BioLogos in the Creation/Evolution Debate

The BioLogos Foundation was founded by Francis Collins as a result of the runaway success of his 2006 book The Language of God. Francis Collins, currently Chairman of the National Institutes of Health in the United States is a committed Christian who believes that it is possible to harmonies science and Christian theology. He led the International Genome Project in 2003. Collins coins the word "BioLogos" which is similar to theistic evolution.

Theistic Evolution, therefore, is the belief that evolution is how God created life. Because the term evolution is sometimes associated with atheism, a better term for the belief in a God who chose to create the world by way of evolution is BioLogos. BioLogos comes from the Greek words bios (life) and logos (word), referring to the gospel of John:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

The difference between theistic evolution, intelligent design (ID) and creationism may be found here. The main work of The BioLogos Foundation is in its website which was launched almost a year ago on 28 April, 2009. The work of the Foundation to "reconcile God with science" was highlighted in the May 2, 2009 TIME magazine. I have found its resources useful in helping me to understand the relation between science and Christianity.

Some notable articles from the website on BioLogos are

• "Biblical Creation and Storytelling: Cosmogony, Combat and Covenant"
  by Brian Godawa
  Download full PDF
  
  
• "Science as an Instrument of Worship: Can recent scientific discovery inform and inspire our worship and service?"
  by Jennifer Wiseman
  Download full PDF
  
  
• "Evolutionary Creation: A Christian Approach to Evolution"
  by Denis O. Lamoureux
  Download full PDF
  
  
• "Scientific Fundamentalism and its Cultural Impact"
  by Karl Giberson
  Download full PDF
  
  
• "Evangelicals, Creation, and Scripture: An Overview"
  by Mark Noll
  Download full PDF
  
  
• "Barriers to Accepting the Possibility of Creation by Means of an Evolutionary Process: I. Concerns of the Typical Evangelical Theologian"
  by Bruce Waltke
  Download full PDF
  
  
• "Barriers to Accepting the Possibility of Creation by Means of an Evolutionary Process: II. Concerns of the Typical Parishoner" or "Creation, Evolution, and Christian Laypeople"
  by Tim Keller
  Download full PDF
  
  
• "Barriers to Accepting the Possibility of Creation by Means of an Evolutionary Process: III. Concerns of the Typical Agnostic Scientist"
  by Darrel Falk
  Download full PDF
  
  
• "Adventist Origins of Young Earth Creationism" by Karl Giberson
  Download full PDF

Intelligent Design involves Intelligence?

Creationists and Evolutionists are a curious mixture. Throw them together and there will be more fireworks than in a Chinese New Year celebrations. Along came Intelligent Design (ID) and some Christians gave a sigh of relief. This sigh may be too premature as Stephen Barr, professor of physics of the University of Delaware points out in The End of Intelligent Design? published in First Things online

It is time to take stock: What has the intelligent design movement achieved? As science, nothing. The goal of science is to increase our understanding of the natural world, and there is not a single phenomenon that we understand better today or are likely to understand better in the future through the efforts of ID theorists. If we are to look for ID achievements, then, it must be in the realm of natural theology. And there, I think, the movement must be judged not only a failure, but a debacle.

Very few religious skeptics have been made more open to religious belief because of ID arguments. These arguments not only have failed to persuade, they have done positive harm by convincing many people that the concept of an intelligent designer is bound up with a rejection of mainstream science.

He concludes,

I suspect that some religious people have embraced the ID movement’s arguments because they want “scientific” answers to the scientific atheists, and they know of no others. But there are plenty of ways to make a case for the reasonableness of religious belief that can be persuasive to many in the scientific world. Such a case has been made by a growing number of research scientists who are Christian believers, such as John Polkinghorne, Owen Gingerich, Francis Collins, Peter E. Hodgson, Michal Heller, Kenneth R. Miller, and Marco Bersanelli. I have addressed many audiences myself using arguments similar to theirs and have had scientists whom I know to be of firm atheist convictions tell me that they came away with more respect for the religious position. Religion has a significant number of friends (and potential friends) in the scientific world. The ID movement is not creating new ones.

