Objections Sustained: Subversive Essays on Evolution, Law and Culture

by Philip E. Johnson. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 1998.

In my opinion, Berkely law professor Phillip E. Johnson is one of the better thinkers in today’s academic world. He has a great ability to "cut to the quick" of issues and make his points memorable. He has written quite a lot over the last few years against evolutionary theory, in both technical and popular styles. He approaches most issues in a balanced, reasonable way. In one of his latest offerings, Objections Sustained, Johnson deals with a number of subjects that have to do with evolution, law, and culture, as the subtitle indicates. One might also notice that these essays are "subversive," indicating that they are not in agreement with liberal or modernistic thinking. The first nine chapters, or essays, deal with darwinism, and are alone worth the price of the book. They are not just one main argument, but are separate essays dealing with several facets of evolutionism.

Many of the essays are book reviews that have been used in other publications such as First Things and Books and Culture. Not all of the essays held equal interest in my mind, but some of them are jewels for stirring thought. For example, his essay on "How the Universities were Lost," itself a book review, shows how American universities were lost to modernist thinking, not by modernists taking them away as much as theologians giving them away. Overall, the essays offer a lot of good insight to our modern culture. Since the essays are independent, the book is easily read in several different sittings. Take a look when you get a chance.

Doy Moyer