Andy Weir gets friendship absolutely right—and it’s not because of anything remotely to do with the naturalism or evolution espoused by many characters throughout the novel. Indeed, Project Hail Mary speaks with a distinctly Christian accent on the topics of love and friendship in ways that evolutionary biology can only lisp and blabber about incomprehensibly. In a purely naturalistic worldview, no such things as love, grace, courage, or friendship exist.

This article marks my hundredth post on Iotas in Eternity. While one-hundred posts may not seem like very much when stood up against other writers whose output seems limitless, both quantitatively and qualitatively, it feels like a milestone for me all the same.

Several years ago, a young man from a church neighboring my own was given a severe cancer diagnosis seemingly overnight. Though the cancer was detected early and swiftly acted upon by doctors, the disease was spreading rapidly nonetheless—a terminal diagnosis seemed imminent.