When faced with something completely new, how will our theology help us to respond? Willie James Jennings helps us to look back into history at a time when colonialist settlers came into contact with new land and new people and found in their theology a justification to bring order to the world they found. Our theology today is built upon the idea that the hollow places of the earth are filled with treasures for our taking, rather than the idea that the earth is a hallowed place that glorifies G...
May 19, 2022•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast Reading the news these days can make it seem like the world is coming to an end. And reading scientific journals, especially regarding climate, biodiversity loss and other environmental issues, can give a similar feeling. Jonathan Moo is a professor of New Testament and environmental studies and he helps break down how Christians might respond to the bleak picture that is sometimes painted of the world. He helps us to look specifically to the biblical account of end times to understand how to pu...
May 12, 2022•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast There are a range of ways that people have thought about original sin, Adam and Eve, and the spread of sin throughout the world. Scientific knowledge, including the science of human evolution has contributed to that conversation but science has not identified a correct position. Loren Haarsma lays out several different approaches in his book When Did Sin Begin and talks with us in the episode about those approaches and the benefits and theological challenges of each approach. Join a conversation...
May 05, 2022•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast Francis Collins and Phil Vischer sit down to talk about science and faith and the new BioLogos Integrate curriculum. Learn more about BioLogos Integrate . Watch the promo video for Integrate. Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.
Apr 28, 2022•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast With his 1989 book The End of Nature, climate activist Bill McKibben launched the contemporary movement against climate change. In the several decades since its publication, he has continued informing the public about the status of our climate and advocating for necessary mitigation measures. McKibben is also a Christian who sees his activism as a natural result of his ardent faith. In this episode, he discusses how we got to our current situation, including why he thinks many Christians have hi...
Apr 21, 2022•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast For an episode released during Holy Week, it seemed appropriate to have a conversation with the theologian who has written what many consider to be the seminal work on Jesus’ resurrection, The Resurrection of the Son of God. N.T. Wright is a New Testament scholar of high regard and we talk to him about the resurrection: this miraculous, earth shattering event which changed the course of history. We also hear a bit about how he came to be a theologian and writer who has split his time between aca...
Apr 14, 2022•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode, Jim Stump is joined by Tim Mackie, one of the founders of BibleProject. Tim’s transformation from West Coast skateboarder, to Bible student, to video producer may seem surprising, but his unorthodox journey to faith has given him a unique perspective and passion for the Bible. Tim discusses the history of the Bible, explores the context in which it was written, and demonstrates what it looks like to bring the Bible into relevance for people today. Tim Mackie is a writer and crea...
Apr 07, 2022•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast Makoto Fujimura is a world-renowned artist often counted among the preeminent figures in the “slow art” movement. Yet Fujimura also has a deep connection to the sciences: he double majored in animal behavior and art during his undergraduate degree at Bucknell University and his father Osamu Fujimura was an influential speech scientist. In this live episode recorded at the 2022 BioLogos Faith & Science Conference, Fujimura reminisces on the roles of art, faith, and science in his childhood; discu...
Mar 31, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Transcript available on Metacast The problem of evil has confounded people of faith as far back as Job. And the knowledge of the world that has been brought about by science has not made it any easier to answer the question of why a good and powerful God would let bad things happen. Tish Harrison Warren confronts the problem of evil in her book, Prayer in the Night. In the book she asks the question, how can we trust God at all when we can’t trust that God will keep bad things from happening to us? In the episode, we talk about...
Mar 17, 2022•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our best scientific models make it clear that society needs a big change at a global scale in order to limit irreversible damage—what good can individual actions and attitudes do in the face of this immense problem? Today’s guest, Debra Rienstra, argues that the right relationship with the Earth can actually make all the difference and that new worlds of hope are built in hidden refuges amidst the surrounding devastation. Genuine lament and grief help reorient us toward the beauty and majesty of...
Mar 10, 2022•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast Leslie Wickman first witnessed the expanse and majesty of creation through a telescope as a young child on one of those rare cloudless nights in the Pacific Northwest. She never could have guessed that it would lead her to working on parts of the Hubble telescope, training in space simulations and becoming designated as a corporate astronaut. In the episode, Leslie talks about her path through her many scientific endeavors and the development of her understanding of faith in relation to that sci...
Mar 03, 2022•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast A common refrain at BioLogos is “you don’t have to choose,” and usually it is in the context of the Bible and science. Esau McCaulley, assistant professor of New Testament at Wheaton College, was presented with a different choice, one between the Bible and racial justice. But this too is a false dichotomy. The Bible is a good place to turn in times of confusion or questioning, but whether it is science or issues of injustice, it is important that a reading of the Bible be informed by the perspec...
Feb 24, 2022•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast In Dr. Joseph Graves’ recent book, Racism, Not Race: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions, he and his co-author build a case that our concept of biological races was brought about because of the racism that was a part of the fabric of our lives, not the other way around, as is often assumed. In a previous series of episodes, Dr Graves helped us to understand the nuances of why race is not a biological concept. In this episode, we build on that, talking about institutional racism, the myth that ...
Feb 17, 2022•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast On his return to the podcast, Bishop Claude Alexander talks with Jim about his new book, Required: God’s Call to Justice, Mercy, and Humility to Overcome Racial Division. Co-authored by Bishop Claude and Mac Pierre, the book explores what the Bible calls us to do in the face of racial injustice. While Protestantism often prefers to emphasize the importance of grace in being saved rather than works, the authors make a strong, Biblically centered case for how we as Christians should love our broke...
Feb 10, 2022•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Regina McCurdy loved science as a child and also took her faith really seriously, which eventually led to a conflict. But when she was eventually told by a pastor that she didn’t have to choose between science and faith, her world opened up. Now she spends her days teaching teachers how to teach science. In the episode we hear her story and then talk about some different aspects of science teaching including the importance of bringing empathy into the classroom and the role race and ethnicity pl...
Feb 03, 2022•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast 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. I...
Jan 27, 2022•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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. I...
Jan 20, 2022•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 T...
Jan 13, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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...
Dec 16, 2021•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 Fa...
Dec 09, 2021•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 dedicati...
Dec 02, 2021•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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....
Nov 25, 2021•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 conv...
Nov 18, 2021•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 clima...
Nov 11, 2021•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast 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...
Nov 04, 2021•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 scienc...
Oct 28, 2021•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 th...
Oct 21, 2021•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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...
Oct 14, 2021•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 
