Despite its title, this book isn't about Dr. Peterson. It's about something far greater. It's about the gaping chasm that currently exists separating the Biblical and scientific world views. More precisely it's an attempt to bridge that gap.
Written as a series of personal emails to a close friend, a former pastor, the author attempts to "interpret" the Biblical narrative in the light of modern science. Walking a tightrope that balances a solid understanding of the Bible with a basic understanding of the three fundamental pillars of modern science, namely general relativity, quantum physics and chaos theory, the author attempts show how science, rather than contradicting the Bible actually provides a corrective lens by which the Bible can be more clearly understood.
At the core of this book lies the issue of authority. Authority can be thought of as that to which a person willingly aligns their thinking and behavior. The average person who sees the law as authoritative will conform their behavior to the law. A scientist sees science as authoritative. So, if scientific inquiry reveals that there are innate differences between males and females, then the scientist, like Dr. Peterson, accepts this and adjusts his thinking to match. For the believer, the process is the same only the Authority that he aligns with is Scripture so that, over time, the Christian conforms to (aligns to) the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). The challenge is that the average person, the scientist and the Christian do not agree on what constitutes final or ultimate Authority.
If the Bible is the Word of God, however, ultimately science and the Bible must converge. And, if they converge there must be but one ultimate Authority. If they do not converge then either science or the Bible must be revealed to be false. For anyone in possession of a smart device, it should be clear that science stands on pretty solid ground. The burden of proof, therefore, rests with the believer. The primary challenge being to show that is possible to read the Bible in a cohesive and coherent way in the light of modern science while also not gutting it of meaning. Starting with an old theological understanding that God wrote not one but two books, the book of Devine Revelation (the Bible - the domain of Theology), and the Book of Nature (created reality - the domain of science) the author sets out on a journey to reveal what emerges when you interpret the Bible in the light of modern science.
Anyone familiar with Dr. Peterson will know just how fiercely he confronts wrong thinking. Not only that but he has often expressed the desire to be corrected if his thinking is off in some fundamental way. From a scientific perspective, all it takes is one exception to a hypothesis to disprove it. Dr. Peterson has thrown out the hypothesis, the belief really, that no-one is worthy to say he believes in God. In loudly proclaiming, "Who dares say he believes in God?", Dr. Peterson has issued a challenge to the world to prove him wrong. The author takes up Dr. Peterson's challenge, offering himself up as just one exception that disproves this hypothesis and challenges Dr. Peterson to read this book and judge the matter for himself.
Dr. Peterson has issued his challenge to the world. Let him now show the world whether or not he is being genuine when he says that he wants to know if his thinking is wrong in any fundamental way.
