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A Secret of the Universe: A Story of Love,…
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A Secret of the Universe: A Story of Love, Loss, and the Discovery of an Eternal Truth (edition 2007)

by Stephen L. Gibson

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingConversations
2241,009,932 (3.33)None
Reviewed January 2008

After hearing all about this novel on Gibson's Truth Driven Thinking podcasts I purchased the book. After finishing it I'm not sure I enjoyed it. The story of Bill and Ian's friendship and the "discovery" of a great truth is almost unreal. I did not bond with the characters. I cried when Ian's dad died, and read quickly turning the pages hoping to get to the great truth. I'm not sure I liked Gibson's habit of giving away the future, i think I might have enjoyed the unfolding events more if I didn't know what was about to happen. The religious facts were a bit interesting but unreal when happening during a real conversation. Not sure what I thought of this book, maybe time will help me develop a more likeness for it.

1-2008 ( )
  sgerbic | May 7, 2008 |
Showing 4 of 4
The author of this book tries to convey his convictions about the merits of truth-driven thinking by means of a fictional novel where two lifelong friends have a dialog about different world views: religious and scientific. He does a good job of it. The novel is long, but would have to be long to adequately characterize the fictional people as well as expound the rationale the author wrote into the book. The main characters are Ian Keppler and Bill Vanderveen. Both get married in the novel; both have children. There are many characters: in-laws, parents, friends, and a study-group of scientists trying to discern what is really true in human traditions. The author does a fine job rounding out the characterization. He describes some surprising conduct on the part of some characters, but, in the concluding chapters, he lets that conduct amplify his thesis. So the fictional novel is effective.

A tougher task is to bring in the opposing world views for Bill and Ian to discuss. The author, Steven Gibson does a good job here. I was surprised at some of the world views described, but Gibson provides ample references to show that these views are indeed held by real people, experts in their fields. A difficulty with lengthy technical material is that many writers will simply narrate the views instead of expressing the different views through dialog between characters. Gibson’s dialog, when he uses it, is good, but there are long sections of the book that are narrated.

Gibson also builds suspense as he relates these conflicting positions. The reader does not know which direction Gibson will take himself until very late in the book. Halfway through the book I got the impression Gibson was going to favor one side of the discussion. This suspense is good to hold reader attention. Gibson might have done better if he quoted an even number of experts on both sides of the controversy. Late in the book, I realized he supplied more expert opinion for one side that the other. Much later in the book, I realized there remained not enough pages to reverse the arguments to the other side. So it was an uneven contest from then on.

Gibson argues against emotion-driven thinking, proposing that truth-driven thinking is preferred. He’s correct. All of us would agree to that. In his book, however, when Bill Vanderveen, suddenly discovers the secret of the universe, the discovery is realized during very emotional circumstances. When Ian affirms the secret to his sons, it is also done at a moment when emotions are high. I think this is a flaw in the book. The secret of the universe should have been discovered during a truth-driven exercise devoid of emotion and the other impediments to clear thinking that Gibson points out in his book.

Gibson has focused everything, even religion, on a scientific quest for truth using the scientific method, but science doesn’t study God or religion. Anything relating to God or religion is better evaluated through the disciplines of philosophy and theology. Gibson applauds the work scriptural specialists have done in reconstructing ancient manuscripts, particularity Gnostic manuscripts. However, there is an ongoing legacy of Christianity whose manuscripts were not lost. To be fair to the Christian tradition, one would have to take into account both sources of information. The manuscripts that were lost and recently found might represent what earlier generations rejected. The traditions that were saved probably represent what previous generations thought was correct and worthy of preservation. Presuming that the lost manuscripts portrayed authentic Christianity and the information that was preserved portrayed a subverted Christianity goes well beyond science.

Gibson proposes that there is no evidence of God, no revelation, nothing more than what humans can imagine. Gibson has Mac, one of the proponents of atheism, state that, since the earliest days of tribal conflict, distinctions between people have most commonly existed based upon their various religions. I don’t think tribal conflict has its roots in religious views. I see on television that meerkats (Animal Kingdom), chimpanzees (Planet Earth), and packs of wolves also have tribal conflicts. I would have thought that animal nature is the root cause of tribal conflicts and not something peculiar to humans.

Gibson wonders: “how our minds, the cells in our head, could absorb and process such concepts as Einstein’s relativity.” Does Gibson think that humans are entirely physical, no spirit—no soul? One would presume so reading the book. The secret, when Gibson finally reveals it, is very elementary. Everyone would probably agree with the secret.

