Language of God

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. Dr. Graves is the author of The Emperor’s New Clothes and The Race Myth. Need a refresher on Evolution? Check out Evolution Basics, an introductory series on the BioLogos website. Hear Dr. Graves on the Science Vs podcast episode on race. Find a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos forum.

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 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. Dr. Graves is the author of The Emperor’s New Clothes and The Race Myth. Need a refresher on Evolution? Check out Evolution Basics, an introductory series on the BioLogos website. Hear Dr. Graves on the Science Vs podcast episode on race. Find a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos forum.

Dr. Lynette Strickland tells some of her own stories that highlight the ways that science as a discipline can benefit from increased diversity and inclusion. 

We find ourselves three months into a global pandemic, and one week into a movement of nationwide protests in response to the death of George Floyd. For this episode Jim Stump, vice president of BioLogos and host of the podcast, and Deb Haarsma, president of BioLogos, take a moment to talk about where we are, where the church and science can fit in, and how the work of BioLogos might have a role in moving forward. The Prayer episode mentioned in this episode is Episode 8 and can be found in the Language of God podcast feed.  Deb’s story about the doctor who prayed with his patient and family can be found here.  Check out reopeningthechurch.com for resources and information on how to resume in person worship. Join a conversation about this episode at the BioLogos Forum. Register for the 2024 Science and Faith Conference, April 17 - 19 | Raleigh, NC

Leading evangelical thinker Tim Keller joins Francis Collins, who heads our country’s biomedical research, in a conversation that includes updates on the latest COVID-19 research, a discussion on the value of human life and what it means to care for the most vulnerable among us, where God is during a pandemic, and much more. Check out the livestream video!NIH Director’s Blog ArticleFrancis Collins Templeton Prize AnnouncementTim Keller articles at BioLogosFrancis Collins articles at BioLogos Thanks to the sponsors who made this conversation possible: Vijay and Susan Aggarwal | Don Ammerman | Barbara Bryant | Greg and Antje Campbell | Deborah and Loren Haarsma | Jason Jones | Josh and Jane Kwan | Alan and Cindy Marty | Phillip and Shauna Schneider | ServingLynk, Inc. | The BioLogos Board of Directors Join a conversation on the BioLogos Forum.

In the episode, Jim talks with Bishop Claude Alexander about his growing up in the south with parents esteemed in the medical field--his mother was the first black psychiatrist in Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas and his father was family practitioner who was assigned to Martin Luther King, Jr. whenever he was in Mississippi--and about the role of science in racial reconciliation in America today. Claude provides some pastoral and poignant notes of hope at the end of the episode. Bishop Claude Alexander is the senior pastor for The Park Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. Join a conversation about this episode at the BioLogos Forum.

We were made in the image of God, but what does that really mean? Whom does that apply to? What does that call us to? The Bible is very central to understanding the answers to these questions, as is cultural context. In this episode, biblical worldview professor, Richard Middleton joins Jim Stump in an attempt to answer some of the questions about human identity through both of those lenses. Richard Middleton is Professor of Biblical Worldview and Exegesis at Northeastern Seminary (Rochester, NY). He is adjunct professor of Old Testament at the Caribbean Graduate School of Theology (Kingston, Jamaica). From 2011-2014, he served as president of the Canadian Evangelical Theological Association. Richard is the author of A New Heaven and a New Earth: Reclaiming Biblical Eschatology and The Liberating Image: The Imago Dei in Genesis 1. If you want to hear more from Richard, you can find the articles he’s written for our website here. Find a conversation about this episode at the Biologos Forum.

Many of us find rest and comfort in having good health, secure jobs, and a vibrant community. Of course we do. But what happens when that is taken away, like it was for Job? Some of us, while stuck in our homes during the coronavirus pandemic, may have started to ask some questions about the way the world works and how God could let this kind of a thing happen. Well, we’re not the first to ask those questions and the book of Job is about someone doing just that.  John Walton is an Old Testament scholar and he leads us through the book of Job with an eye toward our current situation. Walton walks through three elements of the story of Job that might help us today: rest (our ability to rise above tumultuous circumstances), peace (freedom from our feelings of fear), and coherence (finding order among confusion). The episode was recorded digitally with a live audience and so we were also able to take questions from the audience, which you’ll hear throughout.  Walton’s Lecture Series on Job  A list of Walton’s many books Walton’s Resources from Biologos Join a conversation about this episode at the BioLogos Forum. Register for the 2024 Science and Faith Conference, April 17 - 19 | Raleigh, NC (John Walton is a speaker!)

