Reviewed by Bill Ramey

Is creationism a science? Is creationism rational? This book is a collection of essays that addresses these questions and other questions related to the controversial debate between creation and evolution. The contributors include scientists, philosophers, and theologians, who do more than rehearse familiar arguments for creationism. Philosophers J. P. Moreland and Stephen C. Meyer look at the broader philosophical issues involved in the debate and offer compelling counterarguments to common arguments against creationism. Physicist Walter L. Bradley and chemist Charles B. Thaxton discuss the problems of abiogenesis, the theory that life arose from non-life through natural processes. Astronomer Hugh Ross presents the recent cosmological evidence that supports theistic cosmology.

The book's strength is its broad approach, which helps to dispel the myth that creationism is merely a religious dogma, one found solely in fundamentalist biblical theology. Moreland argues that "theistic science is a research program ... consistent with a number of different theories that specify it--for example, progressive creationist models, young-earth creation science and other models" (42). This will no doubt engender a heated response from many defenders of evolution, but ironically the philosopher Karl Popper likewise defined the theory of evolution as a research program, one that is neither monolithic nor immune from broader philosophical issues. The Creation Hypothesis is an excellent resource for Christians and non-Christians alike who have been repeatedly told that creationism is not science and that creationists are religious fanatics trying to force their views into public schools. This book defuses such alarmist rhetoric with a rigorous look at a controversial subject.

Links

• The Creation Hypothesis. Entry at Amazon Books.
  
• Naturalism, Theism and the Scientific Enterprise
  
• Mere Creation Homepage
  
• Phillip E. Johnson Page
  
• Evolution or Design? at Boston Review