Science and the Sacred: Applegate, Kathryn
Kathryn Applegate is Program Director at The BioLogos Foundation. She received her PhD in computational cell biology at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif. At Scripps, she developed computer vision software tools for analyzing the cell's infrastructure, the cytoskeleton. You can read more about Applegate here.
Blogs by Applegate
NPR’S Adam and Eve Story
August 10, 2011
The conversation regarding the historicity of Adam and Eve, described so clearly in the cover story of the June issue of Christianity Today, continues in an unlikely place—at National Public Radio. If you haven’t already heard it, you’ll want to listen to this story.Comments (40)
Coming Soon to San Diego: Let Newton Be!
April 19, 2011
Isaac Newton is famous for his work on universal gravitation, optics, and calculus (much to many college students’ dismay!), but he actually wrote more about theology and alchemy than about science. The play highlights his obsessive quest for scientific and theological understanding and gives insight into three stages of his life.Comments (0)
Dueling Scientists and the Tree of Life: Analyzing the ID Response
March 14, 2011
Last week I came across a blog post by Intelligent Design leader Bill Dembski, provocatively titled Craig Venter denies common descent — Dawkins incredulous. Now J. Craig Venter is a world leader in genomics; if he denied common descent, it would be a huge deal in the scientific community. Surprised by the headline, I clicked over to read the story.Comments (28)
How Evolutionary Science Reveals God’s Character
November 3, 2010
In this video “Conversation,” BioLogos Program Director Kathryn Applegate points to evolutionary science as a way to gain a richer understanding of the glory of God. Scientists become fairly comfortable with a certain level of uncertainty within scientific data, notes Applegate, but that is not the case for most people. Uncertainty—especially where faith is concerned—can be scary for people who want a black and white answer.Comments (104)
The Valley of Vision
October 17, 2010
Many mornings I begin my devotional time by meditating on a selection from The Valley of Vision, a small book of prayers collected by Arthur Bennett. One of my favorites is the introductory piece by Bennett himself, which like the book takes its title from Isaiah 22:1. The prayer centers on the many paradoxes of the Christian faith.Comments (6)
Sin in the Church
September 12, 2010
We often talk about what’s holding her back from giving the control of her life over to Christ. One of the biggest barriers is the blatant sinfulness of self-professing Christians, which can be alarming and hard to understand for unbelievers. It’s all too easy to find Christians doing or saying very un-Christ-like things, often in the name of God or his Word.Comments (40)
Bacterial Flagellum: Assembly vs. Evolution
September 9, 2010
Last time, I described how the bacterial flagellum spontaneously assembles in an orderly way, without the help of a conscious agent. I didn’t intend to suggest that ID advocates argue otherwise, but I did say that they often write about assembly in unclear and misleading ways. Today I want to justify this assertion with some examples.Comments (443)
Thoughts on Unity and Integrity
August 29, 2010
“Love is something more stern and splendid than mere kindness,” wrote C.S. Lewis in The Problem of Pain. He went on, “Kindness, merely as such, cares not whether its object becomes good or bad, provided only that it escapes suffering.” God, the very source of love, isn’t merely kind to us—he is zealous for the purity and integrity of his people.Comments (10)
Self-Assembly of the Bacterial Flagellum: No Intelligence Required
August 19, 2010
Despite the strong appearance of special design, most scientists, myself included, believe the evidence points to a gradual development for the bacterial flagellum. We’ll delve into some of that evidence in future posts. First, however, I want to explain how flagella are assembled in bacteria. This amazing process gives me such delight in our Father’s world; I hope it does for you as well.Comments (78)
Bacterial Flagellum: Appearances Can be Deceiving
July 29, 2010
For many decades, the exquisite structure and function of the bacterial flagellum was unappreciated outside the scientific community. We can thank ID leader Michael Behe for changing that. His 1996 book Darwin’s Black Box introduced the world to the flagellum and at the same time exalted it an impassable obstacle to Darwin’s theory of evolution.Comments (142)
Behe’s B-Cell Bravado, Part 3: Failure to Engage the Evidence
July 7, 2010
