Freakonomics Book Report

In its use of data to make sense of seemingly unrelated events via economics- Freakonomics operates from a rather Godless perspective- denying His design. The authors work very hard to stick to the numbers and to be objective. However, as we learned in our primary textbook- “Values enter the picture at several stages, both consciously and subconsciously- when choosing a topic to research, when variables are chosen to use in analysis, and finally when suggestions are made as to how a problem may be solved.” I strongly suspect that the authors and are not operating from the same value system.

As much as I had looked forward to reading this book, and as intriguing as its subject matter is- I couldn’t help but shake a visceral disconnect with
I Corinthians 9:24 (ESV) “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.”

This passage written by the apostle Paul is a great encouragement to all at the beginning of a race. He reminds us that everyone is participating in the sporting event, but that only one will win the prize. So everyone must do their very best in order to reach the finish line first. He goes on to encourage us in the following verses as well. “Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control…” (1 Corinthians 9:25-27). To win in an athletic event and a physical trophy, we must have discipline, self-control, and perseverance. So shouldn’t we put even more effort into our spiritual “run” with the Lord? The reward for winning our spiritual race is an eternal “victor’s
They use their data on test scores and crime waves to drive home the point that it is futility to expect any amount of good intention or “quality time” to shape your children’s destiny. It is in the cards they’re dealt, the statistics would tell us. Successful children are born of successful parents. Unfortunate and possibly deviant children are born to unfortunate and possibly deviant parents. Certainly this is not what the Bible tells us. The Bible tells us “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
(Proverbs 22:6 ESV) Statistics cannot tell us the value of a life lived, or lost. It can explain some test scores, but it can’t measure the qualities God treasures.

Freakonomics offers its explanations in an effort to make sense of our world rationally...to make connections between seemingly random curiosities and tragedies. It is intriguing, it is rational, but it is often misled. Only a Christian worldview allows us to truly make sense of our world. Only Grace tells the whole