Reviewed by Lins Honeyman

Before entering into the world of academia, Fred Field was the violin player and guitarist with 1970s Jesus music group Love Song. Since then, he has pursued a career in language studies through various qualifications and is currently an assistant professor of English at the California State University. Following on from his 2002 book Linguistic Borrowing In Bilingual Contexts, Field tackles the thorny and much debated issue of language design from the viewpoint that language did not come about purely by accident or evolve as a result of a series of random coincidences. Throughout, it is very clear where Field stands in relation to his faith and the whole evolution versus creation debate and it would have been easy for him to bulldoze ahead with his case that language was designed by the creator without giving due regard to the other side of the argument. It is testimony to Field's wisdom, subject knowledge and intellect, that he resists this temptation and presents a balanced account of both the evolutionary and creationist viewpoints whilst pointing to the God of all creation at every relevant opportunity. The book itself is split into two parts with the first focusing on some of the controversies relating to the different views of design in the study of language. It also provides some fascinating information that brings home the diversity and complexity of different languages throughout the globe and how social and physiological influences affect how we speak. Generally, Field does try to avoid jargon but the very nature of the topic forces him to use more technical terminology which may prove challenging for the layman. Part two is titled "The Language Faculty: Evolution, Design, Or." and looks in more depth at the relationship between the biological elements in how humans achieve language. Linking in various cross referenced theories on DNA, primate behaviour, Darwinism and creation, Field certainly gives enough background to allow the reader to begin to take an informed view on the matter of language design. In his summary, Field makes it clear that both the scientific and scriptural stances need a degree of faith as both may seem hard to believe at times. In addition, he states that critical judgement must be executed after inquiring after evidence and asking questions and that there is no room for arrogance from either side of the debate. All told, this is an extremely thought provoking read that serves to strengthen the argument that we're not just here by an accidental collision of atoms.