The title of Brian McLaren’s new book, Life After Doom, might at first be imposing…that word, “doom" looms large, but there is also life. McLaren has been looking into the face of the climate crisis and has, himself, felt the sense of doom that many people describe when they look into the future. McLaren does not dismiss the seriousness of the problems, nor is he paralyzed by it, but instead imagines the kind of life that is worth living no matter what kind of future will meet us. 

Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Ricky Bombino, courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc.

Are you a pastor, ministry leader, or layperson interested in helping the Church engage in creation care and climate change? BioLogos wants to hear from you! We're looking for participants in some upcoming focus groups. Those selected to participate will receive a $25-Amazon gift card as a thank you. See details HERE. 

It is hard to care for, protect, or even to mourn those we have no relationship with. We try to develop a relationship with a few creatures that are still among us, even if they are imperiled, to better know and love our world. And we end with a last few thorns…should we attempt to bring back extinct species and how should we think about the future of our own species?

This is episode three of a three-part series. 

About the series: Extinction might seem to be a pretty simple idea: a species goes out of existence. But a deeper exploration reveals all kinds of thorny questions. What is a species anyway? Is extinction a natural part of the development of life that leads to new life or is it something that should be mourned and stopped? What will happen to our own species? These are only a few of the questions we follow on a journey of creatures here and gone.

Learn more about the series and about our guests here. 

Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Vesper Tapes, Trending Music, Babel, Immersive Music, Full Frontal Audio, and Cosmo Lawson, courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc.

The science of evolution has caused friction for many Christians. And science does pose some challenges to the way people have been taught to think about their faith, but those challenges don’t have to lead to a decision to reject faith—or to reject the findings of science. In fact, understanding science can lead to a deeper faith. 

Jim Stump, host of Language of God has a new book coming out—The Sacred Chain: How Understanding Evolution Leads to a Deeper Faith. In this series Jim walks through three of the challenges posed by science. 

The challenge of pain and suffering is a crucial tension and one that has vexed people for millennia. Without solving the problem, we can at least break it down and see how a world which includes pain and suffering is also a world in which creatures might have the capacity to become morally mature.

Featuring clips from previous conversations with Bethany Sollereder and Simon Conway Morris.

This is the third of a three part mini-series.

Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Vesper Tapes and Ricky Bombino, courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc.

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

Though the theory of evolution has revolutionized the biological sciences, bringing the theory into the classroom still causes some fear and trembling—from teachers, students, parents. Last fall we spent some time with a group of people who have been researching how to teach evolution better, in a way that acknowledges the emotional and religious tensions that comes into the classroom and attempts to help students understand the science of evolution while retaining—even bolstering—their faith. In this episode we hear from some of the people putting this work into practice and we hear a few stories of the hardships that are faced when evolution comes to the classroom.

Learn more about the Reconciling Evolution Research Group

Science and the Bible series by Ted Davis

Learn more about Integrate Curriculum

The music in this episode is by Joseph McDade

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

Though the theory of evolution has revolutionized the biological sciences, bringing the theory into the classroom still causes some fear and trembling—from teachers, students, parents. Last fall we spent some time with a group of people who have been researching how to teach evolution better, in a way that acknowledges the emotional and religious tensions that comes into the classroom and attempts to help students understand the science of evolution while retaining—even bolstering—their faith. In this episode we talk about the history of teaching evolution and introduce some of the research from the team. 

Learn more about the Reconciling Evolution Research Group

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

Every human bears the image of God, and in God’s good future there will be a great diversity of people from all nations and tribes. But we don’t always live as if that were the case. Dr. Jemar Tisby joins us to talk about the church’s complicity in racism and what we can do about it. Jemar Tisby is the author of The Color of Compromise, a New York Times bestseller, and How to Fight Racism, as well as the recently published How to Fight Racism Young Reader’s Edition. He’s also the co-founder of The Witness: a Black Christian Collective and co-host of the podcast, Pass the Mic. 

