The Language of God

The geneticist who led the Human Genome Project argues that belief in God is a rational position for a working scientist, and that evolutionary biology and Christian faith are complementary rather than rival accounts. Collins describes his own move from atheism to belief, reads the genome as evidence of a describable order rather than a refutation of one, and stakes out a middle position against both young-earth creationism and the claim that science settles the question.

Why it’s on the list: Assigned in UATX’s “Foundations of Science II”, where it sits beside Doudna and Sternberg on gene editing, Nick Lane on mitochondria, and an account of the COVID-19 vaccine race — so the science core is taught with the question of what the science means attached, not bracketed.

Where I saw it: The University of Austin’s Fall 2025 reading list, 65 Texts Our Students Are Reading, published November 13 2025 and saved to Kyle’s “Books To Read” Apple Note. The full 65-text curriculum is transcribed on UATX Fall Reading List.

Connections

• UATX Fall Reading List — the curriculum this is assigned in.
• Francis Collins — already in the wiki, cited in Faith is Not Blind for calling the human genome “the language in which God created life,” which is the phrase this book takes its title from.
• Science and Religion — the book’s whole subject.
• Faith — Collins’s case that belief can be an entirely rational choice.