SOURCE: Blackford, Russell. “Stephen Jay Gould on Science and Religion.” Quadrant 44, no. 4 (April 2000): 8-14.

In the following review of Rocks of Ages, Blackford cautions that Gould misinterprets the nature of religion as well as its scope.

While there is considerable controversy about Stephen Jay Gould's contributions to evolutionary theory, he is an eminent scientist, an important socio-political thinker, and an exemplary prose stylist whose lucid books and essays are a source of pleasure as well as knowledge. Unfortunately, he seems to have reached such authorial prominence and saleability that publishers now allow him to indulge himself on subjects where he is out of his field, or his depth, or both. Gould remains incapable of writing a thoroughly bad book, but he has gone close to doing so with his 1999 effort, Rocks of Ages: Science and Religion in the Fullness of Life.

The book's redeeming features include its detailed...