The Genesis Enigma

I read this interesting, newly published book, which I picked up at a departmental store in downtown Melbourne, on the 8 hour flight from Melbourne to Singapore.

Professor Andrew Parker is one of those scientists who are Christians that do not see a dichotomy between science and religion. Presently he teaches at Green College at the University of Oxford and at the University of Sidney. He is also the Research Leader at The Natural History Museum in London. With his impeccable scientific background, Parker attempts to approach the first two chapters of Genesis - the Creation account. He takes pains to establish at the beginning of the book of his belief in the inerrancy of the Bible. However he takes issue with those who takes the first two chapters of Genesis literally. The first two chapters should be understood as an account on how life was established on earth as by one who narrates an event. Thus the 'days' are not literal 24 hours but periods of time.

Starting from the Big Bang and using the latest scientific discoveries, Parker relates the scientific account of evolution to the first two chapters of Genesis. In the first chapter of Genesis, there is twice when God said, "Let there be light" - verse 2 and verse 14. Parker attributes the first light (v.2) to be the event after the Big Bang when energy is converted to matter thereby forming atoms and later suns, galaxies, and planets. Then he shifted his focus to earth where in the hot, volcanic surface of the earth, complex molecules came together to form single cells organism. These cells became more complex by using photosynthesis to store energy. The first complex organisms to populate the land were plants thus agreeing with the Genesis account.

It is in the second account of light (v.14) that Parker proposes his bold assertion. He suggests that the second account is when eyes were evolved. These newly evolved organisms were better at survival because they can see (see the light?). This, Parker postulates, is the reason for the fantastic expansion of new species in the Cambrian Period in earth's history. This is his 'Light Switch Theory' which won him the 'Scientist of the Year' award by The Royal Institution (London) in 2000. It is the evolution of eyes that aided in the evolution of sea creatures, birds and land animals. Parker is convinced that the evolution theory is no longer a theory but established facts. Thus he implies that creationism and intelligent design is not rational.

The main thesis of this book is that there is no way the author/authors of the first two chapters of Genesis can know enough about the Big Bang and evolution to describe so accurately the order of events for the development of life on earth. This and the question of 'what is energy' before the Big Bang is the Genesis enigma. Parker suggests that the answer can only be God.

While the scientist in me cheered Parker on as he describes the various scientific processes in his book, however the theologian in me was troubled by the way he try to fit together the Genesis account and the theory of evolution. Parker's discovery of the development of the eye as the Big Bang of evolution is a major milestone in evolution theory. However I was not comfortable when he applied it to explain the second account of 'let here be light' (Gen.1:14).

This is an admirable attempt to reconcile the theory of evolution with the first two chapters of Genesis by an eminent scientist. However, like eminent theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher in the nineteenth century who tried to reconcile Christianity to the scientific worldview, it creates more questions than answers. There will always be gaps in our understanding of God and his handiwork.

This is a good book and I will recommend it to those who wants to know more about what happens after the Big Bang and how life appears on earth.

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Paleontologists visit Creation Museum

from New York Times online

Paleontology and Creationism Meet but Don’t Mesh

Mark Lyons for The New York Times

A DIFFERENT VIEWPOINT Peter Dodson, left, of the University of Pennsylvania, Michael Foote of the University of Chicago and Jon Todd of the Museum of Natural History in London watching a video at the Creation Museum.

By KENNETH CHANG
Published: June 29, 2009

PETERSBURG, Ky. — Tamaki Sato was confused by the dinosaur exhibit. The placards described the various dinosaurs as originating from different geological periods — the stegosaurus from the Upper Jurassic, the heterodontosaurus from the Lower Jurassic, the velociraptor from the Upper Cretaceous — yet in each case, the date of demise was the same: around 2348 B.C.

“I was just curious why,” said Dr. Sato, a professor of geology from Tokyo Gakugei University in Japan.

For paleontologists like Dr. Sato, layers of bedrock represent an accumulation over hundreds of millions of years, and the Lower Jurassic is much older than the Upper Cretaceous.

