THE ADVENTURE BEGINS

Michael Brook's fascinating book, 13 Things That Don't Make Sense is missing a 14th chapter. According to the dust cover, Brooks "heads to the frontiers of human knowledge to confront some of today's inexplicable mysteries, including the placebo effect; the origin of an unexplained signal from outer space that reached Earth in 1977, and the anomalous behavior of some NASA satellites, which seems to contradict the laws of physics.

[Brook's chapter headings also include such spellbinding names as, The Missing Universe, Cold Fusion, Life, Death and Free Will.]

“Spanning disciplines from biology to cosmology, chemistry to psychology to physics, 13 Things That Don't Make Sense thrillingly captures the excitement of scientific discovery."

The missing chapter should be titled, The Moral Law. As a scientist Brooks completely ignores "the possibility" of intelligent design—God, however you wish to describe Him. Curiously, opening one’s mind to the possibility of intelligent design— and more particularly the understanding of God proposed by LDS theology — tends in fact, to "make sense" of some, if not all, of Brook's otherwise inexplicable mysteries.

THE MORAL law, brilliantly documented by one of the world's great scientist, demands a place in such a book if for no other reason than to provide some balance.

The exploration of The Moral Law as a scientific reality comes to us from Francis Collins. Collins is one of the world's leading scientists. He imagined and eventually headed up the Human Genome Project. He embraces science with a passion but also embraces a profound faith in God, intelligent design and some purpose in the universe. His captivating book, The Language of God, A Scientist Presents Evidence For Belief offers fascinating insights from a man determined to bridge the chasm between science and religion.

I do not agree with all of Collin's conclusions about God because of my own exposure to a theology dedicated to “knowing God”, my profound belief in divine revelation and personal association with those who have experienced it. Whatever my personal departure from Collins on such things as “the tools God used” to create human kind, I find his presentation of The Moral Law as a scientific reality most compelling. Collins makes the case that The Moral Law is a demonstrable reality, but of course given the prevailing scientific presumptions of natural selection, an accidental universe and a view we are nothing but biological organisms responding to natural selection, it makes NO SENSE.

Collins puts it this way: "The concept of right and wrong appears to be universal among all members of the human species (though its application may result in wildly different outcomes). It thus seems to be a phenomenon approaching that of a A LAW, like the law of gravitation, or of special relativity... as best I can tell, this law appears to apply peculiarly to human beings."

And here's why Michael Brooks should seriously consider added chapter 14 to his next printing of his book.

"Agape, or selfless altruism (manifestations of The Moral Law), present a major challenge for the evolutionist. It is quite frankly a scandal to reductionist reasoning. It cannot be accounted for by the drive of individual selfish genes to perpetuate themselves. Quite the contrary: it may lead humans to make sacrifices that lead to great personal suffering, injury or death, without any evidence of benefit. And yet, if we carefully examine that inner voice we sometimes call conscience, the motivation to practice this kind of love exists within all of us.... if the Law of Human Nature cannot be explained away as cultural artifact or evolutionary by-product [which it cannot as well documented in Collin's writings] then how can we account for its presence?

Both books should be added to your reading list if such matters fascinate you as they do me. Great insights and on my mind this morning.