The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief
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- Create Date：2021-03-13 04:12:42
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Francis S. Collins
- ISBN：1416542744
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Reviews
Samantha Sze
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This book was recommended to me by someone of faith in my life when I opted to go the agnostic route and leave christianity behind。 I had high hopes but am left feeling nothing but disappointment。 It is nice to see a believer acknowledge evolution as real and I'd love to see more of that。 I agree that you don't have to discount science to believe in god。 What I can't wrap my mind around is the thought that atheism makes no sense all the while christianity does。 According to this book， athiesm is This book was recommended to me by someone of faith in my life when I opted to go the agnostic route and leave christianity behind。 I had high hopes but am left feeling nothing but disappointment。 It is nice to see a believer acknowledge evolution as real and I'd love to see more of that。 I agree that you don't have to discount science to believe in god。 What I can't wrap my mind around is the thought that atheism makes no sense all the while christianity does。 According to this book， athiesm is the least sensible place to land as it is based in blind faith。 Christianity on the other hand， youre expected to believe that god exists outside of nature， for which there is no evidence， and then christianity will make sense。 How is that not blind faith？ Utterly disappointed。 。。。more
Sophie Dodd
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An amazing book with loads of really good insight。 Just a little bit to sciencey for me。 Would recommend though。 Just personally a little too complex for my tiny brain。
Cathy
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Interested because he is presently head of NIH
Mohamed
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كتاب جيد للمشتغلين في مكافحة الالحاد。الكتاب من تاليف عالم بيولوجيا خلص الى ان هذا التدقيق الشديد في الحمض النووي لا يمكن ان يكون صدفة。 بل هو من صنع إله مدبر خالق。
Julie Swartz
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Collins has similar beliefs when it comes to science and faith as myself。 However， there really wasn't anything groundbreaking in it for me。 He quotes CS Lewis's Mere Christianity frequently and if I hadn't already read that， I think I would have found this book to be more profound but instead for me it was a repeat of those same ideas。 Collins has similar beliefs when it comes to science and faith as myself。 However， there really wasn't anything groundbreaking in it for me。 He quotes CS Lewis's Mere Christianity frequently and if I hadn't already read that， I think I would have found this book to be more profound but instead for me it was a repeat of those same ideas。 。。。more
Rod Innis
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I have no doubt that the author is a brilliant scientist。 His area of expertise is genetics。 He was for a long time the head of the Human Genome Project which mapped human DNA。 However， he talked about a lot of areas in which he does not appear to be an expert。 He attacked recent creationism but does not seem to even understand what he is attacking。 He attacked Intelligent Design and again does not seem to understand the position。 He very weakly defends a view he calls theistic evolution or Bio I have no doubt that the author is a brilliant scientist。 His area of expertise is genetics。 He was for a long time the head of the Human Genome Project which mapped human DNA。 However， he talked about a lot of areas in which he does not appear to be an expert。 He attacked recent creationism but does not seem to even understand what he is attacking。 He attacked Intelligent Design and again does not seem to understand the position。 He very weakly defends a view he calls theistic evolution or Bio logos。 His reason for faith seems to be based on the moral law that he sees。 He accepts unguided evolution without question; seeing it as proven science。 Even his defense of the Christian faith seems to be at times quite weak。I knew when I chose to read the book that he would express beliefs quite different from my own but I really expected him to do a better job of presenting and defending his beliefs。 。。。more
Alexis
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Ik had dit boek al tijden liggen， twijfelde of ik het weg zou gooien， maar dacht: toch maar even kijken。 Helder geschreven， sympathiek van toon， maar niet scherp van inzicht。 De auteur is een prominente genetisch wetenschapper die zich van vrijdenker en agnost heeft ontwikkeld tot Christelijk gelovige。 Vooral de geschriften van C。S。 Lewis hebben hem zover gekregen。 NB: hij is géén creationist， hij erkent evolutie， hij denkt niet dat de bijbel letterlijk genomen moet worden。 Maar het eerste deel Ik had dit boek al tijden liggen， twijfelde of ik het weg zou gooien， maar dacht: toch maar even kijken。 Helder geschreven， sympathiek van toon， maar niet scherp van inzicht。 De auteur is een prominente genetisch wetenschapper die zich van vrijdenker en agnost heeft ontwikkeld tot Christelijk gelovige。 Vooral de geschriften van C。S。 