Water is mysterious. It is cleansing, it is dangerous, and it is life-giving. In our everyday life we can tend to overlook just how fascinating and important water is. Water is interesting both scientifically and biblically, so it’s only fitting that we explore it. And in this episode we do just that. Because this is a complex topic, we asked several experts to join us in this episode. You’ll hear from Kent Frens, Jenni Brandon, Sandra Postel, and Ben McFarland who each talk about water through their areas of expertise. Check out Applied Ocean Sciences. Here’s some fun Ocean Facts. Join a conversation about this episode on the Biologos Forum.

When Brian McLaren got a call from his editor asking if he’d like to travel to the Galapagos Islands and write about it it took all of a few seconds to agree. The book he wrote is called the Galapagos Islands: A Spiritual Journey. In this episode Jim Stump talks to him about the book and about a theology that is informed by wild places and the scientific knowledge that helps us understand those places.  Brian McLaren is an author, speaker, activist, and public theologian. He is a former English professor and pastor, he is an advocate for “a new kind of Christianity”. His most recent projects include an illustrated children’s book called Cory and the Seventh Story and The Galapagos Islands: A Spiritual Journey. Want to hear more from Brian? Find more resources here. Join a conversation about this episode at the BioLogos Forum.

With an overwhelming amount of news about the coronavirus coming out daily, we thought it would be best to go all the way to the top, with updates on the coronavirus from the Director of the National Institutes of Health, Francis Collins. Francis Collins is also the founder of BioLogos and a committed Christian. In this conversation with Jim Stump, he answers questions from listeners about the current scientific knowledge of the virus and talks about how he views the pandemic through the lens of his own faith.  This conversation originally aired as a live video conversation. You can watch that version here. Find the NIH Director’s blog here. Join a conversation about this episode at the BioLogos Forum.

The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is central to our identities as Christians. We believe that Christ died for our sins and that he will come again one day. But we live in the times of social distancing, with Easter services that will happen remotely, with Easter hymns sung in our living rooms instead of in chapels. In this special episode, Jim reflects on what the resurrection—along with the suffering and death that precede it—means in this time of uncertainty and fear, in this time of coronavirus. Find more coronavirus related content from BioLogos here. Join a conversation about this episode at the BioLogos Forum.

In this episode, Jim Stump is joined by author, speaker, and professor Sean McDowell. They talk about how apologetics has changed from his father’s original work a generation ago and how to reach those leaving the church today. But their conversation centers around the science of evolution and whether Christians should accept it. They don’t necessarily see eye to eye on this topic, so what follows is a hearty discussion about where those disagreements come from. Sean McDowell is an Associate Professor in the Christian Apologetics program at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University. He speaks at churches, universities and conferences throughout the United States and abroad. He is the co-host for his own podcast, Think Biblically, and has authored numerous books. Original music in this episode is from Carp. Join a conversation about this episode at the BioLogos Forum.

It’s not every day that we come face to face with science in such a drastic way as we have with the coronavirus, sweeping through our communities and upending our routines. Many of us feel a great deal of anxiety and worry and we want to respond to some of that by reaching into the science with three interviews from scientists in the fields of microbiology, biochemistry, and infectious disease, all of them speaking from the Christian perspective.  Ben McFarland teaches biochemistry and chemistry at Seattle Pacific University in Seattle, Washington. Stephen Schaffner is a senior staff scientist and computational biologist at the broad Institute of Harvard and MIT and a visiting scientist at the Harvard Chan school of public health. Praveen Sethupathy is an Associate Professor of Biomedical Sciences and Director of the Center for Genomics at Cornell University Find Ben McFarland's moving article on the coronavirus here. Check out Ben McFarland's Youtube Channel here. Find conversations about this episode or other topics on science and faith including the coronavirus on the BioLogos Forum.

Katharine Hayhoe is a climate scientist. And she’s a Christian. You may have noticed that climate change is not a topic that is often brought into the church because it often seems to divide people more than bring them together. But Katharine wants to change that. Her science doesn’t come in spite of her faith but because of it. She sits down with Jim Stump to talk specifically about some of the common misconceptions about climate change, the science of how we know about past climate changes, and the effects we see in the world today. She ends with some practical solutions and a call for rational hope.  Katharine Hayhoe is the Political Science Endowed Professor in Public Policy and Public Law in the Department of Political Science, a director of the Climate Center, and an associate in the Public Health program of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Texas Tech University. She and her husband wrote A Climate for Change: Global Warming Facts for Faith-Based Decisions, a book that untangles the complex science and tackles many long-held misconceptions about global warming. Her TED talk titled “the most important thing you can do to fight climate change: talk about it” has been viewed over 2.5 million times. Find Katharine on Twitter for any follow-up Recommended Resources: Climate CaretakersClimate StewardsThe Evangelical Environmental NetworkGlobal Weirding with Katharine HayhoeLIT Consulting for energy auditsProject DrawdownWorld Evangelical Alliance Clean Energy InitiativeYoung Evangelicals for Climate Action Find a conversation about this episode at the BioLogos Forum.