Green Eye of the Storm
By Professor John Rendle-Short
Banner of Truth Trust. 294 pages. £9.95
ISBN 0 85151 727 7
This book is the study of the lives of four scientists of four different generations who struggled with the evolution-creation debate. Yet, at the same time, it somehow seems to be the author's own pilgrimage. Because of his own experience, the author writes with sensitivity and with understanding, and it is helpful reading for those with differing views of origins. The author describes a path many of us have taken and so we can read it with empathy.
Philip Gosse
Philip Gosse was a powerful voice in his generation who met intense opposition for his stand on the biblical account of special creation. Much of the material in the public domain comes from his atheistic son, Edmund, and so should be viewed critically. John Rendle-Short goes back to Gosse's own work to aid his evaluation.
Gosse was an outstanding naturalist of Darwin's own generation, but he saw it differently. Rendle-Short includes a review of the history of evolution theory and of the work of Lyell, essential to understand where Gosse was coming from. Gosse saw the dangers and wrote Omphalos as a counter. This is a book frequently referred to but rarely read. In it, he proposes the 'Law of Prochronism in Creation', that is the cycle of life is repeated and Creation breaks into this cycle. This means that a mature creation will always have an appearance of age. Unfortunately this argument becomes extended to the presence of fossils in created rocks, a position better understood by modern creationists but this had led to much ridicule.
George Romanes
The second life history is that of George Romanes and is drawn from the writings of his wife. He came from a wealthy background and came under a strong evangelical influence at Cambridge. However, from the age of 22, he was plagued with ill-health for 20 years. He spent this time doing freelance scientific research into invertebrate physiology. This led to him becoming a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1879. Reading Darwin's work had an 'extraordinary effect' on him. In turn, he wrote on vestigial organs for Nature journal. This was picked up by Darwin and resulted in a close friendship between the two, with Romanes being seen as Darwin's heir apparent. (Rendle-Short evaluates the work on vestigial organs from his own research and shows that it can now be discredited.)
This relationship with Darwin led to his faith slipping away. However, in his last five years, we see him as a man slowly moving back to faith, firstly through a study of the ethical teachings of Christ and then by recognising design in nature. In the year before his death, he suffered from a paralysis and set himself the task of facing the ultimate problems of life. His wife, Ethel, comments that in the last weeks there was a growth in holiness which only comes from a nearness to God. It seems that, in the end, he rejected the compromise between evolution and Christianity that many of his contemporaries had accepted.
The Rendle-Shorts
Arthur Rendle-Short is the author's father. The older generation of modern Christians will remember this man of God with great affection. His academic prestige and humble Christian conviction were a source of strength to many young students. However, he struggled for many years quietly with an intellectual impasse: the apparent conflict between scientific evidence and biblical statements. By carefully studying his father's notes, John shows how his father struggled with the debate over many years, gradually shifting his ground, but always seeking to give his hearers an assurance that they could trust the Scriptures.
What comes out very clearly is Arthur Rendle-Short's humility, care, concern and love for Christ and his Word. We see various indications of his shifting position. Back in 1913, he had written: 'It is we who are short-sighted. Truth can always afford to wait . . . The quest is not in vain.' In 1924, he spoke of 'no final solution' to the dilemma. By 1942, he is accepting micro-evolution but not macro-evolution (i.e. the development of new species). He also queried the evidence of Piltdown Man. In the years 1947-1953, he is gradually developing his 'new idea' on the origin of life. In the notes of his final meetings, he appears to move to the biblical account and away from the evolutionary one. He was a man of his time, perplexed by evolutionary teaching and without scientific answers which were to follow.
Finally, we move to the author's own story. He describes his own confusion during his student days, noting the strengths and weaknesses of the CICCU and the sociological effects of evolution theory. Like many others of his generation, he was deeply influenced by the work of Ramm and Pearce. However, he had two nagging problems: how could a creation by evolution be 'good' and what did one make of the Fall? Also, he wondered how one explained the origin of woman and still claimed to be evangelical if we reject the biblical account.
As his story unfolds, he describes the position of the UCCF/IVP which prevented the publication (under his own imprint) of creationist works because of the influence of theistic evolutionists in its ranks. (The position was described as one in which the Christians in Science movement-to give its present name-claimed to be a theistic evolutionary body; this is not the actual case; it has never been a tenet of the movement and there are creationists in its membership).
Rendle-Short eventually came to accept special creation in 1975/6. His pilgrimage to this position shows that creationism is not the result of uncritical thinking. The problems theologically and scientifically are real and must be confronted.
Through the book, the author expresses his views on other matters very plainly and stimulates thought on these as well. For example, he declares his distrust of 'reference Bibles' (p.171), especially in the light of the influence of Scofield on the 'Gap Theory'. He comments on the importance of parental responsibility, especially for those involved in Christian work (p.112). He also criticises the 'self-centred' gospel of modern evangelism (p.185). These all give a valuable insight into the author and are welcome contributions.
This is a book which is a pleasure to read and is instructive in seeking to understand how we have got into the present dilemma of conflict concerning the origin of life.
JHJP
John Peet
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