Lewis hebben hem zover gekregen。 NB: hij is géén creationist， hij erkent evolutie， hij denkt niet dat de bijbel letterlijk genomen moet worden。 Maar het eerste deel van het boek waarin hij uit de doeken doet waarom hij tot geloof kwam en de voornaamste bezwaren tegen het geloof tracht weg te nemen， is zwak。 Voor Collins is het ultieme Godsbewijs de aanwezigheid van een "Morele Wet" in de mensheid， die volgens hem niet met evolutionaire argumenten kan worden verklaard。 Maar zijn argumentatie is mager en lek。 Een ander argument dat hij aandraagt is het universele bestaan van Godsverlangen。 Met C。S。 Lewis in de hand verklaart Collins dat de mens alleen verlangens heeft die vervuld kunnen worden; verlangen naar eten， seks， liefde， etc。 Collins （en Lewis） vergeten dat een mens ook kan verlangen naar het bestaan van eenhoorns， draken， onoverwinnelijkheid， onsterfelijkheid， toveren met een toverstaf， etc。 Daarna behandelt Collins nog de aloude filosofische en logische bezwaren: "Hoe kan er kwaad bestaan， als God goed en almachtig zou zijn？" Ook hier formuleert hij geen scherpe antwoorden op。 Zijn antwoord komt in essentie neer op het aloude: wij kunnen de betekenis van kwade gebeurtenissen niet overzien。 Hij poneert het bestaan van vrije wil als een feit， zonder hier verder op in te gaan。 Afijn， na dit eerste deel， bedoeld om de lezer te overtuigen van het bestaan van God， gaat Collins verder om de grote wetenschappelijke kwesties bespreken en verzoenen met zijn geloof， zoals het ontstaan van het heelal， menselijke genetica en zo nog meer。 Daar ben ik niet meer aan begonnen， want die vind ik niet erg problematisch。 Helaas， een tamelijk oppervlakkig boek。 。。。more
سعيد جابر
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الكتاب مقسوم إلى قسمين:•في القسم الأول: يتحدث الكاتب بلغة فلسفية ويطرح التساؤلات والردود انطلاقا من كونه انسان مفكر。（تشبه طريقة الكاتب في هذا القسم طريقة زكي محمود في كتابه "رحلة عقل"）。•القسم الثاني: يتحدث بلغة علمية كونه عالم أحياء ورئيس مشروع الجينوم البشري، ويشرح في هذا القسم مراحل تطور مشروع الجينوم البشري والصعوبات اللتي واجهته كرئيس للمشروع。دعا الكاتب المؤمنينَ في أكثر من موضع إلى التريث قبل الحكم على النظريات العلمية الجديدة وربطها بالدين، لأن العلم في تطور مستمر ويمكن أن يخرج العلم نفسه الكتاب مقسوم إلى قسمين:•في القسم الأول: يتحدث الكاتب بلغة فلسفية ويطرح التساؤلات والردود انطلاقا من كونه انسان مفكر。（تشبه طريقة الكاتب في هذا القسم طريقة زكي محمود في كتابه "رحلة عقل"）。•القسم الثاني: يتحدث بلغة علمية كونه عالم أحياء ورئيس مشروع الجينوم البشري، ويشرح في هذا القسم مراحل تطور مشروع الجينوم البشري والصعوبات اللتي واجهته كرئيس للمشروع。دعا الكاتب المؤمنينَ في أكثر من موضع إلى التريث قبل الحكم على النظريات العلمية الجديدة وربطها بالدين، لأن العلم في تطور مستمر ويمكن أن يخرج العلم نفسه بنظريات تعارض ما توصل إليه في وقت لاحق。 。。。more
Jeffrey Poindexter
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"God of the gaps"While the author of this book is obviously， better educated in science than I， he seems to me a philosopical coward。 His arguments seem to portray someone who is afraid to commit to one side or the other。 He claim that it is wrong to use arguments that portray a "God of the gaps" in scientific data but， those same gaps exist for the evolutionist as well。 He seems ok with evolution filling in those gaps。 I do happen to agree with his "Moral Law argument。 The merits of that alone "God of the gaps"While the author of this book is obviously， better educated in science than I， he seems to me a philosopical coward。 His arguments seem to portray someone who is afraid to commit to one side or the other。 He claim that it is wrong to use arguments that portray a "God of the gaps" in scientific data but， those same gaps exist for the evolutionist as well。 He seems ok with evolution filling in those gaps。 I do happen to agree with his "Moral Law argument。 The merits of that alone is bases enough for faith。 This felt more like a scientist try to apologize for his faith to his peers instead of a work that shows God in science。 。。。more
Grace Houser
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I had the honor of attending the North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference in 2019， when Dr。 Collins spoke and also played his guitar， which was an amazing experience！ Unfortunately， the experience of this audiobook did not live up to what I had hoped for。 I was hoping it would be more of a memoir and discussion of his faith and experiences as a scientist who is also a Christian。 It turned out to be more of a discussion of evolution。 While there were parts of it that I enjoyed， overall I found I I had the honor of attending the North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference in 2019， when Dr。 Collins spoke and also played his guitar， which was an amazing experience！ Unfortunately， the experience of this audiobook did not live up to what I had hoped for。 I was hoping it would be more of a memoir and discussion of his faith and experiences as a scientist who is also a Christian。 It turned out to be more of a discussion of evolution。 While there were parts of it that I enjoyed， overall I found I was not enthralled enough to finish it。 。。。more
Richard Blackmore
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Brilliant， but not historically groundbreaking。 Charles Lyell and James Hutton， the first geologists， both subscribed to a biologos perspective， as did many scientists of the nineteenth century。