Many non-scientists are unaware of the importance or extent of “the scientific literature.” In the geeky world of science, success doesn’t depend on social prowess or earning power (thankfully!), but on one’s publication record. It’s hard to get published—to do so means making a significant contribution to the field, as judged by a panel of anonymous reviewers.Comments (388)
Behe’s B Cell Bravado, Part 2: Why Irreducible Complexity Fails
June 29, 2010
Legions of scientists have rejected this argument. Why? Is it because they are godless atheists who deny the existence of an intelligent Creator? No. Some of Behe’s strongest critics are deeply committed Christians. These scientists simply see overwhelming evidence that irreducibly complex structures and systems have developed gradually through natural, evolutionary processes.Comments (122)
New FAQ on Chance and God’s Sovereignty
June 17, 2010
What happens when you ask a Reformed mathematician and a Wesleyan theologian to write a joint statement on the compatibility of chance and God’s sovereignty? The odds might seem low, but if you’re lucky like us, you’ll get a thoughtful response like our newly-posted answer to the Question: Does the presence of chance in natural processes conflict with belief in God’s sovereignty?Comments (9)
Behe’s B Cell Bravado, Part 1
June 11, 2010
Dr. Behe shouldn’t be taken to task, of course, for not covering a discovery that happened after he wrote his book. But the transposon hypothesis had actually been a serious contender since the late 1970s, and he should have at least explained it and said why he didn’t find it convincing.Comments (73)
Evolution and Immunity: Same Story?
May 28, 2010
I’ve had ample opportunity this week to reflect on God’s goodness in providing me a working immune system; I’m nearing the end (hopefully) of a bad cold. Normally I would bewail the havoc caused by the virus itself, but after writing my last post on how antibody diversity is generated, I have become increasingly grateful for this life-protecting process.Comments (16)
Adaptive Immunity: How Randomness Comes to the Rescue
May 13, 2010
Adaptive immune responses come in two types: antibody responses and cell-mediated responses. Each type is executed by a different kind of white blood cell, or lymphocyte. [...] Here we will focus on how antibodies are made within B cells, as their production requires randomness at multiple levels.Comments (19)
Understanding Randomness
April 30, 2010
Christians often equate randomness with an atheistic worldview, but randomness is an essential feature of many God-ordained biological processes, from the union of egg and sperm during reproduction to the generation of antibodies by the immune system. In fact, based on its prevalence in the natural world, one might conclude that randomness is one of God’s favorite mechanisms for creating life!Comments (80)
That’s Random! A Look at Viral Self-Assembly
April 8, 2010
Despite this usage, most of us know that randomness has something to do with probability, and that it often implies a lack of conscious intentionality. But what do mathematicians and scientists mean when they say something is random? Can a random process lead to an ordered, even predictable outcome? Is there evidence that God makes use of random processes to fulfill his creative purposes?Comments (20)
The Church Must Not Ignore the Evidence
March 27, 2010
In this video conversation, Kathryn Applegate, biologist and BioLogos program director of website development, discusses the implications for the church if we ignore scientific developments.Comments (38)
The Bog on the Mountaintop
March 25, 2010
In many ways, I think the Evangelical community’s approach to science is like a bog on a mountaintop. For the most part, Christian theology is solid and trustworthy. Our traditional interpretations of the Bible have been carefully worked out and refined by theologians over hundreds of years. But there are weak spots in our understanding, and how many believers relate to evolutionary science is one of them.Comments (69)
Jennifer Wiseman on “Science as an Instrument of Worship”
February 7, 2010
In most evangelical churches today, God receives regular praise for his work in Creation. We ascribe the grandeur of the night sky or the majesty of mountains to God’s handiwork, and rightly so. But how often are recent scientific discoveries used to stir us up to worship, and to what extent do they inform our theology and stewardship?Comments (36)
God’s Sovereignty and Nature’s Freedom
October 6, 2009
Genetic switches that act during development to produce a newborn baby seem, like Michael Behe's mouse trap, irreducibly complex. As Darrel Falk pointed out recently, however, irreducibly complex switches also drive the proliferation of bacteria and viruses which kill millions of people each year. Christians must wrestle with a difficult question: is God responsible for designing these killing machines?Comments (0)