The BioLogos Forum: Denis Alexander

Denis Alexander is the Director of the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion at St. Edmund’s College, Cambridge, to which he was elected a Fellow in 1998. Alexander writes, lectures, and broadcasts widely in the field of science and religion. He is a member of the International Society for Science and Religion. You can read more about Alexander here.

Series by Alexander

Made in the Image of God: The Theological Implications of Human Genomics (2 Parts)

This series by Denis Alexander reflects on the advancements in genomics since the tenth anniversary of the Human Genome project as well as on the implications of these discoveries for theological questions concerning the image of God. He focuses on the relatedness of hominin genomes, arguing that this does not interfere with the image of God in humans. The image of God depends more on the capacity for relationship and covenant, not on a list of particular physical qualities. He then discusses why the recent studies of genomics provide “no grounds for genetic determinism.”

Models for Relating Adam and Eve with Contemporary Anthropology (5 Parts)

Denis Alexander begins this five part series by discussing both what a model is and whether it is appropriate to use one when building a bridge between scientific truths and theological truths. Providing evolutionary facts about the origins of humans as well as discussing the origin and meaning of Adam in Genesis, he constructs what he calls a Retelling model and a Homo divinus model. Both approaches, he concludes, “suggest that human evolution per se is irrelevant to the theological understanding of humankind made in the image of God.”

A Response to Coyne, Macdonald, Ruse, and Wilkinson (2 Parts)

This brief series addresses a few key points in response to critiques of a previous paper written by Denis Alexander, which presented two possible understandings of Adam in the Genesis account. In the first part, he discusses Coyne’s use of “intemperate language,” the differences between the science-religion debate in the UK and the US, and the method of hermeneutics he uses to interpret the Genesis story. In the latter section, he focuses primarily on the Retelling and the Homo divinus model put forth in his previous paper, clarifying and refining them.

Posts by Alexander

Beware Evolutionary ‘Just-so’ Stories About Religious Belief

January 8, 2011

As an evolutionary biologist I am fascinated by the emergence of that suite of cognitive abilities that make us so distinctive from other living species. There are, however, risks in making up evolutionary "just-so" stories to explain the origins of complex human beliefs, such as religious ones.
Comments (12)

Denis Alexander on Restoring a Traditional Creation Theology

December 30, 2010

In this video, Denis Alexander discusses the need to restore a traditional creation theology to the discussion of science and faith. One way to do this, argues Alexander, is to discourage investing evolution with an atheistic narrative, and instead allow it to do the job it is meant to fulfill: to explain the origins of biological diversity.
Comments (17)

What Does it Mean to Have “Common Ancestry”?

November 17, 2010

In this brief video “Conversation” Denis Alexander, director of the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, explains the definition of common ancestry. Common ancestry does not mean that we are descended from apes, rather, it means that we last shared a common ancestor with them roughly 6 million years ago. While apes have been evolving their way since that time, so too have humans.
Comments (174)

Biology and Ideology – From Descartes to Dawkins

September 3, 2010

Ever since modern science emerged in the 16th and 17th centuries it has been used and abused for purposes that lie well beyond science. Biology has been particularly susceptible to ideological manipulation and application, a trend that shows no sign of abating.
Comments (76)

Darwin: The Father of Modern Racism?

August 25, 2010

Last week, popular television commentator Glenn Beck referred to Charles Darwin as "the father of modern-day racism." Certainly, Beck's sentiments are nothing new; links between Darwin and racism, as well as to eugenics and other destructive ideologies, are mentioned constantly by opponents to the modern theory of evolution. But are these links valid?
Comments (92)

Understanding Genesis and the Fall

January 30, 2010

In this video clip, Denis Alexander, Director of the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, discusses the description of the Fall found in Genesis. Alexander suggests that the picture we might have of the story owes more to the imaginative expansion of the narrative as found in Milton’s Paradise Lost than what is actually present in the biblical text itself.
Comments (3)

Essays by Alexander

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