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

N.T. Wright, Francis Collins, John Walton, Deb Haarsma, Julia Wattacheril, Charlotte vanOyen-Witvliet, and Curtis Chang come back to the podcast to share their wisdom about hope. 

Jim Stump's article on hope Deb Haarsma's article on hope Arthur Brooks Atlantic article on Hope and Optimism N.T. Wright and Francis Collins sing 'New World Has Been Born' (video) Christians and the Vaccine

From stargazing as a child to helping lead the team which took the first ever image of a black hole, Heino Falcke has only seen his faith and his work as an astronomer as deeply connected. In this episode we talk about his new book, Light in the Darkness: Black Holes, the Universe and Us, where Falcke shares more about what creating the image actually consisted of, and some wisdom he picked up along the way. New discoveries will always challenge and redefine our old frameworks of thought, but Falcke shows us that this change is not fundamental, that it is a humbling reminder that our finite knowledge of the infinite God is always partial. Heino Falcke and his team’s image of the black hole at the center of galaxy M87 reminds us of a message from Paul—that we now see through a glass, darkly; then, face to face.

See the picture of the black hole here

Check out Heino Falcke’s new book

Find out more about Heino on his website

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

His characters on VeggieTales are arguably among the most recognizable voices in the evangelical world. As a co-creator and writer on the show, many of us came to know Phil Vischer primarily through his wacky characters. More recently, however, Phil has taken on a new role in the evangelical community as a thoughtful voice and host of the Holy Post Podcast. Phil has not been afraid to breach controversial subjects, and as a result has been subject to some controversy himself. Yet Phil’s dedication to a truth-seeking and faith centered evangelicalism is an inspiring, and perhaps challenging, model for us all.

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

For Thanksgiving, we’re bringing you an episode about food. Shauna Niequist is a popular author, speaker, and podcaster and we talked about her book called Bread and Wine. Shauna uses food as a gateway into larger, more existential questions about life, what it means to be human, and the nature of our faith. 

This episode originally aired on July 2, 2020.

Original music in this episode is from Carp.

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

We live in a world of many different ideas and beliefs and that can make it hard to be in relationships when we disagree about the things we hold most dear. John Inazu thinks there’s a way to live in this world of difference while still being confident and committed to our own beliefs, especially our religious beliefs. He calls this confident pluralism and wrote a book with the same title. In the episode we talk about what that means and how to apply it in the messiness of real life. 

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

Our guest today, Kyle Van Houtan, has always had a curious mind. From growing up in a military family hopping around coastlines to splitting time between his biology PhD and theology classes while at Duke, Kyle has always been driven to see his faith in light of science and his science in light of faith. As a Christian who is also a scientist, his understanding of the immensity and urgency of climate change demands he understand his call to be a steward of the earth as one to fight against climate disaster; as a scientist who is also a Christian, he feels compelled to foster the Christian virtue of hope in spite of these grim realities. 

Learn about the Loggerhead Marinelife Center

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

Many have tried to understand why there is suffering in the world. Bethany Sollereder has been working on this topic for many years, and though she hasn’t come up with a perfect answer, her new book, Why is There Suffering?: Pick Your Own Theological Expedition, does provide a new way of contemplating this perennial question. The book allows readers to make their own choices, to see how theological decisions might bring a person to a certain set of beliefs about why there is suffering and how to deal with it. In the second half of the episode, Bethany has a chance to choose her own adventure through the conversation. 

Lost in a World of Maps (article)

Why is there Suffering? (book)

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

The science of evolution has caused friction for many Christians. And science does pose some challenges to the way people have been taught to think about their faith, but those challenges don’t have to lead to a decision to reject faith—or to reject the findings of science. In fact, understanding science can lead to a deeper faith. 

Jim Stump, host of Language of God has a new book coming out—The Sacred Chain: How Understanding Evolution Leads to a Deeper Faith. In this series Jim walks through three of the challenges posed by science. 

