Yong Review of Schroeder Information
The following review of mine will appear in Nova Religio: Journal of New & Alternative Religions 10:2 (2006): forthcoming – and I thought you might be interested in its “information” related ideas as applied to microbiology. AY
The Hidden Face of God: How Science Reveals the Ultimate Truth. By Gerald L. Schroeder. The Free Press, 2001. xiv + 224 pages. $26.00, cloth.
Schroeder is an MIT-trained scientist who has done work in physics and biology, most recently at the Weizmann Institute, the Hebrew University, and the Volcani Research Institute, in Israel. Having also received rabbinic training in the Hebrew Scriptures, he has long sought to reconcile the Hebraic worldview with modern science. Two earlier volumes – Genesis and the Big Bang: The Discovery of Harmony between Modern Science and the Bible (Bantam Books, 1990), and The Science of God: The Convergence of Scientific and Biblical Wisdom (Free Press, 1997) – anticipate this book.
Schroeder’s main thesis is that the universe originates from and is encompassed and sustained by wisdom. Whereas earlier forms of the teleological argument were based on the order, pattern, or structure of the observed universe, and later bridges between science and religion have included the ideas of energy or force fields, more recent developments have explored the science-religion convergence based on the notions of complexity, information, and even consciousness. Schroder suggests that read in religious perspective, these developments legitimate the hypothesis that mind or consciousness is at the heart of the universe. Because of the conviction that nature and scripture are the two books of divine wisdom, science and the Bible are complementary, not contradictory.
Yet do not mistake The Hidden Face of God as a creationist manifesto (even if conservative Christians have seen Schroder’s earlier books as supporting their interpretation of the Genesis creation narratives). There is a good deal of excellent science in this book. While brief chapters introduce the physical and metaphysical theories surrounding the origins of the universe, the main topics focus on microbiology and neurophysiology. The chapters on cellular biology, meiosis (the process of sexual cellular reproduction), the nerves, hardware and functioning of the brain, and the operations of the mind (which is irreducible to the brain) are accessible to non-scientific audiences and conceptually provocative. Added to these are three appendixes on the making of protein by the DNA and RNA molecules, mitosis (the making of human body cells), and the molecular movement of muscles. Throughout, Schroeder’s emphasis is on the complexity, harmony, and beauty of the processes involved, all suggestive of the wisdom that underlies the universe.
One drawback to the book is that there are neither references nor a bibliography. A few major sources are identified on the acknowledgments page, but those interested will need to consult Schroeder’s earlier books for other pointers. Conceptually, while the presentation is accessible and even interesting, Schreoder’s confidence that the complexity of life’s processes is compatible with or actually leads to the biblical God may be questioned. Nevertheless, the appearance of the earlier (and now repudiated) God-of-the-gaps approach is avoided, and replaced with a sophisticated understanding of the more ambiguous notion of “wisdom.”
The remaining question for Nova Religio readers is whether the book should have been titled, “the hidden face of wisdom.” It is intriguing to speculate about the kinds of connections Schroeder’s thesis makes with a wide range of consciousness-oriented NRMs: scientific healing and science-based religious organizations; occultic, theosophical, and gnostic-type groups; Indian or Hindu-based traditions; and NRMs with self-realization, enlightenment, meditation and yogic practices at their core. While not wishing to simplistically equate any of these kinds of NRMs with Schroeder’s main ideas, interesting comparisons and contrasts are nevertheless opened up. NRM scholars studying these kinds of groups will benefit at least from the rigorous empirical science undergirding Schroeder’s thesis.
Reviewed by Amos Yong
Bethel University, St. Paul, Minnesota