PhD Leslie Wickman - God of the Big Bang: How Modern Science Affirms The Creator

Wide-ranging and accessible, God of the Big Bang builds a welcome bridge from evangelical Christianity to science. At a time when so many evangelicals feel threatened by science, Professor Wickman shows that contemporary science is not the enemy of faith.

Karl Giberson
Former President of the BioLogos Foundation, Author, Science & Religion Scholar-in-Residence at Stonehill College

God of the Big Bang is a powerful statement by someone who has had a career in one of the most exciting areas of science and who asserts with energy and confidence that there is no conflict between science and her faith. Leslie Wickmans blending of personal experience and academic argument makes for an engaging read.

Nigel Cameron
Writer, Speaker, Bioethicist

Pope John Paul II famously said that faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit ascends to contemplation of truth. Yet many believe that faith and reasonand particularly faith and scienceare in tension, even conflict. Are they right? Or is the alleged conflict a mere illusion? Leslie Wickmanan astronomy professor, a Christian believer, and a gifted thinker and writerpowerfully makes the case that it is an illusion that is perpetuated by fundamentalists on both sides who operate from ignorance of what science actually shows, and who refuse to apply to the topic the critical thinking it deserves. God of the Big Bang is a valuable and timely contribution to public understanding of science and religion and the relationship between the two.

Robert P. George
McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University

If the science and faith debate has always seemed like a confusing shouting match between scientists, this is the book for you. Dr. Leslie Wickman brings her considerable scientific expertise and her faithful Christian commitment together to explain in a simple and clear way what science is and what sort of questions it can answer. There are no confusing debates or name-calling here, just an example of how a scientific mind helps us think about our faith.

Bethany Sollereder
Research Coordinator, University of Oxford

Writing from her lifes passion to break down the widely perceived wall between science and faith, astro-scientist Leslie Wickman clearly shows that one does not have to abandon one to embrace the other. A person can choose to be both a good scientist as well as a faithful Christian, she writes in God of the Big Bang, embracing creation and the Bible as two great books of Gods revelation. With a humble, loving, and caring reading of both books, Professor Wickman contends in this fine work that science can even be an act of worship. And with this she encourages scientists and aspiring scientists to understand we need not choose between science and faith, but embrace both to the glory of God.

Calvin B. DeWitt
Professor of Environmental Science, University of Wisconsin, and Author of Song of a Scientist

HOW MODERN SCIENCE

AFFIRMS THE CREATOR

LESLIE WICKMAN, Ph.D

Corporate Test Astronaut, Rocket Scientist, and Hubble Space Telescope Engineer

Copyright 2015 by Leslie Wickman

Published by Worthy Books, an imprint of Worthy Publishing Group, a division of Worthy Media, Inc., 134 Franklin Road, Suite 200, Brentwood, Tennessee 37027.

WORTHY is a registered trademark of Worthy Media, Inc.

HELPING PEOPLE EXPERIENCE THE HEART OF GOD

eBook available wherever digital books are sold.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015930477

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. | Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version. | Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message. Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. | Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. | Scripture quotations marked NCV are taken from the New Century Version. Copyright 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. | Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. | Scripture quotations marked NRSV are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. | Scripture quotations marked RSV are taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. | Scripture quotations marked ISV are taken from The Holy Bible: International Standard Version. Release 2.0, Build 2014.07.18. Copyright 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.

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ISBN: 978-1-61795-425-2

Cover Design: Christopher Tobias / tobiasdesign.com

Cover Image: Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech

Interior Design and Typesetting: Christopher D. Hudson & Associates, Inc.

Printed in the United States of America

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Creation is the primary and most perfect

revelation of the Divine.

Thomas Aquinas (12241274)

TO MY FRIENDS, advocates, and loved ones who have stood by me and supported me through the process of researching, writing, editing, and rewriting: thanks for believing in me and encouraging me!

My path to this book has been a long one, with many inspirations along the way, some divine and some human. My father, Walt Wickman, was the first to ignite my love of nature in general, and particularly my passion for astronomy, for which I am eternally grateful. My junior high biology teacher, Bill Riedel, challenged me to think more deeply about the origin and development of life. Solar astronomer Ron Cottrells book The Remarkable Spaceship Earth was the first book I ever read that inspired me to look for the connections between nature and Gods providence. Ron has since become a .

My role at Azusa Pacific University (APU) in organizing our ongoing Science, Faith, and Culture (SFC) lecture series has afforded me the privilege of sitting at the feet of many great scholars from around the world as they share their thoughts on integrating their particular disciplines with the Christian faith. Talbot Seminary philosopher-theologian William Lane Craigs presentations on rational thought and clear logic were foundational for me, as reflected in .