Errol
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Collins seems to be a great person to present the question of God to atheists or agnostics due to the fact that he himself only became a Christian as an adult （after pondering certain questions and some of his experiences working with patients）。 Having the view and thoughts of such a great scientist on this topic is very valuable。Nonetheless， I personally don't find many of the arguments to be too convincing。 Firstly， a lot of the arguments are for the existence of a God， not necessarily the Chr Collins seems to be a great person to present the question of God to atheists or agnostics due to the fact that he himself only became a Christian as an adult （after pondering certain questions and some of his experiences working with patients）。 Having the view and thoughts of such a great scientist on this topic is very valuable。Nonetheless， I personally don't find many of the arguments to be too convincing。 Firstly， a lot of the arguments are for the existence of a God， not necessarily the Christian God。 Moreover， I don't even really agree with a lot of the arguments。I get that there are certain things in terms of why are we here that we want answers too。 But I don't think batching them together into a single thing is a position I can really hold to。 I won't ever know the answers to these things; that is scary， but it's okay。 I would prefer to commit my time and energy to making our current world a better place from my own understanding， rather than abiding by a belief set in something I don't see eye to eye with。 。。。more
Megan
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This book is brilliantly written。 It is rare that someone at such a high level of their field can write so coherently in 2 fields as seemingly different as biology/evolution and theology。 I think this book can be thought-provoking and educational for people regardless of their religious beliefs or academic background。
Liz
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Actually a good book to discuss in a bible class。 I found several areas of disagreement with the author which was a helpful exercise in defining my own beliefs。 。Best description of ID that I have read and why it is fading in popularity at least among those who are Christian and scientists。
Edie
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I found this book well written and for a science book easy to read。 It's a bit autobiography and scientific faith study。 It is divided into three sections; The Chasm between Science Faith， The Great Question of Human Existence and Faith in Science， Faith in God。 There is also an appendix that looks at moral science issues and bioethics。 I found it interesting that as I read I would have a question， and the next part addressed that specific question。 A lot of good food for thought。 I found this book well written and for a science book easy to read。 It's a bit autobiography and scientific faith study。 It is divided into three sections; The Chasm between Science Faith， The Great Question of Human Existence and Faith in Science， Faith in God。 There is also an appendix that looks at moral science issues and bioethics。 I found it interesting that as I read I would have a question， and the next part addressed that specific question。 A lot of good food for thought。 。。。more
Jose A。 Rivera
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Una verdad incomodaEl autor plantea elegantemente una de las problemáticas actuales del debate ciencia y fe o fe y razón。 Aunque debo señalar que en el terreno teológico el autor muestra inclinación por el sincretismo religioso。 También es evidente que su teología tiene carencias。 Buen científico， mal teólogo。 Su lectura se debe complementar ， en el terreno de la génetica， con el libro: Una grieta en la creación de Jennifer A。 Doudna。
Stephen
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In reviewing the above book I find it far easier to divide it into that of four general sections despite the author utilizing more than that。 Section 1 is the area for which he makes use of C。S。 Lewis’s Moral Law and Duckling arguments the latter of which basically states that you only possess a want if in turn a resource exists to fulfill it。 （a duckling wants to swim so therefore water）。 This section also comes with a misunderstanding of what Occam’s Razor is。 （It’s not about picking the simpl In reviewing the above book I find it far easier to divide it into that of four general sections despite the author utilizing more than that。 Section 1 is the area for which he makes use of C。S。 Lewis’s Moral Law and Duckling arguments the latter of which basically states that you only possess a want if in turn a resource exists to fulfill it。 （a duckling wants to swim so therefore water）。 This section also comes with a misunderstanding of what Occam’s Razor is。 （It’s not about picking the simplest solution it’s about how when faced with an absence of evidence one should pick the solution that requires them to make the least amount of assumptions。）As for C。S。 Lewis’s Duckling Argument it’s guilty of the special pleading fallacy。 