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Denis Alexander

Creation or Evolution: Do we have to choose? Paperback – September 19, 2014

by Denis Alexander (Author)

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Few issues engender so much heat between Christians as the topic of creation. Reasonable, calm, and supremely well informed, this is a book written by someone who is passionate about both science and the Bible. 'I hope,' says Denis Alexander, 'that reading it will encourage you to believe, as I do, that the 'Book of God's Word' and the 'Book of God's Works' can be held firmly together in harmony.' This substantial new edition updates the science, and extends the author's discussion of the theological implications.

Print length

512 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Monarch Books
Publication date

September 19, 2014
Dimensions

5.43 x 1.1 x 8.5 inches
ISBN-10

0857215787
ISBN-13

978-0857215789
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"In this brilliant and highly readable treatise, Denis Alexander the scientist-believer argues convincingly and lovingly that a committed Christian need not fear evolution, but can embrace it as God's awesome means of creation. This is a must-read for all those who care about the future of the faith." -- Dr Francis S. Collins, Director of the National Instittutes of Health Published On: 2014-11-27

"Very timely, thoughtful, thorough and full of integrity. It speaks the languages of both science and faith in a remarkably clear and accessible way." -- John Pritchard, Bishop of Oxford Published On: 2014-11-27

"A masterful and enlightening journey through both the relevant biblical text and the science underlying evolution." -- Andrew P. Halestrap, Professor of Biochemistry, University of Bristol Published On: 2014-11-27

"A fresh and massive contribution to an important debate … no Christian interested in the questions of origins can ignore this book." -- Julian Hardyman, Senior Pastor, Eden Baptist Church Published On: 2014-11-27

"Immensely valuable … a thoughtful and thought-provoking work." ― The Tablet Published On: 2014-11-27

About the Author

Denis Alexander is the Emeritus Director of the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion,St Edmund's College, Cambridge, where he is a Fellow. Dr Alexander was previously Chairman of the Molecular Immunology Programme and Head of the Laboratory of Lymphocyte Signalling and Development at The Babraham Institute, Cambridge. Prior to that he was at the Imperial Cancer Research Laboratories in London (now Cancer Research UK), and spent 15 years developing university departments and laboratories overseas, latterly as Associate Professor of Biochemistry in the Medical Faculty of the American University of Beirut, Lebanon. There he helped to establish the National Unit of Human Genetics. He was initially an Open Scholar at Oxford reading Biochemistry, before obtaining a PhD in Neurochemistry at the Institute of Psychiatry in London. Dr Alexander writes, lectures and broadcasts widely in the field of science and religion. His Monarch titles include: Creation or Evolution and Is There Purpose in Biology?.

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Monarch Books; New edition (September 19, 2014)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 512 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0857215787
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0857215789
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.36 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.43 x 1.1 x 8.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,660,533 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,667 in Science & Religion (Books)
- #33,819 in Christian Theology (Books)

Customer Reviews:
50 ratings

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J.H.

The best single book on how Christians can think about evolution profitably while maintaining their biblical commitments

Reviewed in the United States on July 25, 2017

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This is the best single book on how Christians might think about evolution profitably while maintaining their commitment to the Scriptures. Alexander is a British Evangelical well known for his work with the Faraday Institute at Cambridge University. He covers the science in a rigorous way without technical overkill, and his deeply sincere Christian faith comes through in his writing. He definitely understands many of the issues motivating Evangelicals to eschew the modern science of evolution. Note that this is not a "four views" sort of book. While I think it is fair to other ways Evangelicals have thought about evolution, Alexander unapologetically writes from the position of Evolutionary Creation. This view, also held by ministries in the US such as the BioLogos Foundation, seeks to find a biblically faithful approach that nevertheless takes on board the broad spectrum of evidence in support of an ancient universe/Earth and biological evolution. Highly recommended!

Note that this book is a heavily expanded 2nd edition; it has much more information on the genetics of human evolution that reflects the explosion of information ion this areas since the 1st edition.

2 people found this helpful

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John H. Terrell

Alexander Addresses the Great Divide

Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2010

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Like Drs. Kenneth Miller and Francis Collins, Alexander is a scientist and an avid theistic evolutionist. All three have written about their religious experiences from their respective personal views. Alexander however, also brings an uncommon depth of scholarly religious knowledge to bear on the subject of theistic evolution. As a result, I find his argument the most compelling that I've seen so far.

He has created a well ordered, information-rich exposition that is worthy of reading straight through from the beginning: his comfortable writing style makes it easy to do so. That said, his Chapter 7, "What about Genesis?", really gets to the heart of the matter; namely, should the Genesis creation account be taken literally or figuratively?

