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<strong>Series:</strong> Understanding Randomness

Series: Understanding Randomness

In this series, Kathryn Applegate addresses the concern that randomness implies the absence of God's activity and involvement in the natural world. She begins by clearing up some common misconceptions about the concept of "randomness", and later focuses on the mechanisms of the immune system to demonstrate that God works through random processes to preserve life. Far from being an indication of a "godless" universe, one might conclude that randomness is one of God’s favorite mechanisms for creating and sustaining life!
Mar 23, 2013 
Kathryn Applegate 
Divine Action & Purpose, Randomness, Evolution - How It Works
<strong>Series:</strong> God and Creation

Series: God and Creation

In this four part series, David Opderbeck explores the interesting relationship between God and his creation. He first looks at his transcendence over the material world. In one respect, God is completely distinct from all creation, yet he is also immanent, or present within all creation. Another aspect of God reflected in creation is his Triune nature. Just as love, fellowship, and delight exist within the Trinity, so these characteristics are present in the world, and experienced by humans. He completes his thoughts with a discussion about God’s interaction with humans.
Mar 01, 2013 
David Opderbeck 
Divine Action & Purpose, Human Origins
<strong>Series:</strong> Science and the Bible: Intelligent Design

Series: Science and the Bible: Intelligent Design

In this series, Ted Davis identifies the history, core tenets and assumptions about the Intelligent Design view.
Dec 18, 2012 
Ted Davis 
Design, ID Movement
<strong>Series:</strong> Genesis Through Ancient Eyes

Series: Genesis Through Ancient Eyes

In this talk, originally delivered at the BioLogos President's Circle meeting in October 2012, Dr. John Walton discusses the origin stories of Genesis 1-3, and why their focus on function and archetypes mean there is no Biblical narrative of material origins.
Oct 18, 2012 
John Walton 
Creation & Origins, Genesis, Ancient Cultures
Did David Hume

Did David Hume "Banish" Miracles?

“I flatter myself,” Hume triumphantly proclaimed, “that I have discovered an argument . . . which, if just, will, with the wise and learned, be an everlasting check to all kinds of superstitious delusion, and consequently, will be useful as long as the world endures.”
Sep 05, 2012 
Rick Kennedy 
Divine Action & Purpose, Miracles
22
<strong>Series:</strong> Divine Action in the World

Series: Divine Action in the World

In this talk, Professor Plantinga addresses the fact that many contemporary thinkers—including many theologians—believe that God cannot perform miracles, providentially guide history, or interact in the lives of people, as these activities would be contrary to science. Plantinga, on the other hand, makes the case that this popular view is mistaken; excluding divine action in the world is not a central feature of natural science itself, but a philosophical or theological preference that has been added on to science (and can just as readily be removed). Plantinga concludes that it is completely logical to accept the miracles of the Bible and support contemporary science.
Sep 04, 2012 
Alvin Plantinga 
Divine Action & Purpose, Miracles, Atheism & Scientism
The Randomness Project

The Randomness Project

It is not uncommon to hear voices proclaiming that biology and physics have shown us that—at fundamental levels—nature is random, hence meaningless, purposeless, and without a creator. But how might God work providentially through indeterminate processes? The John Templeton Foundation has provided a generous grant of $1.69 million to support a new research initiative on the theme of Randomness and Divine providence.
Aug 31, 2012 
James Bradley 
Divine Action & Purpose, Randomness
6
<strong>Series:</strong> Asa Gray and Charles Darwin Discuss Evolution and Design

Series: Asa Gray and Charles Darwin Discuss Evolution and Design

Many Christians believe that they face a painful choice-- either life was designed by God or it is an evolutionary product of natural selection. Charles Darwin himself believed in this dichotomy, and people ever since have felt the need to "choose sides". However, looking back at history, we find that one of Darwin's chief scientific colleagues, Asa Gray, did not share this perspective. In this three-part essay, part 1 charts the relationship of Asa Gray and Charles Darwin. Part 2 describes Darwin's struggle with the problem of natural evil and design in nature, and part 3 explores how Asa Gray was able to embrace evolution without rejecting the idea of design.
Aug 04, 2012 
Sara Joan Miles 
Design, Problem of Evil, ID Movement
Randomness and Evolution: Is There Room for God? (Videocast)

Randomness and Evolution: Is There Room for God? (Videocast)

This BioLogos videocast addresses the idea of randomness as a part of natural selection, and whether it challenges the possibility of God using the evolutionary process as a means of creation.
Jun 15, 2012 
Joy Walters 
Divine Action & Purpose, Randomness
10
Fine-tuning and the “Fruitful Universe”

