Abstract
A well-known and respected biblical scholar and historian of ancient Israel, including its Near Eastern environment, Lester Grabbe has written a timely and pastorally sensitive study of Bible, creation, and evolution. He begins with a confession of his Bible-believing fundamentalist background as a ‘staunch antievolutionist’ who had a fascination for science and the inclination and ability to pursue a scientific career, and tells of his early, at times painful, engagement with academic biblical studies. This early background together with a continuing interest in the relevant science has provided the qualification and requisite sympathy to offer a pastorally sensitive account of Bible and science to those coming from backgrounds similar to his own.
Following this first chapter, the three that follow record a voyage of discovery through the author’s early encounter with respect to the biblical accounts of creation and flood as they relate to Near Eastern parallels; they also discuss the meaning of the phrase ‘after its kind’ within its Genesis 1 context. In chapter two Grabbe shows that the text of Genesis 1, like its author, belongs to the ancient Near East. In doing so, he cities the Babylonian Enuma Elish and also the creation imagery found in several other biblical passages that are paralleled in mythical texts from Ugarit. This leads to the conclusion that the universe described in Genesis 1 is not ‘commensurate with a scientific model of creation’. In chapter three he sketches Mesopotamian parallels to the biblical flood narrative and presents a lucid outline of Hebrew cosmology. Despite differences of detail, the biblical and Near Eastern flood accounts share a conceptual world, although the biblical writer—whose cosmology cannot be reconciled with modern geology—has shaped the story to fit a Jewish theological framework. In chapter four, which concerns ‘genetics and evolution’, Grabbe examines the assumption of some creation scientists that ‘“kind” represents a closed category that cannot be transcended’ and shows from relevant biblical and rabbinic texts that their assumption is unsustainable. This is followed by discussion of evidence from genetics and transitional forms in nature, with whales cited as a particular example, which supports ‘the understanding of palaeontologists trying to reconstruct the history of evolution’.
The next three chapters are grouped under the general title, ‘Evangelicals and Evolution’. Chapter five, ‘Science and Religion’, briefly reviews militant atheism (Dawkins) and then surveys several nonreligious scientists among those who support the view that ‘science and religion are potentially compatible’. Chapter six, ‘Science and Faith’, examines how several scientists who hold religious beliefs reconcile science and faith. Grabbe then notes the opinions of theologians and biblical scholars, demonstrating that for many scientists the Bible and evolution are not necessarily incompatible. To reach that position a proper understanding of the origins of the Bible is required, therefore in chapter seven, without denying inspiration, Grabbe outlines how the Bible was written, copied, translated, and transmitted by people who belonged to and whose knowledge was limited by their own time and place.
Chapter eight tells the story of human ancestry from the origin of primates to the development of modern humans from closely related primates over millions of years. Chapter nine outlines ‘the Adam debate’, arguing for the theological character of the Adam and Eve stories, and concludes that ‘theology and biblical interpretation must change to accommodate new knowledge of the world’. That conclusion may appear self-evident to many readers of this journal, yet from a pastoral perspective it is important that it is understood by the readership Grabbe primarily seeks to address. The book ends with the author’s reflections as a biblical scholar on some of the issues discussed earlier. Coming from a conservative Scottish church background that shared much with that described by Grabbe I would have greatly benefitted from reading such a book in the early stages of theological study; it would have made for an easier encounter. Written in a style that is not confrontational and is characterized by clarity of expression this book is a ‘good read’ that should prove useful to a wide readership.