The Language of Inconsistency

In his new book The Language of God, a famous scientist and evangelical (called a “superstar biologist” by Time1) has written the following about the human genome and science in general: “We have caught the first glimpse of our own instruction book, previously known only to God”; “Principles of faith are, in fact, complementary with the principles of science”; and “I had started this journey of intellectual exploration to confirm my atheism. That now lay in ruins ... .”2

He’s a creationist, right? No.

The quotes are from geneticist Francis Collins, head of the famous Human Genome Project. In recent times, Dr. Collins portrays himself as a bridge-builder between science and religion. But he reserves some of his sharpest barbs for “religious fundamentalists [who] attack science as dangerous and untrustworthy.”

Dr. Collins is both an evolutionist and self-proclaimed evangelical. Sadly, new and undiscerning Christians may easily follow such brilliant scientists and believe in evolution and disbelieve Genesis, ultimately raising questions about the rest of the Bible.

Even as Dr. Collins marvels at the complexity of the human genome, he doesn’t attribute it to the handiwork of a Creator. When he declared that “our own instruction book [was] previously known only to God,” Dr. Collins apparently does not believe God was the direct Creator of that instruction book.