The challenge of the time explores the long time spans of the earth and the universe and what it means about being a human loved by God in the here and now. Featuring clips from previous conversations with John Walton & Makoto Fujimura.

This is the second of a three part mini-series.

Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Babel, Nick Petrov, & Vesper Tapes, courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc.

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

Milmer Martinez Vergara grew up in Colombia and never saw a distinction between science, care for the environment and the faith that was instilled from a young age. His love for science and the ocean brought him on a wild journey from mangrove swamps, to the National Aquarium in Cuba to the oceanside cliffs of California, eventually leading him to a job at Plant with Purpose. In the episode, he talks about his journey and his work with communities in Latin America and the Caribbean, where science can come alongside the needs of the people and together they can find solutions that allow both people and the environment to flourish. 

We recorded this interview in person during the BioLogos Creation Care Summit. Several of the speakers from the summit have been on the podcast before and we’ve had many other great podcast guests talking about creation care. You can find all creation care themed episodes here.

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

Rick Potts has always had an interest in origins. As a kid, exploring the origins of musical instruments and the solar system fascinated him. In high school he stumbled upon the study of human origins; he has not stopped investigating since. Dr. Potts tells Jim stories of excavations in China and southern Kenya and of people encountering the exhibit on Human Origins around the US. Reverberating throughout their conversation is the question, ‘What does it mean to be human?’

Find out more about the Hall of Human Origins on the Smithsonian website.

This episode originally aired on May 30, 2019

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

For those of us who have worked at BioLogos or spent any time on our forum, the name Christy Hemphill is quite familiar. As a collaborator on the BioLogos school curriculum project, INTEGRATE, and a long-time moderator on the forum, her work has been a blessing in our community. We realized, however, that still far too few of us have heard the poignant insight and testimony she brings to her work with us. On today’s episode, Christy shares with us her experience as a Bible translator working in a remote community in Mexico, the important work she has done with us on INTEGRATE and the Forum, and how her experience homeschooling her kids has helped her navigate faith with her children. 

Watch the viral video of a cockatoo meowing to kittens.

Read Christy's recommendations for how to approach the difficult subject of origins from a gracious perspective.

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

Sy Garte didn’t have the kind of upbringing that would typically lead one to preaching sermons. His parents were members of the communist party, materialists, and atheists. But as he started studying science he found some things that started him wondering about this idea that science can answer every question. His wondering opened the doorway, and he walked through, eventually encountering Jesus Christ and finding that his study and practice of science could go hand in hand with being a follower of Christ. 

Sy Garte's Youtube Channel

Sy Garte's Website

Sy Garte's Book

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

Jason Fileta didn’t start out as an environmental activist. His first passion was to alleviate the suffering of the poor and hungry. As he met and heard the stories from those struggling with poverty and hunger he often asked them the question: if we could get a million Christians in North America to raise their voices on an issue that impacts your community, what would it be? He was surprised when a farmer in Uganda said climate change. But then he started to hear story after story of how climate change has made the lives of people harder, and this has led Jason to understand the deep connection between our caring for the planet and the lives of the poor and hungry around the world.

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

A new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that the climate emergency has reached a “code red”. New research also shows that over 50% of Americans agree that climate change is happening and demands urgent action. So why does it seem like so little is being done? Internationally renowned climate scientist, professor and author Katharine Hayhoe returns to the show and tells us what keeps her hopeful despite the dire situation we find ourselves in. She also tells us about her forthcoming book, Saving Us: A Climate Scientist's Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World, which expands on why she’s hopeful. Katharine is also an ardent Christian and she shares with Jim the biblical foundation for climate action.

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

At first glance, biblical genealogies appear to straightforward family trees, the kinds we see on ancestry.com that map out the precise relationships between parents and offspring, tracing back as far as we can go. But is that how the genealogies in the Bible are supposed to be read? It turns out there’s a lot more going on in the genealogies than just that straightforward accounting. Bible scholar, Richard Middleton, shares with us some of the historical context that helps us to see the genealogies as another part of the story of God’s creation. 

