A reflection on what it means to cultivate joy even if you don't feel very merry. Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Titan Sound, Vesper Tapes and Glory House, courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc. Renditions of In the Bleak Midwinter and Happy Xmas by Jim Stump. The short clip from COP29 is the voice of Juan Carlos Gomez, Panama’s special representative for climate change.
Jim and Colin report on location from Baku, Azerbaijan where they are attending COP29, the United Nations Climate Change conference. In this bonus episode, they briefly describe what COP29 is, why they are there, share a few stories of their own experiences so far and a few clips from interviews gathered from people from around the world. Resources: Christian Climate Observers Programs Bringing Hope and Prayer to COP29 (Article)...
Hope has sometimes been made out to be something we possess, something we hold like a shield to protect us from pain. But Norman wants to recast hope as something we do, and most importantly, as something that is animated by love. He talks through some of the different textures of hope to bring out more of its richness so that it might better form us through times of crisis. Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Simon Stevens courtesy of Shutterstoc...
Hans Madueme is a Young-Earth Creationist. In this conversation, the goal was not to come to an agreement about the age of the earth but instead to understand one another better, find common ground, and explore the points of disagreement with curiosity and friendliness. Hans explains his views of where the Bible has a clear message and where he sees the limits of science in explaining things that contradict those messages. Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this...
After many years working at the very top levels of science and medicine, pursuing knowledge that would lead to better and healthier lives for so many people, Francis Collins started to see an erosion of trust in science, as well as across social and political landscapes. That led him to start wondering about what leads people to trust—in facts, in ideas, in institutions—and to wonder about the nature of truth itself. His new book, A Road to Wisdom: Truth, Science, Faith, and Trust is the result....
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...
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 ...
We look to present times to see how extinctions are actually happening and what we know about them and we explore the work of biological conservation to protect species. Then we return to the question of how to feel about extinction, comparing modern day and historical extinctions and adding a few more layers to the question. This is episode two 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 re...
Extinction is a familiar idea for almost everyone, but it wasn’t long ago that no one would have thought a species could go out of existence. We explore this history of the human understanding of extinction, and then we go much further back in history, to explore how extinction has played a role in the development of life over hundreds of millions of years leading to our world today. This is the first episode in a three-part series. About the series: Extinction might seem to be a pretty simple i...
The story of evolution is often centered around genes and randomness. More and more, scientists are finding that culture is also a driver of evolution. When we explore how humans have both emerged from an evolutionary process and contribute to it, we begin to understand ourselves differently. This new understanding will ultimately lead us to a deeper relationship with God. In this episode, we follow researchers who set out to explore four different ways in which culture and evolution interact an...
When the wind is just right, on a small beach in Titusville, Florida, horseshoe crabs crawl out of the water and onto the beach to lay their eggs. Jim and Colin joined up with two marine biologists—Bob Sluka who works with A Rocha, a Christian conservation organization and Margaret Miller, a coral biologist who works with SECORE International—and three A Rocha interns to survey the horseshoe crabs. That experience began an exploration into paying attention to many of the creatures that surround ...
The climate crisis often leads people to feelings of grief, despair, and fear. With the of help faith leaders, climate activists, artists and teachers from around the world we explore some of the emotions that result from an awareness of the climate crisis. And consider how naming and accepting the grief and sorrow that many people are feeling can also be a path toward hope. Featured guests: Heather McTeer Toney, Marinel Ubaldo, Madeleine Jubilee Saito, Dr. Malinda Berry, Hannah Malcolm, Robynn ...
The church has had a complicated relationship with mental health. Research shows that 1 in 5 adults experience mental illness in a given year and yet 66% of pastors talk about mental health in sermons only once a year or less. In the episode we break down what exactly mental illness and mental health are, what is happening in the brain, and how the church can respond in ways that help us all to be healthier individuals and begin to build a more understanding, empathetic and healthy community. Th...
Camille Dungy is a poet, and it is with a poet’s close attention that she reflects on the interactions between humans and the greater-than-human world. In the conversation, Camille talks about how she came to her connection to the greater-than-human world, about the need to include family and home in nature writing and about the definition of a weed and how good cultivation often requires hands-on management. She ends by reading a poem from her collection, Trophic Cascade. Theme song and credits...
Francis Collins and Kizzmekia Corbett-Helaire are both renowned scientists and both of them played special and important roles during the pandemic. In this conversation, the two of them remember some of the key moments in the scientific development of the COVID vaccine and talk about the many years of scientific work that prepared the way. They also discuss how their faith plays a role in their motivation for doing science and Kizzmekia talks about the challenges of running a science lab at Harv...
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 t...
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 t...
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 t...
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. H...
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 miracl...
A bonus clip from an interview with Steven McMullen for our series The Gift of Food.
A bonus clip from an interview with Aminah Al-Attas Bradford for our series The Gift of Food.
A bonus clip from an interview with Derrick Weston for our series The Gift of Food.
A bonus clip from an interview with Shauna Niequist for our series The Gift of Food.
In the last episode of the series we ask several related questions: How does the idea of food as a gift fit with the fact that food is also an economic commodity? How does food play into issues of justice? And how can food, instead of dividing us, bring us together? Finally, we end by discussing what all this means about how we should eat. When we eat with love as our guiding principle, it may not always be simple, but it may be more delicious. This is the last episode of a five part mini-series...
As creatures that must eat to live, human life is dependent on taking the lives of other creatures. In this episode, we explore ethics, science, and theology behind taking the lives of animals who become our food. In the process, we meet some of the animals and some of the people who raise them. We end up with at least as many questions as when we started and yet we also find a richer appreciation for the ways in which we are connected to other creatures through eating. This is part four of a fi...
Taste is a sense that sometimes gets overshadowed by sight and sound, but it has played a crucial role in the development of our species. Some expert guides help us understand what is happening in our brains when we eat. We also talk about food and cooking and the roles they have played in making humans what we are today. This is part three of a five part mini-series. Learn more about the series and find related resources at biologos.org/the-gift-of-food . Theme song and credits music by Breakma...
The idea of food as a gift is one that comes to us frequently in scripture. In this episode we look to the Bible and see if we can better understand God’s intended relationship to food. Beginning with the Old Testament, we explore how ancient Israelites might have thought about food. In the New Testament we see Jesus continually gathering around a table and feeding people, and even many of his miracles were food related. And at the last supper, food takes on even more significance as the element...
Food is a great connector. It can connect us to the ground and the soil that produces food, to the plants and animals that turn into food, and to one another. It also has the possibility of connecting us better to God. In part one of the series we talk about some of these connections, eventually leading us to the idea that food is a gift. In the rest of the series we’ll consider what that might mean about how we eat, what we eat, and how gathering around a table, whether it’s a communion table o...
Talking about any hard topic—science and faith included—requires first recognizing the person on the other end of the conversation. That’s what David Brooks set out to do and is the result of his most recent book, How to Know a Person, The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen. He draws on neuroscience in order to understand how to see and be seen by others, but ultimately this is a habit that must be formed by practice and it is one that will help us all to have better conversations...
