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If you have ever been curious about the conflict between science and religion “The Fact/Faith Debate” by Jack Gage is a book you may want to check out. Interesting enough, a few years ago I attended a seminar by a man who claimed he could use science to fully debunk religion. His perspective was interesting but very flawed. Jack Gage presents scientific fact vs religious faith and exposes the questions neither of them can answer. It is a curious read and it will generate questions which I suppose was Gage’s goal when he wrote his book.

(It is important to note that although his parents are both Episcopalian, Jack is a self-proclaimed agnostic.)

In his book Jack Gage discusses fact/faith topics such as the Virgin Birth (Are there conflicting accounts of this event in the Bible? Was Mary truly a virgin or was it an error in translation?) , the Resurrection (Was he really dead? Was Mary’s vision of him a hallucination? Did it really happen? Can we accept a miracle?), Jonan and the Whale (Could he have survived inside the belly of a great whale?), Noah and his Ark, Lifespan, the stars and the galaxy, evolution and so on. He proposes some very interesting but little to no actual answers to those questions. At times it feels like you are reading through a continue series of question after question after question but no actual answer or resolution to anything. There were moments I felt frustrated because I kept hoping to read some kind of actual evidence to support either fact or faith but instead there were just more points to ponder.

In the end Gage leaves us with a conclusion that essentially states the believers will believe because they want to believe. While there is no concrete evidence to either support or refute the stories in the Bible those who want to believe in the word of God will believe because it can’t be disproven and those who do not want to believe in the word of God will not believe because it can’t be proven. It simply breaks down to whether you can accept on faith…or not. He also challenges believers to explain why God allows great tragedies to fall upon innocent people and believers, like myself, will recall stories such as the story of Job, shrug our shoulders, and simply admit that we do not understand the will of God. Gage presents interesting questions but, unfortunately, they are questions that are commonly asked by everyone who doubts faith and Gage doesn’t really offer any evidence or justification for science other than that science can ultimately prove/disprove many things while faith is blind.

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