Book Review: The Luminous Web

Information about the book

Title: The Luminous Web: Essays on Science and Religion

Author: Barbara Brown Taylor

Publisher: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers

Copywrite date: 2000

Links:  I purchased this book from Amazon.

Summary

On the back cover: "In these essays on the dialogue between science and Christian faith, Barbara Brown Taylor describes her journey as a preacher learning what the insights of quantum physics, the new biology and chaos theory can teach a person of faith."

Taylor's purpose in this book isn't to meld science and theology.  She also isn't willing to allow each of them to stand alone, separate from each other.  She doesn't lesson either one - each stands on its own, but she does bring them along side by side so that we can see how they complement each other.  

Impressions

I chose this book for two reasons.  I have read a book of sermons by Barbara Brown Taylor and was SO IMPRESSED by her writing.  Secondly, my background is in science and my career in is faith.  I'm often thinking about how the two are related and not in opposition.

I often measure a book by the number of "ah ha" moments.  This had many.  Taylor quotes scientists and theologians - both bring revelation to the party.  She doesn't try to mesh the two, or try to use science to explain religion (or religion to refute science).  Instead, she describes her journey as a person of faith into the land of science.  I think too often, in a quest to protect God, we trash science.  God doesn't need our protection, and if we think we have everything figured out because we've read the Bible, we are very much mistaken.

I enjoyed the book, and it opened my mind to a field of study I haven't ventured into before - quantum physics and chaos theory - and how these speak to my faith.

I recommend the book.  I haven't written any posts about it yet - I hope to do so.  Much of my copy of the book is highlighted!  

(To find future posts once they are written, search for Taylor Web in the search bar of my blog).