The Right Questions: Truth, Meaning & Public Debate

by Phillip E. Johnson

Book Overview

Provocative, personal, persuasive, an prophetic, this volume is a call to educators and leaders to allow truly free and open public debate within the church.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0830822941
• ISBN13: 9780830822942
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: InterVarsity Press
• Length: 180 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.8" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

The Right Question is Whether Life Was Designed by Intelligence, or Nothing

The Right Questions is the product of an accomplished scholar who is reflecting upon culture and society in light of his other books which provided an extensive scientific critique of naturalistic theories of origins. In this book, Phillip Johnson asks, "What are the right questions" in topics such as logic, the meaning of life, Genesis, and biological origins? It is only by asking the right questions that we will find the appropriate solutions to problems faced by society. Johnson opens this book with a frank discussion of how his own personal trials and battles over health have renewed his faith. Johnson then reminds us that the key fundamental is not about the precise meaning of this or that passage of Scripture: "The conflict is primarily not about Genesis, nor does it involve a clash between science and religion, or between science and faith. It would be much more accurate to say that it involves a clash between two religions and two definitions of science." (pg. 60) Johnson observes, "In every university there are scores of faculty and students who are suffocated by the prevailing dogmas of scientific materialism or political correctness but who almost never get a chance to hear anything else." (pg. 51) Ruling creeds succeed when they keep their followers from exploring alternatives (pg. 73), which is why Darwinists refuse to permit discussion of the controversy over the science of Darwinism. The right question that must be permitted for discussion in school is therefore, "Did the scientific evidence really support the philosophical conclusion (in a word, naturalism) that the Darwinists wished us to adopt, or could naturalism as a worldview survive only as long as dogmatic philosophical barriers protected it from the evidence that points to a designer?" (pg. 84) Once that question can be asked, Johnson is convinced that the chips will fall where the evidence leads.

Gets right to the core issues

Having read this book I now understand why Publisher's Weekly gave it such a poor review. Frankly, this book is threatening.The book is well written, with an easy to follow structure, and plenty of the clear thinking that Johnson has a reputation for. In addition, the issues that this book deals with are of fundamental importance. Johnson deals with core questions about God, Science, Religion, Politics, Christianity, Islam, September 11th, Darwinism, Genesis, Education, and Truth, and he does so in an eminently readable and clear manner.There are some in our society, however, who feel threatened when fundamental issues are addressed in a clear manner -- especially when the author questions the basic tenets of their worldview. Clearly the Publisher's Weekly reviewer feels threatened. Consider this: there are two reasons to give a book a poor review: 1) the book deserves a poor review; 2) You don't want people to read the book.Let me assure you that this book does not deserve a poor review.I predict that this book will provoke one of two reactions in its readers: they will either 1) read it straight through with excitement, or 2) fling it across the room in a fit of rage. Boredom is impossible. In either case, this book is relevant.

A Must Book for Every Christian to Read

One criticism that Johnson has been subject to by the religious community is, although he has shown Darwinism suffers from major problems (and that these need to be dealt with by the scientific community) what about the religious issue? Many scientists have shown the many major problems with Darwinism (and hundreds of books now exist effectively documenting these). Most of these books then develop the author's new theory of evolution that he or she claims is superior to neoDarwinism. An example is Lynn Margulis has eloquently shown mutation driven Darwinism to be entirely inadequate and then proposed the new theory of symbiosis which, she argues, is superior. This new theory, though, still does not explain the arrival of the genes, only the widespread spread of certain genes, at least in bacteria. Also, the question on many readers minds is, does a theory of Naturalism explain reality? This book deals with the religious concern to some degree. It also focuses on Johnson's major stroke at age 61 and the profound impact of this event on his life, especially his religious life. It is an honest book in which Johnson grapples with the religious questions most of us ask at one time or another in life. As such, this book would be of special interest to persons who have an interest in spiritual concerns (atheists would be turned off by this work; I know I once was one). It shows, in response to Johnson's critics, that he does have a spiritual side (or at least he does now after his stroke) and is not just a Darwin critic as are thousands of other intellectuals (especially biologists, my profession). Since this book is a different kind of book then Johnson's other books, it is especially easy to spot reviews by those who have not read it, but just want to slam Johnson because they do not hold to the view that a God exists that has done something active to the creation in the past. There is no topic that elicits as strong emotions as does religion, as our war on terrorism eloquently shows.

Important Answers

The Right Questions, by Phillip Johnson, exposes the bias seen in Western society by the intellectual elite, particularly those teaching in higher education. The book examines and confronts the dogmatic, self-righteous materialists who blindly promote Darwinism, regardless of the tentative nature of the data, and refuse any alternate possibilities. They attempt to marginalize Christians, denying them influence in education and cultural life. I thought this was going to be a book primarily on intelligent design, but instead it goes beyond; starting with matters of creation and evolution, but builds this to examine the consequences of relativism, scientific materialism, and naturalistic philosophy. Johnson's style is hard-hitting and to the point, possibly a little harsh at times, but I admire his passion. His argument is clear and simple, and his conclusions cannot be faulted. This book is not and does not claim to be rigorous or scholarly (there are few footnotes and no index), so I found it very accessible and a joy to read, very thought provoking.