If I were to use the same logic of a want for something that cut against Christianity， such as an intense desire to simply not exist， as philosopher Phillip Mainländer espoused， then only one of these could be true given that they are both mutually exclusive。 The argument also relies on the assumption that one’s environment is made for them as opposed to them evolving to fit within their environment。 Christians as a whole need to stop falling back on the Moral Law argument given that it really isn’t as much of a slam dunk as they think it is。 Their are alternative explanations as to where the “moral law” comes from。 It could be evolutionarily ingrained throughout our psyche or be based purely upon consequentialism。 For example: It is easier to survive within a group than it is to do so alone given that you don’t have to generate your own power， grow your own food， etc， etc。 But if someone were to start murdering or stealing from others indiscriminately that would make the groups cohesion unsustainable。 Because of this it is likely that those who showed a proclivity for such activities were sent away from the tribe by our ancestors， and thus weren’t able to pass on any such traits that made them prone to the before mentioned activities that we all consider to be immoral。The moral law argument also doesn’t account for specific things that Christianity finds immoral that other cultures just simply didn’t; an example being the Ancient Greek’s view of homosexuality。Section 2 basically stands as an area for him to compile a list of Christian arguments and then explain why they’re scientifically false。 This section is mostly fine， but somewhere throughout it he mentions that science is only capable to of exploring the physical realm and that faith must be used in order to investigate the spiritual。 He never at any point in this book supports the idea of or shows evidence for the existence of a spiritual realm。 So I really don’t know what to do with this claim aside from completely disregard it。Section 3: Was about him trying to gel the inevitable truth of evolution with his own religious beliefs。 He accomplishes this by basically just throwing the entire Bible into the trash and creating his own varient of a theistic god that is most definitely not the one of the Judeo-Christian tradition which I guess is fine， but in doing so he ends up creating an unfalsifiable thesis which I can’t do anything with。 He also uses the god of the gaps fallacy despite warning Christians against it earlier on in the book。 I’m pointing specifically to the part where he asserts that God created the universe out of nothing with no supporting evidence。Section 4: Is the best part of this book， and is unfortunately the shortest。 Throughout it he kind of just brings up a bunch of interesting moral dilemmas about our current understanding of DNA and how that has impacted the medical field in addition to the proposed likelihood of physical enhancements coming about in the future。 Honestly this whole part could be used as the basis for a really interesting Sci-Fi novel and I wish that he spent more time on it。 Overall a low 3 stars， it gets much better after the first section and I’m glad that I read it if only to continually expose myself to opposing points of view。 。。。more
Greg Adaka
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This book smoothly combines the concept of a supernatural creator with evolutionary theory。 The shortcomings of evolutionary theory have been raised by the intelligent design folk for years。 ID theorists have been ridiculed by secular atheists since their opposition became mainstream。 However， even the most secular evolutionary biologists admit to certain flaws in evolutionary theory， but only within their secular scientific circles。 I'm convinced that ID as proposed is deficient。 Collins' idea This book smoothly combines the concept of a supernatural creator with evolutionary theory。 The shortcomings of evolutionary theory have been raised by the intelligent design folk for years。 ID theorists have been ridiculed by secular atheists since their opposition became mainstream。 However， even the most secular evolutionary biologists admit to certain flaws in evolutionary theory， but only within their secular scientific circles。 I'm convinced that ID as proposed is deficient。 Collins' idea of theistic evolution doesn't answer every question， but it makes much better sense than either ID， Young Earth or Contemporary Neo Darwinism。 。。。more
Kayla
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I think this book was just a little too advanced for me scientifically。 I truly have no idea what I read。 I think support of evolution？ But with the help of a God？
Jacob Hudgins
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Interesting brief retelling of genome project。 Author is Christian and settles on theistic evolution as an explanation of both Christian faith and evolution （esp genetic science）。 Liked best his interest in lowering the temperature of faith/science debates。 No revolutionary arguments here on either side。
Noah McMillen
