[REVIEW] The Fact/Faith Debate

Title: The Fact/Faith Debate
Author: Jack Gage
Release Date:  January 14, 2013

Blurb: The dictionary definition of ''fact'' is ''something known to exist or to have happened,'' whereas ''faith''generally is described as ''belief not based on proof.''

There are 10,000 religions worldwide, eighteen of which are major Christian religions, and among Christians there are 9,000 separate denominations. Each of those religions and denominations has its own belief system--its followers act on faith--even though, as author Jack Gage points out, ''all the adherents of these different belief systems inhabit the same world, with the same physical facts, with access to the same knowledge.'' So how and why did so many religions come into existence? And how do the various religious explanations--whether Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, or any other--for how the world and the people in it began stack up against scientific fact?

Review: I believed this book would be a good comment on the seemingly impossibility for science and religion to agree, with a "jury" consisting of people from various beliefs to answer questions at the end of each chapter. As someone with at least some exposure to those kind of debates, I had high expectations.

Instead of living up to those expectations, Jack Gage's book turned out to be quite underwhelming. First of all, it's blatantly obvious the author sides with the Agnostic juror since ze is the only one allowed to make comment on the questions. I don't know about you, but I don't really call that a "debate".

Second, the language isn't very good. It's...boring, and drags in places. Especially the parts about science, where scientific terms aren't that well explained.

I did, however, enjoy learning some religious history I was unaware of (mostly related to Mormonism, which isn't all too common where I live).

Rating: 2 bookshelves out of 5.

Disclaimer: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by Two Harbors Press for the purpose of a review.