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

Throughout the pandemic, COVID-19 related news and public thought has often centered around the countries we reside in. Our guest today, Father Nicanor Austriaco, invites us to peer beyond our own situations to see how the rest of the world is dealing with the disease. Father Nicanor shares with Jim how his home country, the Philippines, is handling the tumultuous time as well as what it’s like to be both a Catholic priest and a molecular biologist during a pandemic.

Learn more about Father Nicanor's project on St. Thomas Aquinas and evolution here.

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

As the series comes to a close, Jim and Colin take stock of one more distinguishing feature of humans—the image of God. While the previous episodes in the series question if humans are uniquely unique from other species from the ground up, this episode changes perspectives to approach an answer from the Heavens down. As usual, they bring in a range of experts from a variety of fields to weigh in on what it means to be made in the image of God. They come to some significant conclusions, including a warning against idolizing human rationality, but also point out where this quest may continue. 

In this new Language of God mini series—Uniquely Unique—Jim is joined by our producer Colin for a deep dive into these questions and more. The quest? To try to come to a better understanding of what it means to be human, to bear the image of God. Along the way, you’ll hear from a variety of experts from a wide range of disciplines, drawing on biology, history, anthropology, philosophy, theology and more to try to make sense of our human identity.

Check our new animated video series including a video exploring what it means to be human. 

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

In the long history of searching for what makes humans special we have repeatedly caused great harm to our neighbors, both human and non-human. In fact, it seems that one of the things that makes our species unique is our ability to cause such destruction. The search for human uniqueness can lead to a kind of thinking that devalues everything non-human. When ‘human’ is defined too narrowly, that can leave some humans out. In the first part of this episode we look at how ideas of race have caused us to treat a large portion of our population as less than human. Then we look at how human-centric thinking has had a detrimental effect on our planet.

In this new Language of God mini series—Uniquely Unique—Jim is joined by our producer Colin for a deep dive into these questions and more. The quest? To try to come to a better understanding of what it means to be human, to bear the image of God. Along the way, you’ll hear from a variety of experts from a wide range of disciplines, drawing on biology, history, anthropology, philosophy, theology and more to try to make sense of our human identity.

Check our new animated video series including a video exploring what it means to be human. 

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

The science of evolution has caused friction for many Christians. And science does pose some challenges to the way people have been taught to think about their faith, but those challenges don’t have to lead to a decision to reject faith—or to reject the findings of science. In fact, understanding science can lead to a deeper faith. 

Jim Stump, host of Language of God has a new book coming out—The Sacred Chain: How Understanding Evolution Leads to a Deeper Faith. In this series Jim walks through three of the challenges posed by science. 

The challenge of the Bible asks how we can continue to affirm the Bible as inspired and authoritative if the human authors believed incorrect things about the world. Did God correct their cultural-bound beliefs, or work through them, as God has always worked with imperfect people? 

Richard Middleton joins Jim for the second part of this episode to talk about biblical inspiration from the perspective of a bible scholar, and the episode features clips from a previous episode with Philip Yancey. 

This is the first of a three part mini-series.

Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Vesper Tapes, courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc.

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

Maybe you’ve noticed that we humans are the only creatures making podcasts. That’s at least partially because we’re the only creatures that have developed the tools to make it happen—microphones and compressors, computers and word processors. But technology encompasses a lot more than just machines with microchips. In this episode we explore our use of technology starting with the simplest tools up to the recent advances in artificial intelligence to see what role it has had in our development and in our identity as a member of the human species. 

In this new Language of God mini series—Uniquely Unique—Jim is joined by our producer Colin for a deep dive into these questions and more. The quest? To try to come to a better understanding of what it means to be human, to bear the image of God. Along the way, you’ll hear from a variety of experts from a wide range of disciplines, drawing on biology, history, anthropology, philosophy, theology and more to try to make sense of our human identity.