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The Language of God suffers from confusion in who the intended audience is。 Is Collins trying to speak to YEC and ID Christians and get them to accept theistic evolution， or is he speaking to atheists and trying to convert them to Christianity？ It seems like he’s trying to do both， but he is not equally skilled at addressing both audiences。 He provides good argumentation for evolution and the harmony of science and faith in a very simple and brief style; however， his philosophical arguments were The Language of God suffers from confusion in who the intended audience is。 Is Collins trying to speak to YEC and ID Christians and get them to accept theistic evolution， or is he speaking to atheists and trying to convert them to Christianity？ It seems like he’s trying to do both， but he is not equally skilled at addressing both audiences。 He provides good argumentation for evolution and the harmony of science and faith in a very simple and brief style; however， his philosophical arguments were comparatively elementary。 （He leaned heavily on a rather undeveloped moral argument and the idea that humans long for God。） What’s unfortunate about this is that the book markets itself as “evidence for belief，” so an agnostic or atheist may pick this book up and think this is the best the theists have in arguments for God。 Let me assure you it is not， and many great philosophical arguments for God are out there， including more developed forms of the moral argument。 However， I appreciate what Collins is trying to do and， for the most part， agree with his conclusions。 I think more people should accept the BioLogos thesis and become Christians who believe in evolution。 Ultimately， I would’ve liked this book to address the Christian audience more thoroughly。 I would’ve liked a deeper dive into the science and into the exegesis of Genesis 1-2 and the underlying hermeneutics that are conducive to the BioLogos view。 On another note， the appendix on bioethics was phenomenal， and I wish the entire book was written in this style。 。。。more
Kristen Mcknight
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This is a book for folks open to learning about theistic evolution。 Some of it was over my head， but I stuck with it and am glad I did。I have immense appreciation for Francis Collins who is a strong Christian and a top notch physician and scientist。 He is the head of the NIH and was head of the genome project。Anyone who struggles with combining faith， evolution and science - this is the book for you。 I am late to the game on reading The Language of God （is that not a great title！） since it was p This is a book for folks open to learning about theistic evolution。 Some of it was over my head， but I stuck with it and am glad I did。I have immense appreciation for Francis Collins who is a strong Christian and a top notch physician and scientist。 He is the head of the NIH and was head of the genome project。Anyone who struggles with combining faith， evolution and science - this is the book for you。 I am late to the game on reading The Language of God （is that not a great title！） since it was published in 2006。 。。。more
Vasia
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Excellent book！ This was written by the current director of the NIH。 As a person of faith and believer in science and evolution， this book is the best representation of what we believe。 If you want to explain evolution， genetics and science to a person of faith that doesn’t believe in these truths， this is the best book to help in this endeavor。
Peter Spung
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Fantastic book。 Eminent scientist Collins goes from darkness to light as a physician， healer， decoder of DNA and leader of that project， and from atheist to believer and promoter of faith。 For this scientist and theist， I became deeply absorbed every time I picked this up。
Gail Kennon
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wonderful story of seeing the world whole and holy。。。
Don Watkins
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A very good read by a very thoughtful person。 Well worth your time。 I read it as part of a course on Science and the Bible。
Patsy
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Such an important work to help in reconciling belief with science。
Brad Peterson
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I found this book to resonate with my own feelings， and express much of the concerns， and also resolutions， that I have had regarding faith and religion。 A must-read for those who accept science and rational thought but want to square it with faith。
Truc Mai
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In covid time， I read the book written by Dr。 Fauci's boss， who successfully lead the Human Genome Project。 It was a great pleasure to dive into the head of one of the genius minds。 I am impressed with the achievements of Dr。 Collins but not convinced by his book。 It failed me from the very beginning when he wrote about the so called "moral law"。。 I still love to hear him talking about science though。 In covid time， I read the book written by Dr。 Fauci's boss， who successfully lead the Human Genome Project。 It was a great pleasure to dive into the head of one of the genius minds。 I am impressed with the achievements of Dr。 Collins but not convinced by his book。 It failed me from the very beginning when he wrote about the so called "moral law"。。 I still love to hear him talking about science though。 。。。more
Mandi Scott
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