As Alexander points out, Bible literalism is a rather recent cultural phenomenon. Regardless, its proponents argue their position passionately, albeit without the support of history - or simple logic. In fact, if only logic were necessary to win over the Bible literalists, Alexander's argument for a figurative reading would be a slam-dunk. But the tenacity with which they cling to their belief strongly suggests a deep emotional basis rather than an intellectual one.

I am a theistic evolutionist, but I would have rejected a literal reading, even if I weren't, based on just this one verse: "And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him." (Gen 2:20, KJV) Read literally, this verse says my omniscient Lord was clueless, thinking some animal might be a suitable help meet for Adam. Simple logic tells me this is not what the writer intended to convey.

Alexander is also - and primarily - arguing the case for theistic evolution, which is doubly hard in this context. First, because evolution theory refutes a literal reading of Genesis, it is anathema to all Bible literalists - whatever their chosen appellation -- creationist, intelligent design proponent, and the like. Second, the understanding of evolution theory that would necessarily precede acceptance is woefully lacking, especially in the US populace.

In short, Alexander has chosen, colloquially, a "tough row to hoe". I laud him for his effort to combat Bible literalism, but I'm afraid that those who could most benefit from his book are the least likely to read it.

6 people found this helpful

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Truthseeker

First-Rate Book by a Christian and a Scholar

Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2012

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This book is written by a man well qualified to discuss both sides of the creation-evolution debate. A strong evangelical Christian who is committed to the authority of Scripture as God's Word, he is also a biochemist within the Cambridge University community and brings to the discussion a strong background in genetics. Denis Alexander shows that one can be a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and still accept the discoveries and understandings of modern science, as the two really do not conflict.

Rather than provide a chapter-by-chapter review, I'll instead mention the points that I found most powerful. Dr. Alexander discusses radioactive dating methods and refutes the young-earth creationist contention that they are based on circular reasoning, explaining that radioactive dating is accurate to within about 2%. So, if the age of the earth is estimated at about 4.6 billion years, it may actually be anywhere between about 4.5 billion and 4.7 billion. But it's not 6,000! He points out that more than one type of chemical element can be tested, so when two or more radioactive dating methods yield approximately the same age for a rock, we can be very confident that we have an accurate estimate.

Bringing his scientific training to bear on human evolution, Dr. Alexander discusses at length just what DNA is and how it works. Later on in the book, he draws on this information to show that, far from being a process blindly driven by random chance as creationists claim, evolution is actually very much a constrained and directed process that unfolds along a small number of pathways.

A good part of the book is devoted to dealing with young-earth creationism and "intelligent design." Doubtless many creationists will accuse Dr. Alexander of creating straw men in these sections, but I think he tries to deal fairly with both young-earth creationism and intelligent design. One of his more devastating criticisms regarding the former is that, having argued that evolution could not occur over even billions of years, young-earth creationists are forced to maintain that it occurred in just a few thousand years after the Genesis flood as the various "kinds" branched out across the earth. He points out the inherent moral and theological problem in believing in a God of truth who created the universe only 6,000 years ago, yet made it in such a way as to make us think that it's actually 13.7 billion years old. As regards intelligent design, Dr. Alexander points out that the linchpin of "irreducible complexity" is really not an obstacle because organisms often evolve redundant genes, proteins, organs or whatever. Once enough of the various parts have become available, it's a simple thing to put them together to make an eye, or a bacterial flagellum, or whatever. He points out that intelligent design becomes, in effect, another "God of the gaps" theory in which everything that science can't yet explain somehow becomes irrefutable evidence for creation, intelligent design or whatever. This is dangerous ground for Christians, for all that is needed is for science to discover an answer to any mystery and their position then becomes discredited.

One other point that strongly impressed me was the wide diversity of viewpoints within Church history before Darwin concerning Genesis. Not until Darwin came upon the scene did Christians begin insisting upon the fundamentalist interpretation of Genesis. Augustine argued against dogmatism in this area on the grounds that if new knowledge came to light, it would be foolish for the Church to insist upon converts adhering to an understanding of origins that they knew to be wrong. Origen dismissed the literal "day" theory of Genesis, arguing instead for a spiritual or figurative understanding. Both these men lived long before the time of Darwin, so could not possibly have been influenced by him.

Dr. Alexander lists five different ways of understanding Adam and Eve. Whether one agrees with any of them or not, at least Dr. Alexander makes an attempt to deal with what is obviously a major issue for Christian theology. Perhaps the framework he presents will lead to a great deal of fruitful discussion on this question.

I would like to speak to Christians who may be having trouble with this whole issue. All truth is God's truth; there is nothing that you should be afraid to examine or to grapple with. The Nicene Creed speaks of "God the Father, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things, visible and invisible." There is no reason why God could not have chosen to employ evolution in his creation and designing of the universe. The ancient Hebrews lived in a simple, pre-modern agricultural society in which nuclear physics would have been completely unfathomable (a lot of us don't really understand it, either). For God to have described creation using modern science would have meant going completely over their heads. (Ditto for the Church Fathers, the Protestant Reformers and many others). There are great spiritual truths in Genesis that we completely miss because we're so concerned with whether everything is literally true.

