• Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Lifeway Research

Lifeway Research

Enlightening today’s church with relevant research and insights

  • Research
  • Insights
  • Resource Library
  • Fast Facts
  • Search

Pastor’s Library: Undeniable, book review

Uncategorized | Nov 4, 2016

Undeniable: How Biology Confirms Our Intuition That Life Is Designed

Bibliography

Axe, Douglas. Undeniable: How Biology Confirms Our Intuition That Life Is Designed. NY, NY: HarperOne, 2016. 298pp. $25.99.

Category

Science/Life Sciences/Evolution

Summary

Axe, a molecular biologist, argues that everyone has an intuition toward design. That is, the things we know without a doubt are designed (shoes, bricks, engines) affirm that the most complex things in the universe were also designed. Our natural bent is not toward life being an accident because we know by experience that complex things require an inventor. Axe suggests everyone is allowed to assert the design intuition because of what he calls “common science.” I interpret his phrase as “science that aligns with common sense.”

He demonstrates the unlikelihood that random selection can account for the millions of life forms on planet Earth. Axe states it like this:

Darwin’s idea that life wanders from one variation to the next, never committing, always yielding to the blind force of natural selection, is plainly incompatible with the idea that the physical forms of life are expressions of something deeper, something immovable, something perfect.

Using a series of analogies (from a homing robot to pixels to alphabet soup) he demonstrates the extraordinary improbability of life arising by blind unguided forces, as well as the statistical and biological impossibility of beneficial mutations with natural selection being sufficient causes to explain life as we know it. Change requires invention; natural selection cannot invent, according to Axe. It cannot create. If natural selection acts at all, it can only act on what already exists.

Unlike some authors in the Intelligent Design realm, Axe does not hesitate to allow the evidence to lead where it may: an intelligent Designer who we would commonly call God.

Benefit for Ministry

When dealing with issues related to creation, evolution, origins, ID, and similar subjects, pastors and church leaders should stay current. I have heard well-meaning Christians use arguments for creation that haven’t been updated in 20 years. This leaves the hearers ripe for confusion when a knowledgeable friend or classmate can easily disprove the argument.

Undeniable provides pastors and church leaders with current information on the naturalism vs ID debate. Since scientific discovery is not static we do well to make sure we address the facts in play in 2016 rather than those of 1986.

Rating

Essential — Recommended — Helpful — Pass It By

Recommendation

Undeniable by Douglas Axe is beneficial to those with an interest in science, for pastors preparing to address the creation of the universe, and for students who need to balance their diet of naturalism with insight from the other side.

Related posts:

U.S. Pastors Identify Their Greatest Needs Few Pastors Left the Pulpit Despite Increased Pressure 6 Ways to Lose Your Ministry Why Your Post-Pandemic Church Must Restart Like a Church Plant

Primary Sidebar

Follow Us On…

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Popular

  • Most Popular Sermon Passages, Topics in 2021
  • 7 Things to Not Say at a Funeral
    funeral casket
  • 7 Reasons to Praise the Lord
    praise
  • Discipling Your Congregation to Understand the Importance of the Church

Join the Lifeway Research Newsletter

Lifeway Research: Enlightening Today’s Church with Relevant Insights.

Signup for email updates on our church and culture research.

Sign Up

Leader Resources

Bible
Clip Art
Classics
Clip Art
Current Events
Clip Art
Discipleship
Clip Art
Pastoral Ministy
Clip Art
Theology
Clip Art
VIEW ALL RESOURCES
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Custom Research
  • Resource Library
  • Search

Copyright © 2023 · Lifeway Research, a ministry of Lifeway Christian Resources