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The start of a New Year is always a time for resolutions, even though any day of the year can be a new beginning if we choose it to be! One resolution which lends itself to January 1 is reading the Bible in a year. This sounds like a simple enough task, but in reality it’s very difficult. One reason is that you reach a difficult part of the Bible in February/March time, another reason is that some of the material is duplicated (and told from different perspectives), and the arrangement of the Bible is not chronological. These three difficulties conspire to confound even the most dedicated reader, as I know from experience!

An answer to this problem is to read the Bible in chronological order, and there are a number of Bibles which set out the material in this way. One year I read the Bible through in the New International Version, although I didn’t find the associated commentary helpful as it was written by a very conservative scholar. This year I am using the Bible pictured above, which has minimal notes as you progress through. The translation is the inclusive language New Living Translation. And so to Genesis chapter 1…

It’s always such a joy to visit a library, and especially so when you find a new book that hasn’t been borrowed before! This happened to me recently with the book pictured, a book that I’d been wanting to read since it was published earlier this year. I’ve been interested in science since childhood when I looked into the wonder of the night sky and read The Observer’s Book of Astronomy by Patrick Moore, a book I still treasure and one that I read under the bed covers! I also followed the moon landings with great interest. One thing that fascinated me was the vast and unimaginable distances involved in the scale of the universe, as the Bible says: When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars you set in place, what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? Psalm 8:3-4.

The book argues that invoking God is not necessary to explain the origins of the universe. As a Christian I don’t have a problem with this as I have always felt that religion and science address different issues, as well as attempting to answer different questions. Similarly, as a Christian with a scientific mind and a rational approach to faith (yes, that is possible), I don’t have any problem accepting that evolution is the most satisfactory explanation to life on earth, nor with an understanding that the early chapters of the Bible express the creation of the heavens and the earth in poetic form.

As I write these words I haven’t finished reading the book, but I’m over half-way through. It’s not the easiest read, but it’s well written and witty. Here are two examples. Firstly, to illustrate it’s complexity: This has the potential to solve the problem of infinities because it turns out that the infinities from closed loops of force particles are positive while the infinities from closed loops of matter particles are negative, so the infinities in the theory arising from the force particles and their partner matter particles tend to cancel out. I hope I’ve transcribed that correctly or you’ll be completely lost by now! Secondly, to illustrate its wit: Ten dimensions might sound exciting, but they would cause real problems if you forgot where you parked your car.

If you enjoy a book that makes your brain hurt, this is one for you – I can’t wait to finish it!