"So, if you're a believer in random chance, take a deep breath and rest in the knowledge that God has been thinking about you from the very foundation of the world."
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A New Life by John Shackelford Lulu
book review by Libby Grandy
John Shackelford's book, A New Life, needs to be read more than once to be fully comprehended. Shackelford offers the scientific possibility that God might have given the ancients a biologically accurate message. In the introduction, the author states that, "The real message I hope to get across in this work is that the Word of God is a living Word, and that it is capable of taking complete possession over a biological image enslaved to a carnal nature."
He suggests that scientists have trouble having faith in anything, because the scientific method is trial and error, involving seven steps: ask a question, do background research, formulate a hypothesis, test the hypothesis by doing an experiment, analyze the data, draw a conclusion, document the results, and repeat. Shackelford decided to do the unthinkable and apply the scientific method to the Bible.
The author begins with Genesis l:l "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." He asks the reader to, "Try to envision the interpretation of the following Biblical passage in the context of the world itself being a living body, created in and stamped with an image similar to that of a man."
Shackelford concludes that, "It seems that, in some unfathomable gesture of unconditional love, our God must have designed the planet with our fellow scientist in mind, because the image that God created in the beginning represents a concept that only a scientist is capable of truly appreciating."
Those who enjoy thinking outside the box will find A New Life an interesting read.