A Truly Catholic Biology Textbook

Textbooks are not normally a book that gets discussed in a blog. However, my education background demands that I discuss textbooks. I started my professional career as a biology teacher. I love the subject but never felt that the textbooks properly conveyed biology. They tried to reduce life to atoms, molecules, and cellular processes. I eventually taught math and religion. This change allowed my frustration with biology to be shelved. That is until I came across Christ the King Books and discovered a real biology textbook. 

Christ the King vs All others

Most textbooks I taught with used the approach of small to large. They began teaching atoms and molecules, then cells and their processes. Eventually, you move to organ systems and finally organisms. Teaching this way challenged my students. They had little exposure to chemistry. To compensate for that, they would receive a crash course at the beginning of biology. As a student, I hated these chapters and just wanted to learn about the life around me. The other approach is to go big to small. Students start by learning about ecosystems and the animals that live in them. This then progresses to cells and down to atoms. This approach sounds good in theory but it doesn't seem to work. Teachers have told me that students lack a fundamental understanding of the organisms to grasp how they interact within a given ecosystem. Both approaches start with something that few students know anything about. 

Christ the King takes a different approach. It starts with something that we all know, ourselves. It begins by looking at the human body and determines key features that we possess. It talks about our immortal soul, our ability to reason, and our senses. It then explores how we compare to the animals around us. Can they think like us? Do they have true logic or is it just instinct? Once we establish similarities and differences, we can then examine the animal for what it is. Then it looks at plants. What do they have in common with animals? What is different? This approach encourages students to follow a sequence of questions to find the answers. It teaches kids to think instead of just trusting what the book is telling them.

Evolution

Background about me, I grew up believing in evolution as the origin of species. I was taught that evolution and Catholicism were completely compatible. The stories in Genesis, such as the creation, were a myth to explain the origin to us, simple humans. You are free to disagree with me but I grew to disagree with this stance. A couple of things never seemed to make sense to me. One of them was the thermodynamic law of entropy. Entropy states that everything tends toward a baseline nothing. This is seen in our bodies as they tend to break down and energy is needed to repair them. I found it easier to believe that our genetics are degrading over time instead of improving so that we get new organs and species. I would ask someone to explain the evolution of the eye and I couldn't get a good answer. That is as far as I will go into my objections to evolution so that I can focus on the textbook. If you want to further understand my questioning of evolution, feel free to comment and I will get back to you.

The controversial topic in biology always seems to be evolution. As a teacher, it was inevitable that I was stuck teaching evolution to the class. I taught the fossil record, homologous structures, and natural selection to students. I used disconnected evidence to paint a picture that evolution is real and explain the origin of plants and animals. 

This biology textbook takes a different approach to teaching evolution. It presents the case against evolution and its fundamental flaws. It uses philosophical principles as well as laws of nature. If given a fair chance, this book can change a person's beliefs about evolution. This book prepares students to face evolution questions with the power of their intellect. I will add that the evolution section is in the second half of the textbook and does not need to be taught. The first half provides plenty of content to get a teacher through a whole year. 

Final Thoughts

This textbook is the best biology textbook I have come across. The authors wonderfully present philosophy along with biology to guide its study. It inspires kids to look at their world through a Catholic lens. Your students will walk away with great wonder and awe at the world that our Lord has created for them to live in. I should also mention that they have produced lab books and student workbooks. As a bonus feature, Christ the King has developed software that will grade the workbook assignments. This removes some of the work for parents, if homeschooling, and teachers. I cannot recommend this textbook enough. Go to Christ the King Books to view their biology book and other offerings.