I’ve always thought of science and faith as two completely different worlds. Science, to me, was all about proof: you have to test things, question them, and see results you can repeat. Faith, on the other hand, felt more like trust. You don’t always get proof. You just… believe.

In The Call of Wonder, Brian Cranley acknowledges the way I, and probably many others, tend to think about faith and science. As he writes in the book, “From the time we enter public school, we learn that science is rooted in reason and we should only believe in what we can see. On the other hand, we learn from our religious journeys that faith is about believing what we cannot see.” That felt so true to how I’ve always seen it.

So when I picked up The Call of Wonder, I was curious about how Brian Cranley see both from his perspective.

Brian Cranley’s book invites us into this age-old conversation with a book just under 200 pages by trying to show something big: how science and belief in God might actually point toward the same truth.

The first part of the book discusses ancient ideas from philosophers, like Plato and Aristotle. They used reason and logic to explore the idea of God, long before modern religion or science came into the picture. At times, this section felt a bit heavy, but it helped me see how people have been thinking about these questions for centuries.

Then the book shifts to what Cranley calls the “three miracles” of science: the Big Bang, the evolution of life, and the human mind. He suggests that science, in its own way, is discovering the same wonder and mystery that faith points to.

The book also brings in Scripture, showing that the God revealed through philosophy and science can also be found in sacred texts. While I wish this part had been a bit more developed, it added another thoughtful layer.

By the end, I still had questions and I think that’s the point of reading. I did feel the balance was off. It spent so much time on ancient philosophy that the parts about God’s presence in modern science and sacred texts felt rushed.

If you’re curious about this topic but don’t want anything too academic or preachy, The Call of Wonder is a nice place to start. It gave me new ways to think about questions I’ve had for a long time and that, to me, is the best kind of reading experience.

Summary

The Three Types of Wonder

1. Cheap wonder comes from things like social media, action movies, or fast entertainment. It’s thrilling and attention-grabbing, but short-lived. Once the excitement fades, it often leaves behind a sense of emptiness or wasted time.
2. Imaginative wonder is the kind that helps us dream about the future. It can inspire creativity, growth, and new ideas—but if it goes unchecked, it may become a distraction from reality or a source of anxiety.
3. Authentic wonder is the most meaningful. It arises when we slow down and reflect on something greater than ourselves—like the universe, nature, or the idea of God. This kind of wonder is deeply moving and helps us feel connected to a larger purpose.

While all types of wonder play a role in our lives, it’s authentic wonder that truly leads us to deeper understanding and lasting awe.

Plato’s philosophy

Plato’s philosophy helps shape a rational image of God, one that doesn’t rely on religious tradition alone. Plato made several key contributions that still influence how we think about the divine today:

• He introduced the idea that nonphysical realities can exist, such as truth, goodness, and beauty, things we can’t see or touch, but that feel undeniably real.
• He described a structured hierarchy of reality, where the material world is just one layer, and higher truths exist beyond what we can perceive with our senses.
• Most importantly, he gave us the concept of the Form of the Good, the ultimate source of all truth and meaning. For Plato, this was the highest reality, and everything else flowed from it.

Plato encouraged anyone seeking wisdom to spend time contemplating the highest Good, believing that this kind of reflection leads to a clearer, more meaningful life.

Aristotle’s Ideas

Building on Plato’s ideas, Aristotle offered another important framework for understanding reality, especially the physical world. He believed that everything that exists is the result of four causes, which help explain why and how something comes to be:

1. The material cause, what something is made of (its physical substance).
2. The formal cause, the structure or design that gives it its shape and identity.
3. The efficient cause, the force or agent that brings it into existence.
4. The final cause, its ultimate purpose or reason for existing.

Aristotle’s idea of a final cause, that things exist for a purpose, became especially important for later discussions about God and creation. It suggests that the world isn’t random, but ordered toward meaning.

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Author: Brian Cranley
Publication date: 5 August 2025
Number of pages: 272 pages

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