"Nation"
by Terry Pratchett
reviewed by Josh Meares
The Story
The sea has taken everything. Mau is the only one left after a giant wave sweeps his island village away. But when much is taken, something is returned. Somewhere in the jungle Daphne -- a girl from the other side of the globe -- is the sole survivor of a ship destroyed by the same wave.
Together the two confront the aftermath of catastrophe. Drawn by the smoke of Mau and Daphne's sheltering fire, other refugees slowly arrive: children without parents, mothers without babies, husbands without wives -- all of them hungry and all of them frightened. As Mau and Daphne struggle to keep the small band safe and fed, they defy ancestral spirits, challenge death himself, and uncover a long-hidden secret that literally turns the world upside down.
The Verdict
Terry Pratchett is one of the best-selling authors in the world. His writing is clear, and his British humor will make you giggle. The book starts a little slow. It took me a while to get into because it seemed to be just another "Robinson Crusoe" story with a bit of tsunami thrown in for good effect. But what the setting lacked in originality, it made up for in character development and a unique take on the interaction between religion and science.
This book does not contain any cursing, except for a ribald parrot that uses language that would have been considered in bad taste 200 years ago. There is no sex, one birth, and a lot of dead people killed by a tsunami. The catastrophic after-effects of the tsunami on Mau are very intense and feel genuinely sad, so beware if you are person who cries easily.
Worldview
"Nation" is more than a book about two lost teenagers trying to rebuild their world after a tsunami tears it apart. It is more than a book about how tragedy shapes and molds our lives. It is also a book about the relationship between science and religion.
Mau is always finding a rational explanation for everything. However, there are just as many supernatural, unexplainable events. It is like Terry Pratchett believes that science and religion must co-exist. This quote captures the paradox:
"You know that Mau said that Imo [God] made us clever enough to work out that he does not exist?"
"Yes sir, everyone says that, but that doesn't help a lot."
Imo, who is God in this book, created mankind to be smart enough to discover that He doesn't exist. But if He created man, then they must exist, right? That is the paradox that we must all live with. Science explains a lot of things, but where did we come from? That is something that science cannot explain. Ever. How does something come from nothing?
The conflict between science and religion is one of the central problems of our lives as Christians. We live in a technologically-driven society. Everything seems to have a rational, scientific explanation. Thunder isn't God speaking anymore. Most people seem to think that we have outgrown God.
Or have we? Of course, the answer is no. There are too many questions that science will never be able to answer. Where did the universe come from? Who put the universe in order and made the rules? Why am I here? Does God exist?
Science can only accept rational explanations. That is what makes it so good at explaining natural phenomenon. The scientist can never give up and say, "This is a miracle. This can't be explained. It must be God." It is against the rules of science. So the scientist comes back again, and again, and again, until he finds the solution.
But what if there is no solution? What if something supernatural does happen? Then the scientist will look for a solution forever, because he can never give up.
If every scientist who has ever existed watched Jesus rise from the dead, they could not accept that it was a miracle. If they ran every test that has ever existed, and every test showed that there was no possible way that this could happen, scientists still could not accept that the resurrection was a miracle.
All scientists could do is shake their heads in disbelief and say, "We can't explain this YET." Then they would run more tests and more experiments. But the scienctific method doesn't allow scientists to stop stop searching for a natural, rational explanation. It can't ever admit that anything is supernatural.
That is where Christians come into the picture. Let science try to explain how the world works. That is great! The Bible says that God is visible in His creation. (Romans 1:19-20) But Christians can explain God's story. We know why we are here! We know how man relates to God. We know about God's only Son. We know. And we are supernatural. The Spirit of God lives inside of us. We are, in some way, unexplainable by science.
So, embrace science. Let it do its thing. But don't let science overstep its bounds. Science is blind, deaf, and dumb when it comes to God. We are not. That is why we must spread the Good News all over the world.
"Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.' " (Matthew 28:18-20)
Questions
- Have you ever struggled with the relationship between science and religion?
- Do you ever feel discouraged when people tell you that you can't prove your beliefs?
- Have you ever tried to prove that God exists? How did that turn out for you?
- Our beliefs do contain some historical facts. Do you think you can defend those? Why or why not?
- Share a story of a time where you shared the gospel and encountered the issue of science.
- If science can't admit something is supernatural, do you think it can prove that nothing supernatural exists?
