Book Reviews
The Religion Conundrum
One man's Thoughts
Dr. H.R. Gillespie
© Oct. 11, 2010
Infinity Publishing
ISBN-10: 0741460610
ISBN-13: 9780741460615
93 pages, $14.95
Dr. Gillespie has put together a thought-provoking treatise explaining his beliefs about the origin of the universe, human life, and the origin of religious thought. He certainly seems adroit and to have the credentials to know what he is talking about. I enjoy books like this because they challenge me to rediscover my own beliefs: why do I believe what I believe when it is obvious that others believe something different?
His book starts off with how he believes the universe arose and some thoughts about the Big Bang theory. He believes that a primordial universe pre-existed the Big Bang and probably has generated other parallel universes. He presents his thoughts on how the human race originated and how belief in a Supreme Being and systems of religion to worship the Supreme Being originated. The scope of his book is quite extensive. He has chapters on the Beginnings (of the universe), on Homo sapiens, on religion in general, on atheism, and on each of seven major world religions, and two separate sections on terrorism and religious fundamentalism. I enjoyed reading the book, and it certainly caused me to re-evaluate why I choose to believe what I believe.
I’m not sold on his position on Islamic terrorism. He seems to think terrorism stems from the religion of Islam. He lists sixteen incidents of war and terrorism between 2008 and 2009 in Middle East countries. I don’t think he is correct about war and terrorism originating from religion. I notice on Animal Planet that meercats and chimpanzees also wage war. Even ants wage war. These animals are not swayed by any religious sentiments. I think war stems from our animal nature and not from religion. Dr. Gillespie mentions this again when he writes: We need to separate Church, State and Science. Too much of what the world is thinking about is based on emotion and non-factual beliefs and doctrines . . . I hope that the Muslim world will face the facts and make some kind of accommodation with their religion and become nations under law.
I have problems accepting that there is no Supreme Being that created the universe. I see that many people who argue evolution seem to frequently get tripped up in how they explain natural selection. Dr. Gillespie trips up this way also when he opines that each genus (of flowers) selected the best direction for its development . . . all working to improve their lot concurrently, over millions of years. Dr. Gillespie’s flaw is that he presumes someone is guiding evolution, in this case the flowers themselves, whereas the theory of evolution is emphatic that there is no agent involved in selecting anything or working to improve anything. Such selection would require intelligence to know ahead of time how to select the best direction for evolution. With no intelligent agent involved, there is absolutely no one to do the selecting. I think this sentence shows a flaw in the author’s argument. What is happening, according to the theory of evolution, is that random mutations alter the survivability of each organism, but the theory does not posit any intelligence or intelligent agent involved, so right away, I have reservations about the author’s arguments. I wonder how fervently he believes evolution when he describes it the way he does.
Dr. Gillespie, based on his convictions and on scientific discoveries, speculates on the causes for the rise of religious beliefs and systems of worship, but I think his arguments are flawed here also. He presumes that all religions have the same origins, but that is not true. Some religions stem from the basic aspirations of humans trying to make sense of the world they live in; others are based on supposed revelations that God made to humans. If God really did make a revelation, then a prime goal for religious worship would be to identify what that revelation is. Dr. Gillespie wants me to accept his scientific arguments, but I can’t verify that what he tells me is accurate and true. I do not have the education or resources to verify them by my own observation. My only choice is to accept them on Gillespie’s word—to put my faith in the author’s credibility. The same is true if I believe that God created the universe. I wasn’t present when the universe began, so I can’t verify what proponents of religion tell me. My only choice is to accept their testimony on faith. It’s that way with almost everything I hold to be true. I can’t verify most of what people tell me. So, what I accept, I wind up accepting on faith in the person who tells me.
But it’s not as simple as that because people who witness to me always have a bias. They put a spin on it. An excellent example is what I hear today about the candidates running for political office. I hear contradictorily opinions about all of them, and I can easily detect the spin that is wrapped into those opinions. But, even though these events are happening in my own country right in front of my eyes, I do not have the ability to strip away the bias and get to the real facts. Pondering through the laws of my country or evaluating the advisability of fiscal policies, even with access to The Internet, will not clarify these issues for me because I am not versed in evaluating these matters. I have little choice but to pick someone that strikes me as reliable and put my faith in his testimony.
As far as religion goes, I already believe that God exists and that God created the universe based on the testimony of Scripture and Jesus Christ. I wasn’t there when this testimony was formulated, so I can’t verify it first hand by my own observation. But there is a two-thousand year historical record of the text that has been handed down through the ages and almost every conceivable contradiction of it. After two thousand years of rival historians carefully studying the original text, and removing sectarian annotations, I think the text that is presented to me today is undoubtedly exactly what Jesus meant when he gave his witness. Jesus claimed to be the divine son of the God who made the Judeo-Christian revelation. In his lifetime, Jesus had an outstanding character. He reflected the merciful and absolutely just nature of God who has no malice but only love for us humans. Neither he nor God would have countenance terrorism and murder. Jesus was killed by his enemies, but he rose from the dead.
I could just as easily put my faith in what the author says about the origin of religion and the universe, but I know what the author says does not have a two-thousand year pedigree like what Jesus taught. The theory of evolution is a fairly new theory: it was formulated only about 150 years ago. It is an ongoing work constantly refined as new discoveries are made. In my lifetime alone, the Theory of Evolution has changed drastically because of new discoveries, and I expect it to change even further as more new discoveries are made.
I am not willing to abandon my faith in the testimony of Jesus Christ, concerning a revelation God has made, in order to place my faith in a scientific argument based on a theory that is still being formulated no matter how reasonable the author tries to make that theory appear. If you are curious about how your faith stacks up against the faith of others, you might find this book stimulating; it might help you better understand what you hold to be true.
Maurice A. Williams
www.mauriceawilliams.com
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