Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Seven Glorious Days: A Scientist Retells the Genesis Creation Story


Seven Glorious Days: A Scientist Retells the Genesis Creation Story by Karl W. Giberson drew my attention by the blurb on the back cover:

"This provocative work recasts the ancient Genesis creation story within the framework of contemporary science. Seven Glorious Days takes readers on a grand ride through the history of the universe--from the big bang, to the origin of stars and planets, to the appearance of living creatures bearing the image of God and living in community."

There was far too much science in this book and not enough spirituality to put it in the 231[1] Dewey range, in my opinion. I would have classified it in the 523's [2] since there was nary a mention of God at all. The final chapter, "The Seventh, Final Day of Creation" resembled a new age blissfest where Giberson revealed that the greatest power known to man is the power of love. I had to withhold swearing as I cast my glance heavenward as I read about the healing and restorative powers of love. What does love have to do with the origin of the cosmos? Where was the scientific analysis comparing the opening verses of Genesis to the astronomical record? That's the kind of book I was expecting. Instead I got the lowdown on atoms and molecules and spinning globs of molten mercury--Giberson did go overboard with the spinning globs imagery--while the religious analysis was hardly touched upon. I cannot complain about the science, even though it was a tad boring, however I did finish the book in two days so it was engaging enough in its presentation of cosmology. I appreciated most of all the detail given to the Drake equation, which Giberson acknowledged was "little more than a series of educated guesses multiplied together". In that I agree. Seven Glorious Days was a quick read but didn't give me the science-versus-Genesis analysis that its Dewey classification implied it would.

[1] Scientific and Christian viewpoints of the origin of the universe
[2] Expanding universe theories (including the Big Bang)


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