibility that a “day” of God (as in the six days of creation) could in fact span millennia is impassioned apologia, a demonstration of faith stoked hotter through the challenge.
This title expands on arguments from Lindberg’s first, especially his “Directed Life Hypothesis,” which in its contention that life’s complexity and diversity demands a conscious creator echoes Intelligent Design. Lindberg, though, challenges ID proponents as much as he does “modern scientific people” by not disavowing evolution entirely. In fact, he argues “that evolution was a principal way God conducted the entire creation.” This is encouraging middle ground.
Takeaway: Thoughtful reconciliation of the creation in Genesis and evolution.
Comparable Titles: Bruce Glass’s Exploring Faith and Reason, Peter Enns’s The Evolution of Adam.
Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: B+