I happen to accept evolution as an accurate explanation of the origin of life, but I also have no problem believing also in the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ. If I'm going to argue with an unbeliever about something, I'll gladly cede the point of evolution and focus instead on the Resurrection. Acknowledging the obvious can actually strengthen our credibility with unbelievers and allow us a hearing on the subject of the Gospel.

5 people found this helpful

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anna rice

Very Thoughtful

Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2013

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I am really enjoying reading this book. It has given me a lot to think about. The author is very thorough in his discussion of topics and he has answered most of my questions. What I like about the book is that in the sections on DNA he explains things in great detail, but in such a way that a lay person with a good grasp of high school biology can understand. He has really helped me solidify my beliefs. This is a written as a treatise to Christians explaining the evolutionary creationism viewpoint.

One person found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

MR JOHN R CHAMBERLAIN

An authoritative critique of fundamentalism

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 8, 2021

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The author was for many years a senior research scientist in molecular biology, and this book is worth buying just for his authoritative account of evolution, and in particular genetics. However his purpose in writing was not to produce a work of popular science, but rather, as he says in the first sentence, to address “people who believe…that the Bible is the inspired word of God from cover to cover”. Here he treads carefully, as there are many such people who believe that according to Genesis 1, the universe was created in 6 days and that a species cannot evolve into different species. Adherents of this view typically believe that the earth was created a few thousand, rather than a few billion years ago. He lays the ground carefully and thoroughly and the issue of Genesis 1 is not tackled till page 151. His conclusion that Genesis 1 is not, and was never intended to be, science or literal history will not surprise the majority of Christians in Europe at least. He points out that since the sun was not created till day 4 in the Genesis account, the reference to days one to three cannot be taken literally. Nor do we take the reference to God walking in the garden literally. Moreover Genesis 2 offers a different creation story, and they can’t both be literal history. His concern is that conservative Christians should not “bring the gospel into disrepute” (p352) by defending an indefensible view of creation, just as the established church one denied the movement of the earth in space on a literal reading of Psalm 93:1 “the earth …cannot be moved”. His views on Genesis 3 – Adam and Eve and the Fall, are more interesting and speculative. If we accept evolution as a reality, and that we have evolved from creatures that didn’t have concepts of “god”, “free will”, “sin”, and “life after death”, the first question is whether these ideas evolved gradually over many generations, or whether spiritual revelation happened suddenly, and if the latter, when and where? Studies of DNA suggest we have to go back 200,000 years in East Africa to find a common ancestor for all of humanity. Alexander inclines to the view that the spiritual awakening happened much more recently in the Neolithic period, [normally defined as 10,000 – 4,500 BCE] in the Middle East. However this choice is influenced as much by the way Adam is described in the Bible as by science.

One person found this helpful

Mr. M. J. Reynolds

A Book about the Fruitful Potentiality of our Universe and its relationship to Scripture

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 28, 2016

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I would like to personally thank Dr Denis Alexander. In hearing him speak at the Faraday Institute he made me as a Christian physicist take evolution seriously. This book is a full explanation of why it is possible to be a committed Christian and an evolutionary biologist. Denis is obviously a talented linguist with more than a passing knowledge of Hebrew and Greek as well as being fluent in Turkish by the way. He is also somebody who has done a lot of thinking about theology. I'd like to think he wouldn't embarrass himself amongst a group of professional theologians. But his main gifting is communicating the biological sciences.

The job of scientists is to think God's thoughts after Him. Science must be allowed the fullest scope in enquiry consistent with ethics. We as scientists are in awe of the wonders of our universe and its fruitful potentiality. Amen.

3 people found this helpful

Will

Creation or Evolution: Do We Have to Choose- a Review from A Student Open to The Idea of Theistic Evolution

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 26, 2017

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Overall very well researched and very respectful written. I can happily back some of the models he proposes as potential ways forward. I think a literal Adam and Eve is crucial and makes the most sense of Scripture, and this is what is done. What a relief to have someone who maintains the idea of a fall and a real first pair, when these two ideas are being abandoned left, right and centre by people like Ken Miller, Dennis Lamareoux and Peter Enns.

One person found this helpful

Mr. S. J. Mckee

A wonderful book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 5, 2017

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I wish every Christian would read this book and heed it too. What a valuable piece of writing. Well done Denis Alexander!

althea wilkinson

Very sensible, thorough and interesting

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 22, 2013

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Really level-headed and interesting.
I learned a great deal about what genetics can tell us, which is amazing. Anyone who is suspicious of "scientific evidence" should read this. Also found the theology interesting and thoroughly understood. All in all,very helpful to any scientist who is a Christian struggling to explain to creationist friends.

One person found this helpful