An Orthodox Understanding of the Bible with Physical Science is a surprisingly fresh take on the science-faith controversy that continues with Christianity. Stedman is a physicist and his book brings that knowledge front and center when he discusses issues related to science and faith.
This book from a relatively unknown publisher immediately raises the question: why bother reading another book on science and faith? The thing that makes this book stand out in a crowded field is that Stedman goes into more detail than many scientists who have written similar books in outlining the math and science behind some of the theories he discusses. In particular, he discusses the meaning of “day” and how his own work in physics has shown how many factors impact the objective meaning of the length of a day. He writes fascinatingly about experiments he and others have performed with lasers and other tools to show the movement of the planet that impacts the length of days, the way that shifting magnetism can impact it, and many other factors that go into the actual, objective length of a day. Given the fact of relativity as well, it becomes increasingly difficult to say that “day” must mean an exact, objective figure and that that can be applied unilaterally to the Bible. Stedman reports these findings in a way that is accessible while also providing quite a bit of math and science to back up his claims.
Stedman is keen to show that “Much opposition to science stems from ignorance of the nature of
scientific theory” (49). To do this, he outlines how several things that have been established through scientific testing go against what may be perceived as common sense or even paradoxical. But that doesn’t change the nature of reality, which can be observed directly through much of this testing. Stedman also exegetes some key passages, like Psalm 19 and 1 Corinthians 1:18-25. These, he argues, can help us to better understand both an orthodox view of Christianity and of science, in part by noting that there is no conflict in using science to learn about God’s creation. The exegesis seems to be from a Reformed position, particularly when talking about the foolishness of human wisdom and the wisdom of God (he makes good points about how this does not entail that all scientific theorizing is foolishness in the text).
The book could still use some editing, as a few typos were found throughout, and some of the sentence structures had a cadence that felt off. Additionally, the structure of his argument occasionally flows strangely or relies too much on sending readers to other chapters. Stedman also uses the archaic “man” or “mankind” to refer to all of humanity.
Overall, An Orthodox Understanding of the Bible with Physical Science is an interesting read with a heavy dose of science to go along with some detailed explanations. Readers wanting to dive into physics more deeply when thinking about the creation debate would do well to read the book.
Disclaimer: I was provided with a copy of the book for review by the publisher. I was not required to give any specific kind of feedback whatsoever.
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