But here in the Creation Museum in northern Kentucky, Earth and the universe are just over 6,000 years old, created in six days by God. The museum preaches, “Same facts, different conclusions” and is unequivocal in viewing paleontological and geological data in light of a literal reading of the Bible.

In the creationist interpretation, the layers were laid down in one event — the worldwide flood when God wiped the land clean except for the creatures on Noah’s ark — and these dinosaurs died in 2348 B.C., the year of the flood.

read more

This is an interesting approach by the Creation Museum in Kentucky in explaining the existence and extinction of dinosaurs biblically. I am sure many of the paleontologists are mystified and it has nothing to do with mysticism.

More about the Creation Museum here

Darwinism makes Agnostics or Atheists

From Christianity Today, January, 2009

The Evolution of Darwin

The scientist's problem with God did not spring from his theory.

Dinesh D'Souza | posted 1/22/2009 09:38AM

It was in 1859—exactly a century and a half ago—that Charles Darwin published his Origin of Species. It is perhaps the most controversial book of the past millennium, and the work that has since made Darwin the patron saint of modern atheism...

So does a belief in evolution automatically lead to disbelief in God? Actually, Darwin didn't think that. Darwin was not an "intellectually fulfilled atheist"; rather, he called himself an agnostic. Atheists say God does not exist, while agnostics say they don't know one way or the other. Moreover, Darwin did not boast about his unbelief; rather, he approached it with marked public caution.

read more

Darwinism makes Agnostics or Atheists

From Christianity Today, January, 2009

The Evolution of Darwin

The scientist's problem with God did not spring from his theory.

Dinesh D'Souza | posted 1/22/2009 09:38AM

It was in 1859—exactly a century and a half ago—that Charles Darwin published his Origin of Species. It is perhaps the most controversial book of the past millennium, and the work that has since made Darwin the patron saint of modern atheism...

So does a belief in evolution automatically lead to disbelief in God? Actually, Darwin didn't think that. Darwin was not an "intellectually fulfilled atheist"; rather, he called himself an agnostic. Atheists say God does not exist, while agnostics say they don't know one way or the other. Moreover, Darwin did not boast about his unbelief; rather, he approached it with marked public caution.

read more

Faiths in Creation (6)

Aspects of Environmental Ethics:An Islamic Perspective
Mohammad Shomali

In the final part of the Faiths in Creation series, Mohammad Shomali presents the Islamic texts that teach of the value of the natural world and the importance of our respect for it. He gives an Islamic perspective on how we should interact with the environment that surrounds us, and looks at the vices that we are most likely to succumb to.

One of the most important problems in today’s world is the environmental crisis. It seems that this problem started when modern man stopped understanding himself as the vicegerent and trustee of the All-Merciful God who must channel divine mercy to everything at his disposal or within his reach, and stopped understanding nature as a sacred sign and valuable trust from God. For the same reason, it seems that the best way to protect the environment from destruction and, indeed, to improve its condition is to revive these forgotten understandings by referring back to the teachings and instructions of divine religions and reviewing and readjusting our policies regarding the application of modern technology and in using natural resources appropriately. In this paper, I will try to briefly present some aspects of the Islamic perspective on environmental ethics in the light of Qur’anic verses and Islamic narrations (hadiths). The paper consists of four parts: nature; governing rules in Islamic environmental ethics; virtues related to human treatment of the environment; and vices related to human treatment of the environment.

read more

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Faiths in Creation (6)

Aspects of Environmental Ethics:An Islamic Perspective
Mohammad Shomali

In the final part of the Faiths in Creation series, Mohammad Shomali presents the Islamic texts that teach of the value of the natural world and the importance of our respect for it. He gives an Islamic perspective on how we should interact with the environment that surrounds us, and looks at the vices that we are most likely to succumb to.

