John Van Sloten

God Speaks Science, John Van Sloten. Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2023.

Summary: Explores what we may learn from the creation through different fields of scientific research about the nature and works of God.

Several years ago I had the privilege of meeting an unusual pastor. He loved science and often incorporated findings of science in his sermons. To do that well, he interviewed scientists in the relevant fields at nearby universities. He saw no conflict between the results of scientific research and his theological study of the Bible. He loved facilitating conversations between the scientists with whom he was interacting and people in his congregation. That pastor was John Van Sloten, the author of this work, along with a number of his scientist friends.

It is not uncommon to speak of the “two books” that reveal God to us: The Bible and the Creation. The premise of this book is to take the second of those two more seriously than we often do. Van Sloten believes that science “unpacks God’s creation words. Scientists are made in the image of an empirical God. They think God’s thoughts after God.” What Van Sloten does in this work is to engage with scientists in a variety of fields, inviting their own thoughts about what their research reveals of God, and adding his own. Each chapter begins with a word from a scientist from a different field. Then Van Sloten expands upon this in the chapter concluding with a lectio scientia consisting both of suggested practices and a prayer shaped by the content of the chapter.

Van Sloten begins with a medical physicist discussing ways that radiation therapy reveals the empirical mind of God. Succeeding chapters consider astrophysics and God’s delight in matter, the structure of knees and God’s providence in structures and through those who repair them, and giant squids, our amazing senses and the all-seeing presence of God. We learn about how trees grow, branch, and heal wounds and the interdependent character both of the creation and the creator, how we acquire language and a passion for knowing and the God who makes God’s self known across all these languages, and how DNA repair mechanisms reveal the beauty of God. Neuroscience helps us understand our passion to name, reminding us that we are also named and known by God and hydrology points us to the God who sustains our lives with living water, a word that does not return empty.

One chapter that particularly spoke to me was on how our cells self-repair our DNA trillions of times every day. He observes that we “can no more save ourselves that we can repair our own DNA. Right now, at a rate of tens of trillions of repairs per second, God is reminding you of the breathtaking power of this amazing restorative grace.”

It is such a pleasure to read a work that, far from fighting about science, finds in science the wonders of God’s powerful and gracious character and work in the world. God can speak to us through science which complements what we learn in the Bible of God, which is just what you’d expect if you believe God to be the author of both books. I’m amazed by how much John Van Sloten has gleaned from these conversations with scientists and from listening to both books, both ways in which God speaks to us. But then, this only makes sense if one has been listening to God’s speech through science and in scripture for a long time. May that be true of more of us! This book is a good place to start.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher.

Every Job a Parable, John Van Sloten. Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2017.

Summary: A theology of work proposing that our different jobs are “parables” that reveal various aspects of the character and ways of God, and therefore that all work matters and that God speaks to the world through our callings.

John Van Sloten has approached the theology of work in a way I’ve not seen before. He notes how so many of the parables of Jesus focus on the various kinds of work his hearers would readily have recognized and observes:

“When Jesus wrapped a parable around a particular vocation, he was affirming the creational goodness of that job.

I think Jesus is still doing the same today–through the parable that is your job.”

For him, this sheds new light both on how we image God in all of our endeavors, how God is revealed in our work, and how we might more effectively image God in our work. He traces the significance of our work from creation where God speaks through our work and our world; the fall and the ways we are hindered from experiencing God in our work; redemption and the transforming power of naming God’s saving presence in the world, and the New Earth that reminds us that our work is a foretaste of our eternal destiny.

He did something else I’ve not seen before. He interviewed and studied scores of workers from different occupations: astronauts and Walmart greeters, forensic psychologists and restaurant servers, emergency response personnel and asphalt contractors and explored how God meets them in their work and reveals himself through it. One of the powerful experiences for both Van Sloten and the various workers was to see their work in new light as they revealed that it all matters to God.

Perhaps one of the chapters that most resonated with me was his discussion of our lives as part of God’s great story, that he speaks through us–where we have the sense that we are participating in something greater than ourselves, where Someone greater than ourselves is speaking or singing or composing or caring or building or crafting through us. He calls this entering into the spokenness of our work.

Through short chapters that weave stories of workers with theological reflection, Van Sloten offers one of the richest and most accessible treatments of the theology of work I’ve read. He invites individuals and groups to join him in this reflection on the significance of our work with reflection questions titled Lectio Vocatio at the end of each chapter. Van Sloten has also created a series of YouTube videos around different vocations. One example is a sermon on restaurant servers. He includes a list of links to all the videos in an index.

There are many people who sit in our churches who wonder what connection their work has with the things we speak of Sunday by Sunday. They spend the major portion of their waking hours at work in many cases. John Van Sloten offers the tremendous news that God not only speaks on Sundays but through us in our work, which matters greatly. God “calls” to the world through our callings. Rather than a necessary evil, our work images the good and beautiful and true God. The book may serve as a great resource for an adult education class, or a preaching series, giving people hope that it is not simply through their involvement in the church, but also through their work in the world that they may know the pleasure of God upon their lives.