The Language of God

Francis Collins’ The Language of God has been high on my list of books to read since I heard of its publication in 2006. Collins is the head of the Human Genome Project, a distinguished scientist and an Evangelical Christian. While I was in Kentucky, visiting my friend David Goran and his wife in Versailles, Dave gave me his copy of the book. Like me, David got his undergraduate degree in a biology-related field so it is not surprising that he also appreciated the book. I read the book in a couple of sittings between Kentucky and Washington. The Language of God is Collins’ testimony of his coming to faith in Christ but it is also a treatise on faith and science and how they should relate. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and whole-heartedly agree with Collins’ view that faith and science both have the same goal of truth and the two therefore should not be in conflict. Not only did I appreciate the story of Collins’ spiritual journey but I was fascinated by the more scientific side of the book. I really enjoyed the story of the Human Genome Project and Collins’ writing on the origin of the universe and on the theory of evolution. Collins’ view of theistic evolution will be controversial to many Bible-believing Christians, but he does an impressive job of presenting his view and arguing for its compatibility with respect for the authority of Scripture. As a Bible-believing Christian and a scientist I also have struggled with how I should understand the evidence and the overwhelming consensus of biologists with respect to the origin of species. I can’t say that I have arrived at a totally satisfying synthesis yet but I appreciate the conclusion that Collins came to and I am certainly leaning in that direction with respect to my own views. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has struggled with reconciling the truth revealed in Scripture with the truth that God has allowed us to discover using our scientific abilities.