I recently gave a book review for the Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology, 27.2 (Fall 2009). The book I reviewed is called The Open secret: A New Vision for Natural Theology by Alister E. McGrath. For any of you interested in the relationship between the naturalism, natural theology, and the Christian faith, the book is good, and probably worth a read. What is especially noteworthy is the way in which McGrath claims that one always views, observes, and scientifically reads the ‘book of nature’ through a set of lenses with pre-established values. No read of nature is neutral. But this non-neutral way of viewing nature is itself perfectly natural, a point that McGrath uses to further argue that the Christian value-system is most appropriate for reading nature. But, beware: as in all things philosophy, it has a lot of philosophical jargon. You’ll have to be ready to sift through that.
Regarding the review itself, it’s a hard publication to get over in the States because it’s not published in any sort of electronic form. But if you’re ever in a library and are dying to read a book review, check it out.
