It’s almost here: the new book by Francis Collins, The Road to Wisdom: On Truth, Science, Faith, and Trust, ships this Tuesday and I can’t wait to read my pre-ordered copy. While waiting, I’ve enjoyed these previews:
- Ground Truths, September 11, 2024 (with Eric Topol).
- Trinity Forum, September 13, 2024 (with Cherie Harder).
- The Russell Moore Show, September 11, 2024.
What is wisdom? How do we find it? What are the roles of the four pillars mentioned in the subtitle? What does a search for truth look like? How do we need both science and faith today? How do we know who to trust?
I expect the book to develop in greater depth the themes and arguments Collins made in his superb lecture, “With All Your Mind: Finding Truth and Love in the Midst of a Pandemic,” given at the BioLogos Faith and Science Conference back in 2022.
As background for the book, I also highly recommend his recent conversation with Kizzmekia Corbett-Helaire, at the BioLogos Faith and Science 2024 conference, released on the Language of God podcast, April 25, 2024.
This new book is dedicated to Tim Keller, with whom he had a long-term friendship. I’m looking forward to a chapter in which Collins explores the paradox of why so many Christians have been vulnerable to misinformation and conspiracy thinking, when the Christian faith is grounded in principles of objective truth and ongoing cognitive repentance, the very tools needed to address the triumph of partisanship over the search for truth in our culture today. (And thank you, Francis, for your support of the recent Confession of Evangelical Conviction.)
Collins entered medical school an atheist and left as a Christian. A self-confessed evangelical, he has told the story of his conversion many times — including in his 2006 book, The Language of God, which remains one of the most helpful sources for any Christian exploring the compatibility of faith and evolution. He founded BioLogos, an indispensable resource for Christians engaged in the natural sciences and in science and faith questions. Any Christian unfamiliar with him will appreciate watching the full ceremony when he received the Templeton Prize in 2000, with tributes from N.T. Wright, Deborah Haarsma, Jane Goodall, Renée Fleming, and others (here’s another from Philip Yancey).
By any measure, Francis Collins is one of the most consequential scientists of the last 50 years. He first came to widespread recognition for his early work on Cystic Fibrosis, a fearsome, incurable childhood disease. In 1993 he succeeded James Watson (co-discoverer of DNA) as director of the Human Genome Project, an audacious “big science” project which critics at the time regarded as a mission impossible. Yet astonishingly, only ten years later, an initial map of the full human genome was completed, unlocking the potential for untold numbers of medical applications. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007, and was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Collins and his scientific collaborators successfully identified the specific genes responsible for Cystic Fibrosis, Huntington’s disease, neurofibromatosis, multiple endocrine neoplasia, and progeria (premature aging). In 2009, Collins became director of the National Institutes of Health, the country’s premier organization for medical research and public health. He served as NIH director under three presidents, and provided exemplary leadership throughout the Covid 19 pandemic. The mRNA platform made possible the amazing timeframe for the Covid vaccines — what would ordinarily take 5 years, at a minimum, was accomplished in less than 100 days, in one of the greatest marvels in the history of medicine. The same mRNA platform is now accelerating cancer therapeutics. He has tirelessly advocated for the healthcare needs of minorities and the global south (e.g., volunteering as a physician in a rural missionary hospital in Nigeria). He led genetic privacy initiatives which resulted in the Genetic Nondiscrimination Act prohibiting health insurance company discrimination on the basis of genetic information. In his current research, Collins is exploring cures for premature aging, and he is spearheading an initiative to eliminate Hepatitis C, a devastating disease which can now be cured. We can all thank God for his transparency about his prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment, in an effort to encourage many men to undergo PSA screening, and we pray for his full recovery. His article at Wikipedia only begins to summarize his story. (More posts here.)
The new book will be a gift to the public, to the church at large, and particularly to Christians working in or with the sciences. I thank God for you, Francis Collins, and for your faithfulness in the work. Hallelujah. Now… just waiting for the book to appear on my doorstep…