One of the most important problems in today’s world is the environmental crisis. It seems that this problem started when modern man stopped understanding himself as the vicegerent and trustee of the All-Merciful God who must channel divine mercy to everything at his disposal or within his reach, and stopped understanding nature as a sacred sign and valuable trust from God. For the same reason, it seems that the best way to protect the environment from destruction and, indeed, to improve its condition is to revive these forgotten understandings by referring back to the teachings and instructions of divine religions and reviewing and readjusting our policies regarding the application of modern technology and in using natural resources appropriately. In this paper, I will try to briefly present some aspects of the Islamic perspective on environmental ethics in the light of Qur’anic verses and Islamic narrations (hadiths). The paper consists of four parts: nature; governing rules in Islamic environmental ethics; virtues related to human treatment of the environment; and vices related to human treatment of the environment.

read more

.

Faiths in Creation (5)

Coping With Insecurity, Uncertainty and Risk
Helen Freeman

Why do we sometimes find it difficult to display humility and responsibility in our relationship with the rest of the natural world? Helen Freeman traces the history of Jewish thought on this issue, and advocates that a deeper understanding of consumerism and the need for rootedness and security will help us to see our relationship to the created world in a new light.

For Jews, our understanding of engagement with the created world goes right back to the creation story in Genesis chapter one. Once the beautiful world and its life forms have been created, God says, in verse 26:
’vayomer Elohim, na’aseh adam b’tzalmaynoo kidmootaynoo u-rdu vidgut hayam, oov’of hashamayim, oovab’haymah oov’khol ha-aretz oov’khol harems haromays al ha-aretz-And God said, let us make Adam in our image and likeness, and he will rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the heaven and the cattle and all the earth and all creeping things that creep upon the earth.

The word for human being, adam, is related closely to the word for earth, adamah, and conveys the earthiness and closeness of the relationship between human beings and the soil of the ground.

The later rabbinical commentators understood the human right to rule over the other creatures to be an ethical imperative; if they did not do so justly, then terrible things would happen. Using a play on the word ’u-rdu – and rule – the fifth-century midrash in Genesis Rabbah 8:12 says this:
‘And have dominion (u-rdu) over the fish of the sea etc.’ Rabbi Chanina said: If humanity merits it, u-rdu (it will have dominion); and if humanity doesn’t merit it yirdu (it will descend/fall). Rabbi Ya’akov of Kfar Hanan: That which is ‘in our image, according to our likeness’, u-rdu (it will have dominion), and that which is not in our image according to our likeness yirdu (it will descend).

The challenge to humanity is then how we conceptualise our place of dominion over the created world.

read more

.

Faiths in Creation (5)

Coping With Insecurity, Uncertainty and Risk
Helen Freeman

Why do we sometimes find it difficult to display humility and responsibility in our relationship with the rest of the natural world? Helen Freeman traces the history of Jewish thought on this issue, and advocates that a deeper understanding of consumerism and the need for rootedness and security will help us to see our relationship to the created world in a new light.

For Jews, our understanding of engagement with the created world goes right back to the creation story in Genesis chapter one. Once the beautiful world and its life forms have been created, God says, in verse 26:
’vayomer Elohim, na’aseh adam b’tzalmaynoo kidmootaynoo u-rdu vidgut hayam, oov’of hashamayim, oovab’haymah oov’khol ha-aretz oov’khol harems haromays al ha-aretz-And God said, let us make Adam in our image and likeness, and he will rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the heaven and the cattle and all the earth and all creeping things that creep upon the earth.

The word for human being, adam, is related closely to the word for earth, adamah, and conveys the earthiness and closeness of the relationship between human beings and the soil of the ground.

The later rabbinical commentators understood the human right to rule over the other creatures to be an ethical imperative; if they did not do so justly, then terrible things would happen. Using a play on the word ’u-rdu – and rule – the fifth-century midrash in Genesis Rabbah 8:12 says this:
‘And have dominion (u-rdu) over the fish of the sea etc.’ Rabbi Chanina said: If humanity merits it, u-rdu (it will have dominion); and if humanity doesn’t merit it yirdu (it will descend/fall). Rabbi Ya’akov of Kfar Hanan: That which is ‘in our image, according to our likeness’, u-rdu (it will have dominion), and that which is not in our image according to our likeness yirdu (it will descend).

