OUTSIDE SOURCE Book Review: "The Divine Challenge"

I was extremely excited to see a review on this book. My wife is the Upper School Principal, in addition to teaching math and science classes, at our classical Christian school. She loves this book; it's underlined from cover to cover. If you haven't picked up on this one yet, I would definitely encourage you to give this book a good look! Grace & peace. Steve

SOURCE of the Review: Summa Cum Laude blog
BOOK REVIEWED: "The Divine Challenge," by John Byl
THE REVIEW: "God throws down the gauntlet. Come at me with your best logic, reason and argument and I will show you there is more than you know. This book explores the mysteries of the three worlds, mind, matter and math. John Byl displays for us the prospect that there is a meaning to life and he explores a variety of philosophies as to what that meaning may be. It begins by exploring the world views which have given rise to so much contention between the world system and the cause of God. The author rationalises using accepted logic to show inconsistencies between these world views. The birth of rationalism and its relationship with naturalism, which has led to the accepted “scientific” proofs of origins and all human traits, has come to nothing but controversy. The naturalist cannot explain so many aspects of the human organism.
This is juxtaposed with the position of the Holy Scriptures. The differences could not be clearer and the stakes are high. The prize is the human condition; destitution or salvation.
The chapter “From mind to math” Byl shows the link between the existence of mathematics in the natural world and how it relates to God. It asks the question “Where did maths come from?” The author debates the existence of truth and if it can be known, and the roots of logic and where they originate. He goes on to discuss mathematical axioms which relate to the various world views and how these in turn inform our belief systems.
The two chapters, at the end of the book, tie up the ends of our thinking and give a rationale for a Christian view of mathematics. It has strengthening consequences for faith and the knowledge that God is also the God of mathematics, that subject which often seems so inaccessible to many. Byl discusses logic and God, infinity and the existence of the mystery of the Triune God. He explores the idea that numbers were created, they exist like God. Natural numbers have real, objective existence. These ideas many seem divorced from our lives, but the truth of them run through everything.
I thoroughly recommend this book to those who continue to seek answers to the critics of what we believe. We are on firm ground and God is the God of reason and logic, as he is of everything. “We can make proper sense of reality only if we abandon our vain pretensions of human wisdom and recognise it for the foolishness it is.” (J. Byl 2004)
Maybe we as Christian people should be more involved in throwing down the gauntlet to a world with no answers and empty arguments…….

For more information on this book, or to buy it for yourself, click HERE.