The quote from Rosalind Picard was from episode 65: Rosalind Picard | Flourishing in the Age of Computers The quote from Amy Crouch was from episode 70: Amy & Andy Crouch | Finding the Off Switch

Check our new animated video series including a video exploring what it means to be human. 

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

Humans and animals have a lot in common, especially when you look only to biology. When you start looking at things like morality, language, and culture, you start to see that our species is quite an outlier. But to what extent do we see the building blocks of morality in other animals? And what is different about the way we communicate from the way so many other creatures communicate? And what is so special about the culture we have developed? Those are the questions we explore with our guests. 

In this new Language of God mini series—Uniquely Unique—Jim is joined by our producer Colin for a deep dive into these questions and more. The quest? To try to come to a better understanding of what it means to be human, to bear the image of God. Along the way, you’ll hear from a variety of experts from a wide range of disciplines, drawing on biology, history, anthropology, philosophy, theology and more to try to make sense of our human identity.

Check our new animated video series including a video exploring what it means to be human. 

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

When looking for the thing that makes humans unique on this planet, looking at our biology is an obvious first step. In this episode four experts—an anatomist, a geneticist, a paleo-anthropologist and a neuroscientist—help us look for something about us, in our bodies, cells, or brains, that make us what we are. In the search we end up finding as much continuity with the animal world as we find uniqueness. 

In this new Language of God mini series — Uniquely Unique — Jim is joined by our producer Colin for a deep dive into these questions and more. The quest? To try to come to a better understanding of what it means to be human, to bear the image of God. Along the way, you’ll hear from a variety of experts from a wide range of disciplines, drawing on biology, history, anthropology, philosophy, theology and more to try to make sense of our human identity.

Check our new animated video series including a video exploring what it means to be human. 

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

Humans share 98.6 of their DNA with chimpanzees. Other animals also have the capacity for language, technology, and possibly even morality. And our own bodies consist of more non-human cells than human cells. These similarities invite us to wonder, are humans really all that different from other species? Are we just one species among many or are the things which distinguish us from other species differences of another order? In other words, are we uniquely unique? 

In this new Language of God mini series—Uniquely Unique—Jim Stump is joined by our producer Colin for a deep dive into these questions and more. The quest? To try to come to a better understanding of what it means to be human, to bear the image of God. Along the way, you’ll hear from a variety of experts from a wide range of disciplines, drawing on biology, history, anthropology, philosophy, theology and more to try to make sense of our human identity.

Check our new animated video series including a video exploring what it means to be human. 

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

Jane Goodall’s name has become almost synonymous with the study of and care for chimpanzees over the course of her work which now spans 6 decades. Jane is also this year’s winner of the Templeton Prize, an honor she shares with people like Mother Teresa, Desmond Tutu, Billy Graham, the Dalai Lama, and Francis Collins. She is also the founder of several initiatives, TACARE and Roots & Shoots, aimed at helping developing communities and young people build sustainable communities in 68 countries. Jane joins Francis and our host Jim to talk about her life’s work, the importance of hope in conservation, and the spiritual side of human existence. Jane and Francis may use different language to speak about their spirituality, but throughout their friendship they have found they share a lot of views about the greater significance of all life on earth and their roles in protecting and promoting the flourishing of that life.

Learn more about the Jane Goodall Institute at their website.

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

Before we can understand the interactions of science, religion, philosophy we must first know what each is. In their new book, Biology, Religion and Philosophy: An Introduction, our guests Dennis Venema—an evolutionary biologist—and Michael Peterson—a philosopher—work to define these disciplines before diving into the ways in which they inform each other, support each other, and ultimately help us to understand the world we live in and to better know God, the creator and sustainer of all things. 

You can buy Michael and Dennis's new book here.

Read Evolution Basics articles by Dennis Venema on our website.

