Beyond the Firmament: Understanding Science and the Theology of Creation
As debates within the Church over the scientific details of creation become more frequent, the experts seem to grow more entrenched while the rest of us only become more confused. Somewhere between the endless arguments over distant starlight and Carbon-14 dating, calculating the mathematical improbabilities of things that already exist, and parsing ancient Hebrew and Greek, somebody needs to ask the simple question: if 3,500 years of scientific progress can't help modern Christians figure out Genesis, then how could the ancient Israelites possibly have understood it so well? What secret did this newly liberated gaggle of Hebrew nomads take with them out of Egypt that holds the key to understanding God's telling of His own creation story?
Beyond the Firmament challenges all creationist camps — whether Young-Earth, Old-Earth, or Theistic Evolutionist — to step outside of traditional paradigms and recognize how our modern, Western, post-Enlightenment scientific worldview actually blinds us from seeing the simple truth of Creation as it was originally intended, and how our failure to grasp the theological significance of the biblical creation model puts science and faith on a collision course.
Praise
"Gordon J. Glover's new book will be important for several groups of people: thoughtful Christians troubled by culture wars and seeking a way beyond them, people engaged in the science-religion debate that seems to have heated up (on both sides) in recent years, and those interested in how world-views (ancient, medieval, modern, or whatever) resource and limit the ways we read sacred texts — and apply them today. I found it energetic, well-researched, and constructive."
— Brian McLaren, author/activist
"Gordon J. Glover takes seriously the claims not only of Biblical revelation but also of natural revelation (creation), and he deftly navigates the frontier between the scientific investigation of the universe's origins and the theological investigation of Holy Scripture. … I commend this work as a thoughtful treatment of the issues surrounding origins as seen from an intentionally and distinctly Christian perspective."
— P. Andrew Sandlin, President, Center for Cultural Leadership
"I have carefully read Beyond the Firmament and I am once again rethinking my previously held positions. I have been a card-carrying 'young earth' adherent for most of my 73 years. Can old dogs learn new tricks? I certainly hope so. Gordon, in his book, has clearly and with great good will, challenged all in my camp to rethink our handling of Scripture, our hermeneutics, and perhaps even a strong bias against modern science."
— Rev. Jack Carter, Senior Pastor, Church of the King, Corpus Christi, TX
"In clear, everyday language, Gordon Glover shows that thoughtful Christians need not choose between God's world and God's word. … Glover shows how science and scripture are complementary — not competing, nor co-extensive — means of approaching truth, and instills a new appreciation for the ways in which God accommodates his revelation to our limited, broken, and frail human circumstances."
— David W. Opderbeck, Associate Professor of Law, Seton Hall University Law School
About the Author
A native of Texas, Gordon J. Glover lives and works in the Baltimore-Washington area with his wife Kathryn and their three children. Gordon has always had an insatiable interest in the natural sciences, specifically how they relate to Christian theology and the Bible. He studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Texas and Ocean Engineering at Texas A&M University, then served 10 years in the U.S. Navy as a Deep Sea Diver and Ocean Engineer. In his ongoing quest to integrate science with Christian orthodoxy, Gordon has held just about every conceivable position on Creation. He spends most of his free time studying, speaking, and writing about the philosophical issues that arise from the scientific investigation of natural history — and doing backyard astronomy with his kids. Learn more at the Beyond the Firmament website.
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