THE second book to which we refer is a compilation of forty short articles edited by J. C. Monsma and published under the title Evidence of God in an Expanding Universe (G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1958, 250 pages. Price $3.95). This volume represents the work of forty American scientists from various specialties physics, chemistry, zoology, botany, medicine, geochemistry, et cetera who have prepared brief essays on why they believe in God, the evidence from science which supports their views.
The book is largely, if not entirely, the testimony of men of Christian faith, mostly of various evangelical persuasions. Predictably, the subject matter covers much the same ground as Clark's volume although in a less comprehensive manner, owing to the limited length of individual articles. As in any series of testimonials, there is considerable overlap in many of the separate articles while others are unique. The disadvantage of brevity and repetition, however, is more than compensated for by the many views and viewpoints, the multiple exposures from different angles of Christian views of science and Scripture, the insights into just which facets of scientific evidence mean the most and are of greatest help to different minds.
The articles, as might be expected, are of diverse character and give evidence that some authors have thought far more deeply than others on the implications and issues involved. Certain of the authors (e.g. Walker, pp. 106-113) may attribute to the Master Craftsman detailed purposes, motives, and plans that are open to question. The majority condense a wealth of relevant information into carefully reasoned, accurate, and effectively written accounts on the evidence for a Master Craftsman who designed and created the world. In making use of data from such articles as these or other scientific or historical works, it is always a safe practice to verify the data where possible, or at least qualify one's statements by "according to," et cetera.
The editor wisely points out that science alone is not enough.
"The basic postulate of this book, its point of departure, is that science can establish, by the observed facts of Nature and intellectual argumentation, that a super-human Power exists. It cannot identify that Power or describe it, except in very general terms. For identification and more detailed description special revelation (the Bible) is needed. But by proceeding from the basic postulate I feel our scientists have struck effectively at the heart of atheism."
He has been unwise in incorporating into the title of the book a tenuous theory that the universe is expanding. Although observable physical phenomena suggest that this is the case, and indeed it may be, our scope of observation is so severely limited, even with the two-hundred-inch telescope, that to imply that an expanding universe is more than a theory is speculation beyond the confines of knowledge.
The final work to be considered consists of a series of thirty-one short articles on faith originally published in The American Weekly after the second world war. These are brought together in a sixty-four-page booklet entitled The Faith of Great Scientists, edited by Walter Howie (The American Weekly, 63 Vesey Street, New York, 1950, 35 cents).
One does not ordinarily go to secular publications for articles on faith, nor to a popular magazine for anything resembling reliable science, but this compilation is exceptional on both counts. Without doubt, the impress of the most terrible war in history led to these unusual articles.
In subject matter and approach this series is quite similar to the one above but it differs in important respects. The contributors to Monsma's volume represent a cross section of American science but with a preponderance of men from smaller institutions and industrial research laboratories. The scientists contributing to the Howie volume are by contrast mostly men of international standing, including Nobel laureates, university presidents, and leaders in science and industry, so that the volumes are complementary in representing quite different segments of American science.
While nearly all, if not all, of the contributors to Monsma's book have faith in the Bible as a source of special revelation, in the Howie volume the picture is more diverse. Some authors, such as Victor Hess or Charles Wilson, do, indeed, express a faith in a personal God, the God of the Bible. Others, such as Barley Willis or Alfred Lane, see overwhelming evidence of laws which point to a Lawgiver, of a plan and order which point to a Designer of supreme intelligence who guides and governs the universe, but they do not attempt to identify Him. Certainly this latter type of faith has value for those who do not know God in a more personal way, but it is not at all the same as simple Christian faith. It is our duty when quoting these men, or any scientists, not to lift the statements out of context so as to make them appear to say something quite different from what they actually believe.
It would be scarcely possible to find a more distinguished and competent panel of experts in science who should be able to judge the evidence, nor could one expect from strictly scientific consideration any more sound or logical yet brief evaluations of the evidence which for them provide the basis for faith in God, a personal God who values truth, beauty, and goodness. As personal testimonies on the nature of, as well as the basis for, their faith, both these and the previous series have emotional as well as intellectual overtones. So frequently one is faced with unbelief and uncertainty on every side that it is a heartening and inspiring experience to read testimonies of faith even when they do not correspond exactly with one's own faith experience.
Mather. "We live in a universe, not of chance or caprice, but of Law and Order. Its Administration is completely rational and worthy of the utmost respect." --Page 13.
Willis. "I cannot conceive of law, a universal law, without intelligence. ... As my conception of the universal law deepens and extends, so does my faith in the omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient aspects of the Supreme Intelligence." ---Pages 52, 53.
Stromberg. "A plan must first be made, and this can only be made by an intelligent being with his attention focused, not only on his past experience, but also on the purpose for which the machine is constructed. Since an impersonal nature can not have such characteristics, we are led to belief in a personal God." --Page 43.
Einstein. "I answer, the man who regards his own life and that of his fellow creatures as meaningless is not merely unfortunate but almost disqualified for life."---Page 3.
Millikan. "Job saw thousands of years ago the futility of finite man's attempting to define God when he cried: 'Can man with searching find out God?' and, similarly, wise men ever since have always looked in amazement at the wonderful orderliness of nature and then recognized their own ignorance and finiteness and have been content to stand in silence and in reverence before Him repeating with the psalmist: 'The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God.' " --Page 6.
Sinnott. "We should remember that not only religious men but also poets, artists, philosophers and seers agree that behind the visible material world there lies a realm inaccessible to the intellect and our physical senses alone. To disregard this wealth of testimony because it deals only with what can be felt rather than what can be scientifically demonstrated is to take too limited a view of total reality.
"In this realm, open to the insight of the spirit, we have direct access to the source of beauty and goodness and love, a sure support for that morality and good will which are so necessary for human society. Here, too, we feel the presence of something not unlike ourselves though vastly greater, a spirit with whom in some mysterious way we can communicate and from whom we can draw immense supplies of strength and courage. This, to me, is God." ---Page 59.
Indeed, science does speak with more than one voice to our generation. In this age when humanity is sick unto death, it needs to hear this voice of God in nature the voice of confidence, of faith, of divine leadership in the universe.