Fine-tuning and the “Fruitful Universe”

I ask the question, “Why is the universe so special?” Now scientists don’t like things to be special; we like things to be general, and our natural anticipation would have been that the universe is just a common specimen of what a universe might be like.
Jun 01, 2012 
John Polkinghorne 
Design, Astronomy & Physics, ID Movement
15
<strong>Series:</strong> The God Who Acts: Robert John Russell on Divine Intervention and Divine Action

Series: The God Who Acts: Robert John Russell on Divine Intervention and Divine Action

Does God need to supernaturally "intervene" in order to bring about the diversity of life that we observe today? Is that kind of action different from God’s ordinary action? We begin our three-part series with Robert John Russell’s description of how views of divine action have changed throughout history, excerpted from his book Cosmology: From Alpha to Omega. Part 2 addresses why “intervention” in the natural world is a problem philosophically, theologically, and scientifically; and Part 3 explains Russell’s own theory of divine action in the natural world.
May 25, 2012 
Robert John Russell, Thomas Burnett 
Divine Action & Purpose, Miracles
<strong>Series:</strong> Randomness and God’s Governance

Series: Randomness and God’s Governance

In this three-part series from Pruim’s chapter in the book Delight in Creation: Scientists Share Their Work with the Church, mathematician Randall Pruim explains what scientists and mathematicians mean when they speak of something being “random”. He also addresses God's use of apparent randomness in creation as a part of his sovereign rule.
May 21, 2012 
Randall Pruim 
Divine Action & Purpose, Randomness
Caution! Design Arguments Ahead

Caution! Design Arguments Ahead

Design arguments have been around forever and expressed in various ways. Most of them fall into what we call natural theology, which is the process of inferring something about the existence and nature of God by the inspection of nature.
May 15, 2012 
Karl Giberson 
Design, Astronomy & Physics
11
Chance Creation

Chance Creation

It should not be surprising that John Cage asked the stuff he used to make paintings to take part in the process—to contribute its own identity to the intentional, purposeful, and determined work of creating “based on chance.”
May 13, 2012 
Mark Sprinkle 
Divine Action & Purpose, Randomness
0
A BioLogos Response to William Dembski, Part 1

A BioLogos Response to William Dembski, Part 1

We think that God created all living organisms, including humans, through the evolutionary process. But acceptance of creation through evolution does not mean that we reject the notion of a miracle-working God. On the contrary...
May 02, 2012 
Darrel Falk 
Divine Action & Purpose, Miracles, BioLogos
5
Understanding Evolution: The Evolutionary Origins of Irreducible Complexity, Part 1

Understanding Evolution: The Evolutionary Origins of Irreducible Complexity, Part 1

I will take some time to clarify exactly how Michael Behe, the biochemist and Intelligent Design (ID) proponent who has most extensively developed the "irreducible complexity" argument, uses the term.
Apr 19, 2012 
Dennis Venema 
Design, ID Movement
13
Revealing God's Nature

Revealing God's Nature

In today's video, Brian McLaren discusses the value of considering Scripture in light of the cultures that surrounded them. The Biblical writers were aware of the myths of the power nations that surrounded them, but flipped their stories on their heads to reveal truth about God.
Jan 18, 2012 
Brian McLaren 
Biblical Interpretation, Ancient Cultures, Genesis
2
Beginning with the End in Mind

Beginning with the End in Mind

In today's video, Oxford physicist Ard Louis discusses the famous debate between renowned evolutionary biologists Stephen Jay Gould and Simon Conway Morris over the idea of evolutionary convergence.
Dec 15, 2011 
Ard Louis 
Design, Evolution - How It Works, Randomness, Fossils
32
Seeing the Flood Story Through an Ancient Israelite Lens

Seeing the Flood Story Through an Ancient Israelite Lens

Pete Shaw highlights the story of Noah to explore how the story would have been understood in ancient times and from there he goes on to explore how we might consider it today.
Nov 12, 2011 
Pete Shaw 
Biblical Interpretation, Sermons, The Flood, Ancient Cultures
2
Evolution: Is God Just Playing Dice?

Evolution: Is God Just Playing Dice?

With his standard panache, the late Harvard paleontologist Stephen J. Gould argued strenuously that evolution had no inherent directionality. We are mere accidents; a "tiny twig on an improbable branch of a contingent limb on a fortunate tree".
Oct 11, 2011 
Matt J. Rossano 
Divine Action & Purpose, Evolution - How It Works, Randomness, Atheism & Scientism
154
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