Reviewed by: Connor Salter, a Professional Writing student at Taylor University in Upland, IN.

Introduction

Title: The Fool and the Heretic: How Two Scientists Moved Beyond Labels to a Christian Dialogue About Creation and Evolution

Author: Todd Charles Wood and Darrel R. Falk

Publisher: Zondervan

Publication Date: February 5, 2019

Format: Paperback (softcover)

Length: 208 pages

OVERVIEW

What does it look like to show peace and brotherly love to Christians you disagree with? What if you genuinely believe their views hurt the church? Many Christians struggle with this problem, especially when it comes to opposing views about evolution. In 2013, the Colossian Forum invited two Christian scientists who hold opposing views on evolution to meet and see what happened. Todd Charles Wood, a committed young-earth creationist, and Darrel R. Falk, a committed evolutionist, took up the challenge. This book chronicles their thoughts on each other, their personal faith journeys, and what ended up happening when they met.

This book makes the refreshing choice to honestly show how difficult Christian disagreement can be. Falk and Wood admit from the beginning that they hold different views and that each of them believes the other’s work harms the church. At the same time, the book doesn’t make the disagreement seem so big that the only satisfactory conclusion is one side must give up. Instead, the book focuses on a harder idea: sometimes charity is more important than winning the debate. Ultimately, this idea turns out to be more fruitful and powerful than the other options, and readers will find it highly satisfactory. All told, this is really an excellent book.

ASSESSMENT

Rating (1 to 5 stars)

5 stars

Suggested Audience

Christians seeking reconciliation and friendly relations with other Christians they disagree with, readers interested in the creationism versus evolution debate.

Christian Impact

This book provides a great look at how Christians can maintain unity with each other and learn to respect even huge differences in opinion.

Interested in reviewing a book, movie, album, or other type of media for our website? We would love to hear from you! Find out more about how to submit media reviews.