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

Throughout his journey as a Christian and a psychologist, Justin Barrett has often lamented the widespread separation between his faith and his work. As a result, much of his recent work is aimed at bringing the two together so that each can enrich the other. He is now founder and president of Blueprint 1543, a new organization aimed at integrating faith with the human sciences. Justin joins Jim to discuss Blueprint 1543 and what it means to be human in light of the truths of Christian faith and evolutionary psychology.

Check out Justin’s new book, Thriving With Stone Age Minds: Evolutionary Psychology, Christian Faith, and the Quest for Human Flourishing, here.

Find out more about Justin’s new organization, Blueprint 1543, on their website.

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

Elaine Howard Ecklund is a sociologist who has devoted her career to understanding the attitudes and perceptions that scientists and religious people have toward each other. What she has found does not always match what would be expected. We talk about some of what she has learned over her years of research on this topic and talk about her new book, Why Science and Faith Need Each Other: Eight Shared Values The Move Us Beyond Fear. 

This episode originally aired September 24, 2020.

Check out Elaine Howard Ecklund's website.

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

Fossils open a window deep into the history of the earth. Through that window we learn about how whales evolved from four-legged creatures to the aquatic animals we know today, we learn about our own species and where we came from, and we learn more about God who made it all. Language of God producer Colin Hoogerwerf journeys into the world of fossils alongside paleontologist Ryan Bebej to explore some of these stories. Guest geologist and paleontologist Ralph Stearley introduces us to some of the early Christians who helped figure out what fossils really are, and biological anthropologist Cara Wall-Scheffer joins to talk about what fossils can teach us about what it means to be human.

This episode originally aired September 12, 2019.

Find Ryan Bebej’s personal story here.

See photos from our visit to Calvin’s fossil collection at our website. 

Find a conversation about this episode at the BioLogos Forum.

Humans have long been captivated by life outside of our planet. While mainstream speculation about aliens is usually confined to the fictitious worlds of Hollywood films, respected scientists have also made sophisticated arguments for their existence. To sort through these claims, as well as recent news of unidentified aerial phenomena, we turned to an expert in the field. 

Our guest today, Stephen Freeland, has been exposed to a wide range of academic science—he went from studying zoology to computer science to genetics before settling into a career as an astrobiologist. He talks with Jim about what astrobiology is, the rich benefits of a multidisciplinary approach to the subject, and his take on the possibility of life, intelligent or otherwise, beyond our planet.

Read more about recent speculations and an upcoming government report here.

Find Avi Loeb and Amir Siraj’s now famous claims about an interstellar object here.

Check out the article on phosphine in Venus published in Nature.

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

Special guest-host Francis Collins discusses the children's mental health epidemic with Jonathan Haidt. Haidt has been studying the causes of the high rates of depression and suicide in children for many years and has found that social media is at the root of the worsening trends. But he doesn’t just have causes in mind. He also has solutions. In this discussion--and in his new book, The Anxious Generation--he proposes solutions to be put into place in the home, in schools, and by governments. He also calls out faith communities, understanding that they can lead the way in reversing the trend of declining mental health of children.

Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Magnetize Music, courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc. 

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

In this conversation with acclaimed Stanford neuroscientist Dr. Bill Newsome, we hear about his journey to becoming a neuroscientist, how hundreds of millions of neurons enable the fantastic emergence of a unified visual world, and how free will might operate in relation to the seemingly infinite causal chains which bring us all to this moment. Along the way, Dr. Newsome shares his own experiences with science and faith and why biological explanations should not be seen as weapons beating back the claims of Christianity. 

Read Bill’s article, “Life of science, life of faith”, here

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

The roaring current of stubborn partisan standoffs challenges us to cement ourselves in our views; dialogue erodes as we ditch the public conversation to wrap ourselves in the self-affirming comfort of our isolated belief nooks. Among the most well-acquainted with this phenomenon is On Being host Krista Tippett, who worked as a journalist and diplomat in Cold War Berlin. But she sees something else as well: a hunger for honest conversation. In this episode, Jim talks with Krista about how her work attempts to feed that desire—and where science and faith live in that discussion.

