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...
Oct 07, 2021•59 min
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 clima...
Sep 30, 2021•59 min
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...
Sep 23, 2021•55 min
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 genealo...
Sep 16, 2021•54 min
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 Nica...
Sep 09, 2021•59 min
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...
Aug 26, 2021•38 min
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...
Aug 19, 2021•36 min
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 a...
Aug 12, 2021•40 min
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....
Aug 05, 2021•38 min
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 ...
Jul 29, 2021•43 min
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 min...
Jul 22, 2021•41 min
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. J...
Jul 15, 2021•1 hr 11 min
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....
Jul 08, 2021•56 min
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...
Jul 01, 2021•59 min
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 Elai...
Jun 24, 2021•50 min
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 t...
Jun 17, 2021•46 min
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 com...
Jun 10, 2021•56 min
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 t...
May 27, 2021•58 min
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 wo...
May 13, 2021•53 min
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 t...
May 06, 2021•1 hr 10 min
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 ...
Apr 22, 2021•50 min
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 brin...
Apr 15, 2021•55 min
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....
Apr 08, 2021•52 min
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 ...
Apr 01, 2021•52 min
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 Chri...
Mar 18, 2021•1 hr 3 min
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 ...
Mar 11, 2021•59 min
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 p...
Mar 04, 2021•50 min
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 th...
Feb 25, 2021•54 min
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...
Feb 18, 2021•40 min
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 con...
Feb 11, 2021•42 min
