The Rocks Don't Lie

Many recent books have sought to reconcile (or tear apart) the relationship between religion and science, usually written by scientists or Christian leaders. Usually, the scientists depricate religious views as myths and fairy tales, while the religious writers bash opponents as godless manipulators of the evidence. Montgomery (geomorphology, Univ. of Washington; Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations) offers a thorough critique of creationist worldviews (including Noah's flood) while treating his opponents with respect, reflecting on both ancient and modern debates and demonstrating that Christians have been arguing among themselves about these subjects for millennia. He admits that geologists have often stifled dissent and stubbornly rejected the idea that massive floods could have ever occurred, discounting such ideas as myths though there have, in fact, been many throughout human history. These catastrophic events likely inspired the famous stories of floods found around the globe, Montgomery concedes.