Explore the Better Conversations Guide.

This episode originally aired on August 29, 2019

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

Proponents of intelligent design and evolutionary creation have some different ideas about the relationship of science and faith, and relations between BioLogos and the Discovery Institute have not always been easy. But there is some common ground. We explore some of that common ground in this episode while also discussing the philosophical differences between the positions. Stephen Meyer is a leading advocate for intelligent design and is the Director for the Center for Science and Culture at the Discovery Institute, and his new book, Return of the God Hypothesis, frames this conversation.

This was meant to be a conversation and not a debate and so the intention was not to stop every time a claim was made that we disagree with. Instead, we made a companion piece to this episode where we point to many resources that do respond to these claims and help to further explain some of the philosophical concepts covered in this conversation.

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

Earth Day has not always been a holiday widely celebrated by the Christian Church. It might have something to do with the fact that many Christians have been told that they can’t be both a Christian and an environmentalist. Sandra Richter was told the same thing, but as she studied to become a professor of Old Testament, she found a rich biblical basis for caring for the earth, and she found that in doing so we are also caring for the widow, the orphan and the oppressed. Drawing from her recent book, Stewards of Eden, she helps to break down the biblical call for stewardship and leaves us with a message of hope and encouragement.

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

Polling data tells us Christians are the most hesitant group in the United States about receiving the COVID-19 vaccines. Yet research on the vaccines show that they are incredibly safe and effective. It’s clear that if we want to get past this pandemic, our Christian community needs a radical reorientation based on sound evidence and an abundance of grace. Offering perspectives rooted in Biblical faith, Dr. Francis Collins and Dr. David Anderson join in conversation about how Christians can bring about the end of the pandemic. Dr. Collins brings a depth of scientific knowledge alongside Dr Anderson’s pastoral wisdom to talk about the vaccine and the hesitancy many people harbor about the vaccines. In doing so, these renowned spiritual leaders lay the groundwork for Christians to build bridges toward healing and change. 

This conversation was originally aired as a livestream video event on April 11, 2021.

Original music in this episode is by Carp.

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

Joel Chopp and Geoff Fulkerson are the editors of a new book called Science and the Doctrine of Creation: The Approaches of Ten Modern Theologians (InterVarsity Press, 2021). In the episode Geoff, Joel and Jim talk about the doctrine of creation itself before taking a look at four of the ten theologians in the book to see how they have influenced the conversations around faith and science. 

Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

Dan Kuebler got his undergraduate degree in English—it was not until his senior year that he joined his first lab and fell in love with biology. He joins Jim on this episode to discuss what fascinated him about science, and how his subsequent career as a biology professor has impacted his faith as a Catholic believer. The conversation covers his experience as a graduate student at University of California Berkeley, later work on science and faith (exemplified by The Evolution Controversy, which Dan co-authored with Thomas Fowler), and the impact all this has on his approach to science and faith education as Dean of the School of Natural and Applied Sciences at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio.

Read the article Dan coauthored with Dennis Venema here.

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With the rollout of several different COVID-19 vaccines and the prominence of anti-vaxx groups, gracious conversations between opposing sides are increasingly difficult to initiate. Yet when our family members and friends voice doubts about a vaccine’s safety or effectiveness, these are the exact conversations needed to bridge that divide. Our two guests on today’s episode, Curtis Chang and David French, offer eminently approachable places to start. Two well-known voices in the conservative Christian arena, Curtis and David are passionate about having informed and empathetic discussions around vaccination. Whether you have doubts about the vaccine or are trying to find common ground where you and your family members or friends can broach these difficult topics, this conversation is a great place to start. 

