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Theistic Evolution

Edited by J. P. Moreland, Stephen C. Meyer, Christopher Shaw,
Ann K. Gauger, and Wayne Grudem, Crossway, © 2017,
1000 pages, $60.00 (hard cover), ISBN-13: 978-1-4335-5286-1

The complete title of this book is Theistic Evolution: A Scientific, Philosophical, and Theological Critique. I recommend it for academic arguments against modern evolutionary theory. It provides a survey of current claims of atheists, agnostics, and skeptics.

The book is a collection of essays by two dozen highly qualified scholars in science, philosophy, and theology. It contains a gold mine of indexed quotes from the best-known names in science. Thus it provides an excellent source for factual information about anything connected with Darwinism and the evidence for evolution. It is most useful for understanding the real scientific weaknesses of atheistic Darwinian theory.

The purpose of this book is to show that current promotions of theistic evolution are misguided. The recent thrust of theistic evolution is not the same as suggesting that God uses evolution to accomplish his will, which has been the meaning of theistic evolution in the past 50 years or so. The book challenges those “theistic evolutionists” who would accept the Darwinian idea that life evolved in an unguided and unplanned manner.

The book is divided into three sections, with each section containing essays by individual scholars. Each of the 31 essays covers a topic of its own. Section 1 is a scientific critique of evolution with excellent discussions of the weaknesses of Darwinism. Section 2 is a critical philosophical critique of modern theistic evolution. Section 3 is a biblical and theological critique of the problems with theistic evolution emphasizing historical interpretations of the Genesis account. All of the authors of this 1000-page book go into enormous detail with extensive documentation. It is academic in its approach and would be very useful for professionals and college students.

For the average reader, the book would make an excellent reference source. The index is very useful in giving a complete listing not only of topics but also of leading scientists and apologists. The book would be over the heads of most high school students, many lay teachers, and most preachers. For those involved in apologetics, it would be a very beneficial source..