“A Secret of the Universe” is good, exciting, and entertaining fiction; and it contains a lot of surprising information, with plenty of references, that many readers may not be aware of. Read it for entertainment and information. But you might not agree with Gibson's conclusions. ( )
  MauriceAWilliams | Dec 25, 2014 |
Reviewed January 2008

After hearing all about this novel on Gibson's Truth Driven Thinking podcasts I purchased the book. After finishing it I'm not sure I enjoyed it. The story of Bill and Ian's friendship and the "discovery" of a great truth is almost unreal. I did not bond with the characters. I cried when Ian's dad died, and read quickly turning the pages hoping to get to the great truth. I'm not sure I liked Gibson's habit of giving away the future, i think I might have enjoyed the unfolding events more if I didn't know what was about to happen. The religious facts were a bit interesting but unreal when happening during a real conversation. Not sure what I thought of this book, maybe time will help me develop a more likeness for it.

1-2008 ( )
  sgerbic | May 7, 2008 |
A Secret of the Universe:
A Story of Love, Loss, and the Discovery of an Eternal Truth
Stephen L. Gibson
Truth-Driven Strategies
576 pages
Hardcover $26.95
978-0-9793880-0-2

Lifelong friends Ian and Bill begin down the path of Midwestern middle class marriage, family, jobs, and neighborhoods. Then, tragic events push Bill deep into the comfort zone of his family and Christian fundamentalism, while Ian takes off on a quest for truth, examining all beliefs through the lens of reason. A rift in the friendship grows into a chasm as Ian delves into an endeavor that may detonate the foundation of Christianity.
Through his employer, Ian meets a group of scholars who open a door to knowledge that both stuns and captivates. This path of inquiry is hidden in plain sight, known by some historians and biblical scholars, yet concealed from the public by academic reluctance to spotlight such a provocative theory without comprehensive proof. It is Ian who spearheads the task of bringing together scientists and theologians to assemble proof for the theory that one character describes as “revealing a secret of the universe.”
Ian’s questions, however, lead him to reveal just how out of step he is with his Midwestern community. “At some point, I just need to stop letting people believe I’m still the guy they’ve always known,” he says. Though the cost of Ian’s quest is apparent to others (“These guys must have a death wish”) he is not self-reflective, driving himself to see the project through to the end. The bonds of friendship and community draw the two friends together again when the shadow side of faith sends the world into chaos, and an even deeper secret emerges.
Author Gibson takes the hard questions head-on and weaves multiple points of view, including the omniscient storyteller, allowing the reader enough distance to step out of the story and dig into the references in the back of the book. In fact, several characters are actual researchers and theologians, set in fiction. Fans of Gibson’s nonfiction release, Truth-Driven Thinking, will recognize the author’s dedication to the quest for truth, and many readers who delight in a well-researched cautionary tale might find themselves dog-earing pages and taking notes as they enjoy the story. (August)
Carol Lynn Stewart
  ForeWordMagazine | Oct 18, 2007 |
“Ian wants answers his faith can’t provide, so he abandons traditional religion and its magic, mysticism, and supernaturalism, turning instead to science and reason. Bill’s path has become that of a devoted Christian who sees the bountiful harvest that can be achieved through spirituality and faith. When profound revelations lead each friend to uncover shocking historical “secrets” in support of his own worldview, their odyssey plays out on a global stage, with tragic consequences. Only by embracing the inherent mystery and pain of their quest do Ian and Bill make the discovery that really matters, a genuine secret of the universe.”

I’ll have to be honest-I read this book with mixed feelings.

On the one hand, being a Christian Agnostic, I already knew what the “secret” was before I even started reading, and I was interested in seeing how the author approached the subject matter. On the other hand, some of the principles the author was to touch upon were also some that deeply concerned me.

A book which came to mind while reading this was The Hamlet Syndrome: Overthinkers Who Underachieve by Adrienne Miller and Andrew Goldblatt. At the end of this book, they suggested the “Hamlets” of the world were those who could open the eyes of the world to what was going on around them through espousing such principles as tolerance, curiosity, critical thought and skepticism, associative thinking, and seeing the consequences of actions.

These, and much more, can be seen in this novel of “love, loss, and the discovery of an eternal truth”, and I daresay that Stephen Gibson is one of those “Hamlets”. Using fiction, he takes us into the lives of believers and non-believers, to broach the subjects of religion, sex, philosophy, metaphysics, and other volatile subjects to help the reader see things from alternate perspectives.

Although written primarily for Christians, the material is suited for more spiritually-mature Christians due to some of the “adult” content, but people of all persuasions, religious or not, will see themselves reflected in some way in the characters of this novel.

One point of contention for me, however, is this-why do Christians, in novels, always seem to justify or explain virtually everything by quoting scripture? This always makes Christian characters seem like they have no minds of their own, that they never do anything wrong, and that they’re better than everyone else. In some ways, this novel seems to talk down to the reader, too; is written very simplistically like many Christian books I’ve read; and often drags on with pages of uninteresting scenes of “modern life” until it reaches something characters can argue about, discuss, or pontificate upon.

Still, there’s so much here to give readers something to think about, and meditate on, so it’s probably worth your while to grab a copy and see yourself in it. ( )
1 vote MichaelWoodhead | Aug 26, 2007 |
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