Curtis Chang is not only a consulting professor in innovation and organization at Duke Divinity School but also founder and head of Consulting Within Reach, a firm which aims to help nonprofits implement best practices to more effectively achieve their goals. David French is a former lawyer and current writer. He was a fellow at the National Review Institute and staff writer for National Review from 2015 to 2019. Currently, he serves as senior editor of The Dispatch. Curtis and David collaborated on a series of videos addressing common concerns Christians have around the vaccine called Christians and the Vaccine. For more on this resource, check the link below. 

Check out the videos mentioned in the episode at Christians and the Vaccine homepage.

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In 2017 Andy Crouch wrote My Tech Wise family, a practical book about how to have a healthy relationship to technology. In that book was a foreword by his daughter Amy, who called herself Test Subject Number 2. Well Amy has gotten a bit older since that book and has written one of her own, an expansion of sorts to My Tech-Wise Family called My Tech-Wise Life. 

My Tech-Wise Life is a book filled with wisdom along with practical tips on how to flourish in a world in which technology often pulls us away from reality. In the episode we talk about the book and dig into the differences between science and technology and the balance between when technology is adding to or taking away from our role as image bearers of God. 

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Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford has seen the effects of how healthcare is provided differently across the population, both in her work and in her own experiences as a patient in the healthcare system. One outcome of the disparities in healthcare—the mistrust of the healthcare system—is now hindering the ability to get vaccinations to many of those who are at risk. We talk about the causes and some possible solutions and look at how some of the same issues play out in the treatment of obesity—the most prevalent chronic disease in the United States.

Learn more about the Black Women's Health Study

Read the article Beyond Tuskegee—Vaccine Distrust and Everyday Racism (in the New England Journal of Medicine)

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Molly Worthen is a historian by training and wrote the book, Apostles of Reason, which explores the history of evangelicalism in America. When she wrote the book about 10 years ago, she approached the topic as an outsider, identifying as an agnostic. Then in 2022, she rather surprisingly found herself getting baptized at the front of a large evangelical Southern Baptist megachurch.

In the conversation she tells the story of her conversion and questions she asked, including questions about miracles, science, and what it means to be intellectually engaged and also believe in the resurrection of Christ. 

This conversation was recorded in front of a live audience at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary on February 21, 2024. 

Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Titan Sound, courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc. 

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The way she sees it, when Lori Banks was in line for spiritual gifts, she was given the aptitude for understanding amino acid structures and figuring out how to manipulate microbial systems. The gift has led her to her work in microbiology and virology and teaching others with the goal of easing the pain and suffering of those who are sick. In the episode she tells the story of her journey and then helps us to understand some of the science behind disease, including the COVID vaccines and why they are safe and effective. 

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There is probably no one who has done more scientific work on the genetics of race than Dr. Joseph L Graves. Dr. Graves has been writing, thinking, and doing research on this topic for almost 30 years. In the midst of a national uprising of anger and frustration at the continued systemic racism in this country and around the world, this conversation probes the scientific reality that there is no genetic basis for race and addresses some common misconceptions as well. 

We split our conversation up into two parts. In this second part of the conversation we dig into the genetic sciences and we talk about some common misconceptions, such as whether race affects athletic abilities and what you can actually find out from genetic ancestry testing. 

Need a refresher on Evolution? Check out Evolution Basics, an introductory series on the BioLogos website.

This episode originally aired on June 25, 2020. 

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There is probably no one who has done more scientific work on the genetics of race than Dr. Joseph L Graves. Dr. Graves has been writing, thinking, and doing research on this topic for almost 30 years. After a year which included a national uprising of anger and frustration at the continued systemic racism in this country and around the world, this conversation probes the scientific reality that there is no genetic basis for race and addresses some common misconceptions as well. 

We split our conversation up into two parts. In this first part Dr. Graves tells the story of his journey through higher education, which was not without hardships. Then, as a precursor to talking about the genetics, we discuss some basics of evolution and what it even means to be a species or a subspecies. 

Need a refresher on Evolution? Check out Evolution Basics, an introductory series on the BioLogos website.

This episode originally aired on June 25, 2020. 

Join a conversation about this episode at the BioLogos Forum.