“Evolution, Me, and Other Freaks of Nature” by Robin Brande.

It’s what I read tonight while I was supposed to be editing. Good book. A bit oversimplified (although it was meant for younger readers–think thirteen-ish), but vibrant and fun and engaging. Concise, snappy sentences that came off as altogether effortless. Must read more Robin Brande. Must study her prose. Must track down her blog (assuming she has one) and friend her immediately.

We need more books like this. Realistic Christian characters, asking real questions, inhabiting the world OUTSIDE the carefully defined borders of the fantasy-land created by the CBA. (Nothing against Christian novels, but seriously, the list of semi-preposterous guidelines could pave a path to the moon–like, no dancing in contemporary books, but it’s okay in historicals. Um, huh?) The questions raised in this book may make some people uncomfortable–ie, is it possible to believe in both Bible and evolution (yes, according to the book, and I say “Amen!”), but the heroine is sweet and wholesome, never losing her faith and devotion to Jesus as she looks honestly for the answers.

THAT is why I love this book. (Besides the snappy prose.) Because seriously? Truth is good. Intellectual honesty is good. God can stand up to the tough questions. Seeking to understand more, to understand better, to admit that maybe we DON’T have everything figured out, no matter what side of the old earth/young earth/evolution/creation debate we fall on, is a good thing, I think. We don’t have ignore truths that appear to be self-evident, we don’t have to avoid asking questions that feel scary because they don’t quite line up with what we learned in Sunday School, or scramble for answers that fit neatly into our predefined, Focus-on-the-Family-approved worldview. We have tiny little minds, trying to understand a universe, not to mention a God, that is far too vast for us to ever fully comprehend. Imprisoning our brains in the sparse, narrow pastures provided by the CBA is only going to result in further mental malnutrition.

Okay, rant over. If you don’t feel like reading a book about a Christian girl who believes that God created the world through a process of evolution (*cough, cough*), or if you’re just not into YA (young adult) novels but would like to read about a good book that makes a case for why Christians need to beef up ther intellect, consider picking up “Fit Bodies, Fat Minds” by Os Guiness. (Did I spell that right? It’s two in the morning and I’m too lazy to look it up.)

So, to summarize:

Truth = Good

Intellectual Honesty = Good

Think about it–God can never be threatened by truth. God IS truth. We, on the other hand, can feel threatened by all manner of things that we don’t understand or feel uncomfortable with, and THAT is when we get flustered and try to defend the faith, sometimes at the expense of truth.

And it is hard, if not impossible, to share something that you are vigorously defending.

In Job 38: 4, the oldest book of the Bible, God asks: Where were you when I made the earth’s foundation? Tell me if you understand.

I will readily admit that I don’t. And I don’t need to. But that doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t use all the powers of intellect that God gave me to understand better, to understand deeper, and to stand more and more in awe of a God whose ways are so far above mine, and yet who stoops down to my level and calls me “beloved.”

Now THAT is miraculous.