The challenge to humanity is then how we conceptualise our place of dominion over the created world.

read more

.

Faiths in Creation (4)

A Faith Perspective on the Economy
Makbul Rahim

Today marks the anniversary of Black Tuesday, a crucial date on the timeline of the 1929 Wall Street Crash, and in similar times of financial uncertainty our attitudes towards the economy are under the spotlight. Makbul Rahim describes how religious ethics can inform economic pursuits, asking particularly how a religious perspective might view the economy as a tool for tackling climate change.

In the modern economy and the business world, faith and religious ethics generally are often regarded as being of only marginal relevance. For those considering business transactions and activities, the primary factors and drivers are profit maximisation, market efficiency, maximization of shareholder value and the capital asset pricing model. Economic activities are seen as essential bread-and-butter matters – sources of one’s livelihood – with faith and religious ethics as leisure or part time activities for society and its members. In other words faith is not seen as an integral part of economics or business life. The emergence of investor protection and transparency and good corporate governance in the business world has not come about voluntarily out of faith considerations. Rather it has had to be imposed upon it by law and other means and is more related to sustainability of the confidence which drives and maintains the economy. Religious ethics, on the other hand, emphasise factors such as human flourishing, the good of society and human happiness, the nature of the human person, the demands of community and solidarity. These are not considered as critical drivers or important determinants by market players in the economy.

read more

.

Faiths in Creation (4)

A Faith Perspective on the Economy
Makbul Rahim

Today marks the anniversary of Black Tuesday, a crucial date on the timeline of the 1929 Wall Street Crash, and in similar times of financial uncertainty our attitudes towards the economy are under the spotlight. Makbul Rahim describes how religious ethics can inform economic pursuits, asking particularly how a religious perspective might view the economy as a tool for tackling climate change.

In the modern economy and the business world, faith and religious ethics generally are often regarded as being of only marginal relevance. For those considering business transactions and activities, the primary factors and drivers are profit maximisation, market efficiency, maximization of shareholder value and the capital asset pricing model. Economic activities are seen as essential bread-and-butter matters – sources of one’s livelihood – with faith and religious ethics as leisure or part time activities for society and its members. In other words faith is not seen as an integral part of economics or business life. The emergence of investor protection and transparency and good corporate governance in the business world has not come about voluntarily out of faith considerations. Rather it has had to be imposed upon it by law and other means and is more related to sustainability of the confidence which drives and maintains the economy. Religious ethics, on the other hand, emphasise factors such as human flourishing, the good of society and human happiness, the nature of the human person, the demands of community and solidarity. These are not considered as critical drivers or important determinants by market players in the economy.

read more

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Faiths in Creation (3)

The Place of Humanity in Creation
Martin Poulsom

The way in which we think about ecological issues depends to a large extent on whether we consider humanity to be entirely different from, or fundamentally the same as the rest of the natural world, argues Martin Poulsom. How can we navigate a path between these two positions to gain a better understanding of our place in creation, with respect to God and to other creatures?

In order to investigate the role that Christianity might play in current debates about environmental and ecological concerns, it is vital first to substantiate the claim that Christianity has something useful to say. After all, in the minds and stated opinions of some interlocutors, it is Christianity that is the problem. Its way of thinking has led humanity inevitably to the disaster on whose brink the globe is now teetering. At the outset of this paper, what is often called the Dominion thesis will be briefly examined and compared with the position taken by Deep Ecologists. It will be seen that, despite first appearances, these two dia­metrically opposed positions are actually somewhat similar to each other. The possibility of finding a path between these extremes will be raised, a possibility which will be shown to fit remarkably well with one mainstream way of articulat­ing theologically what it means to be a created human being. On the basis of this understanding of creation, humanity will be able to be placed in creation, both with respect to God and with respect to other creatures, in a way that can both respect the unique value of humankind and, at the same time, avoid denigrating the value of everything else. On the basis of this account, some possible contri­butions to current debates will be mooted as a way of opening up an exciting possibility – that Christianity might well have something of value to say.

read more

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Faiths in Creation (3)

The Place of Humanity in Creation
Martin Poulsom

The way in which we think about ecological issues depends to a large extent on whether we consider humanity to be entirely different from, or fundamentally the same as the rest of the natural world, argues Martin Poulsom. How can we navigate a path between these two positions to gain a better understanding of our place in creation, with respect to God and to other creatures?

