Several weeks ago I ordered a book that was sent to me at no cost if I would write a review of it. The book’s title is SEVEN DAYS THAT DIVIDE THE WORLD with the sub-title THE BEGINNING ACORDING TO GENESIS AND SCIENCE and written by John C. Lennox. Just reading the book’s title may explain why the title of this post is Over My Head. I looked up the phrase Over My Head and the definition read “beyond someone’s ability to understand.” That’s true for me, but let me share some things from the book.

Lennox gives readers his purpose in writing the book “I would like to say that if you imagine I will provide you with all the answers to all questions about the seven days, you will be disappointed. I still have many questions of my own. What I wish to do is more modest – namely, to stimulate readers to think about some possibilities and not certainties” (pp. 64 and 65).

A few pages earlier he suggests some practical challenges for Bible reading in general. “The first thing we should note is that there are different interpretations of the same text” (p.59). Two sentences later he reminds us of something we all need to keep in mind, “There is room for difference of opinion, and we need to show humility and grace when dealing with those who disagree with us” (p. 59). And finally some wisdom, “. . . we should pay attention to what the text says before trying to decide what it means” (p. 59).

My favorite quote from Lennox comes near the end of the book: “One cannot read Genesis 1 without noticing the constant refrain, ‘And God saw that it was good (verses 4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25), culminating in the final assessment on day 6: ‘And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good’ (1:31)” (pp. 150 and 151).

This is a book that those who are interested in exploring both the Bible’s and science’s take on creation would enjoy. As I read the book I felt like sometimes more questions were raised than answered. The book is well researched and has 60 footnotes. Not only that, there are also four helpful Appendices that add much:                                     Appendix A: A Brief Background to Genesis

Appendix B: The Beginning according to Genesis and Science

Appendix C: Two Accounts of Creation?

Appendix D: Theistic Evolution and the God of the Gaps

These Appendices may get your attention and they do add a great deal to the book.

The 10^th Anniversary Edition of SEVEN DAYS THAT DIVIDE THE WORLD was published in 2021.

Feel free to leave a comment below and/or share this post on Face

Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay