Calculating God: Part I

In case you haven't noticed, I'm a science fiction fan, much to my wife's dismay. We'll save that discussion for another day, though.

I just finished a book called Calculating God, by Robert J. Sawyer. Short version: An alien arrives at a museum in Toronto, begins working with a paleontologist. The aliens believe in God. The human does not. Thus begins a conversation that does not merely center on creationism vs. evolution (and that's yet another topic for another day), but really becomes about multiple races searching for something greater than themselves.


Now, quick disclaimer. Don't expect this book to support a Biblical perspective. It does stereotype fundamentalist Christians as abortion clinic bombers. But the conversations that take place are well worth the read, and there are a few passages I want to touch on over the next few entries.

I'll start with a passage from chapter nine:

"There is no indisputable proof for the big bang," said Hollus. "And there is none for evolution. And yet you accept those. Why hold the question of whether there is a creator to a higher standard?"
I didn't have a good answer for that. "All I know," I said, "is that it will take overwhelming evidence to convince me."
"I believe you have already been given overwhelming evidence," said Hollus.

And I agree with a fictitious alien. We have been given overwhelming evidence of a creator, just as Jesus says in Luke 19:40, "I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out."

All the earth testifies to the presence of God. And once the hurdle of God's presence is cleared, the next challenge is often to understand what kind of God it is that exists. And that is where we will pick up in the next excerpt.