In order to investigate the role that Christianity might play in current debates about environmental and ecological concerns, it is vital first to substantiate the claim that Christianity has something useful to say. After all, in the minds and stated opinions of some interlocutors, it is Christianity that is the problem. Its way of thinking has led humanity inevitably to the disaster on whose brink the globe is now teetering. At the outset of this paper, what is often called the Dominion thesis will be briefly examined and compared with the position taken by Deep Ecologists. It will be seen that, despite first appearances, these two dia­metrically opposed positions are actually somewhat similar to each other. The possibility of finding a path between these extremes will be raised, a possibility which will be shown to fit remarkably well with one mainstream way of articulat­ing theologically what it means to be a created human being. On the basis of this understanding of creation, humanity will be able to be placed in creation, both with respect to God and with respect to other creatures, in a way that can both respect the unique value of humankind and, at the same time, avoid denigrating the value of everything else. On the basis of this account, some possible contri­butions to current debates will be mooted as a way of opening up an exciting possibility – that Christianity might well have something of value to say.

read more

.

Faiths in Creation (2)

Judaic Models of Social Transformation
Jonathan Gorsky

In the first of a series, Faiths in Creation, Jonathan Gorsky argues that responsibility for our environment falls on us all, at both a personal and social level. How can the models of social transformation advocated in Jewish tradition help us to change our approach and become reliable stewards of the environment?

In the case of Judaism, the Hebrew Bible records the many vicissitudes of an attempt to construct a new form of political community that was to be an inspiration and a blessing for all the world. The concept of a model community that would serve as a light for the nations is one that might touch all of our faiths: it is not only a matter of persuading individuals among us to pay at­tention to their carbon footprints, rather it is imperative that our respective communities seek to nurture cultures in which people do not feel that they need to keep up with every high street fashion in order to be accepted by their friends and neighbours.

Consumerism is often inspired by a need for such acceptance in an envi­ronment where the bonds of community have become so attenuated that our superficial social connections demand rigorous material conformity as the sole guarantor of status and acceptability. If we become poor or lose our em­ployment then social life rapidly disintegrates: consumerist culture carries un­spoken assumptions that are unexpectedly demanding and highly disciplinary. Parents’ frantic endeavours to get their children into the right schools speak volumes about the social pressures that accompany relative prosperity. Pope John Paul II’s vision of a civilisation of love that would transcend individual­ism can be seen as an ultimate response to current perils – a new form of deep environmentalism that is beyond the reach of purely political endeavour.

The Hebrew Bible yields two other prominent models of social transforma­tion; one is dependent on law as the instrument of its efficacy and the second is the prophetic tradition which draws on the language of inspiration and creativity.

read more

.

Faiths in Creation (2)

Judaic Models of Social Transformation
Jonathan Gorsky

In the first of a series, Faiths in Creation, Jonathan Gorsky argues that responsibility for our environment falls on us all, at both a personal and social level. How can the models of social transformation advocated in Jewish tradition help us to change our approach and become reliable stewards of the environment?

In the case of Judaism, the Hebrew Bible records the many vicissitudes of an attempt to construct a new form of political community that was to be an inspiration and a blessing for all the world. The concept of a model community that would serve as a light for the nations is one that might touch all of our faiths: it is not only a matter of persuading individuals among us to pay at­tention to their carbon footprints, rather it is imperative that our respective communities seek to nurture cultures in which people do not feel that they need to keep up with every high street fashion in order to be accepted by their friends and neighbours.

Consumerism is often inspired by a need for such acceptance in an envi­ronment where the bonds of community have become so attenuated that our superficial social connections demand rigorous material conformity as the sole guarantor of status and acceptability. If we become poor or lose our em­ployment then social life rapidly disintegrates: consumerist culture carries un­spoken assumptions that are unexpectedly demanding and highly disciplinary. Parents’ frantic endeavours to get their children into the right schools speak volumes about the social pressures that accompany relative prosperity. Pope John Paul II’s vision of a civilisation of love that would transcend individual­ism can be seen as an ultimate response to current perils – a new form of deep environmentalism that is beyond the reach of purely political endeavour.

The Hebrew Bible yields two other prominent models of social transforma­tion; one is dependent on law as the instrument of its efficacy and the second is the prophetic tradition which draws on the language of inspiration and creativity.

read more

.

Faiths in Creation (1)

Faiths in Creation: An Introduction
Catherine Cowley RA

Dr Catherine Cowley introduces Faiths in Creation, a collection of papers from the Heythrop Institute for Religion, Ethics and Public Life – the fruit of a bold experiment in inter-faith conversation – which will be serialised on Thinking Faith...

These papers, though different in style and emphases, demonstrate ways in which the three traditions speak both to each other and to the secular debate. The questions they raise about the nature of the human person and our place within the world are ones which every society needs to address. They also dem­onstrate that rather than adopting a purely secular agenda, it is by living out our deepest religious insights that we have most to contribute.

read more

.

Faiths in Creation (1)

Faiths in Creation: An Introduction
Catherine Cowley RA

Dr Catherine Cowley introduces Faiths in Creation, a collection of papers from the Heythrop Institute for Religion, Ethics and Public Life – the fruit of a bold experiment in inter-faith conversation – which will be serialised on Thinking Faith...

These papers, though different in style and emphases, demonstrate ways in which the three traditions speak both to each other and to the secular debate. The questions they raise about the nature of the human person and our place within the world are ones which every society needs to address. They also dem­onstrate that rather than adopting a purely secular agenda, it is by living out our deepest religious insights that we have most to contribute.

read more

.

Interview with an Theistic Evolutionist

Francis Collins
Interview by Marcus Goodyear

Ten years ago, the average person had probably never heard the word "'genome," but Francis Collins was already the director of the Human Genome Project. It's a project many are calling the most important scientific undertaking of our time.

In 2000, Collins publicly presented the first draft of the human genome alongside President Clinton. According to his New York Times bestseller, The Language of God, Clinton's speech on that day took a surprisingly spiritual turn: "Today we are learning the language in which God created life. We are gaining ever more awe for the complexity, the beauty, and the wonder of God's most divine and sacred gift."

As an outspoken scientist, Christian, and theistic-evolutionist, Collins sits at an incredibly controversial crossroads. Many Christians fear his defense of Darwin while many Darwinists shun his faith. Regardless of where you stand on these issues, there is no denying that Christians can learn something from Francis Collins' approach to worship and scientific research.

Celebrating God Through Science (Part 1)

Love God With a Scientific Mind (Part 2)

Interview with an Theistic Evolutionist

Francis Collins
Interview by Marcus Goodyear

Ten years ago, the average person had probably never heard the word "'genome," but Francis Collins was already the director of the Human Genome Project. It's a project many are calling the most important scientific undertaking of our time.

In 2000, Collins publicly presented the first draft of the human genome alongside President Clinton. According to his New York Times bestseller, The Language of God, Clinton's speech on that day took a surprisingly spiritual turn: "Today we are learning the language in which God created life. We are gaining ever more awe for the complexity, the beauty, and the wonder of God's most divine and sacred gift."

As an outspoken scientist, Christian, and theistic-evolutionist, Collins sits at an incredibly controversial crossroads. Many Christians fear his defense of Darwin while many Darwinists shun his faith. Regardless of where you stand on these issues, there is no denying that Christians can learn something from Francis Collins' approach to worship and scientific research.

Celebrating God Through Science (Part 1)

Love God With a Scientific Mind (Part 2)