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Endless Forms Most Beautiful, Part 1

Endless Forms Most Beautiful, Part 1

How could we make progress on questions involving the evolution of form without a scientific understanding of how form is generated in the first place? [By the 1970s] population genetics had succeeded in establishing the principle that evolution is due to changes in genes, but this was a principle without an example. No gene that affected the form and evolution of any animal had been characterized. New insights in evolution would require breakthroughs in embryology.
Jun 18, 2013 
Sean Carroll 
History of Life
9
<strong>Series:</strong> Evolution Basics

Series: Evolution Basics

Written by BioLogos Fellow of Biology Dennis Venema, this series of posts is intended as a basic introduction to the science of evolution for non-specialists.
May 30, 2013 
Dennis Venema 
Genetics, History of Life, Evolution - How It Works, Evolution - Evidence
Multiple Lines of Evidence for an Old Universe

Multiple Lines of Evidence for an Old Universe

Astronomers have many different methods for measuring the age of various objects in the universe, and they all support ages of billions of years, not thousands. Even if the assumptions of one or two methods were faulty, it is highly unlikely that all of the methods would be affected.
Apr 26, 2013 
Deborah Haarsma, Haarsma, Loren 
Earth, Universe & Time, Astronomy & Physics
20
<strong>Series:</strong> Biological Evolution: What Makes it Good Science?

Series: Biological Evolution: What Makes it Good Science?

Is the contemporary theory of evolution an example of good science? Biologist Michael Buratovich explore this question in a well-researched two part essay.
Apr 16, 2013 
Michael Buratovich 
History of Life, Genetics
Searching for Motivated Belief: Introducing John Polkinghorne

Searching for Motivated Belief: Introducing John Polkinghorne

Several times in my series of columns about “Science and the Bible,” I briefly discussed a few ideas from John Polkinghorne, one of the leading Christian thinkers of our time. Although I presented him mainly as a representative of the “Theistic Evolution” (TE) view, much of his published work is about other topics, several of them largely or entirely unrelated to TE. It’s time we got better acquainted with him.
Feb 28, 2013 
Ted Davis 
Lives of Faith, Astronomy & Physics
1
Where are the Transitional Fossils?

Where are the Transitional Fossils?

A common argument leveled against the theory of evolution is that scientists have not been able to produce transitional fossils that show the change of one species into another. In this podcast, we address a common misconception about what transitional fossils actually are.
Feb 01, 2013 
Kelsey Luoma 
History of Life, Evolution - Evidence, Fossils
163
Oxygen and Co-Creation

Oxygen and Co-Creation

In the mid-seventeenth century, John Mayow conducted a series of experiments in which he showed that burning candles in bell jars consumed one-fifth of the enclosed air before extinguishing. Remarkably, mice placed in bell jars did exactly the same thing...
Oct 13, 2012 
Mike Tice 
History of Life
79
<strong>Series:</strong> Recent Discoveries in Astronomy

Series: Recent Discoveries in Astronomy

In this excerpt from the book Delight in Creation: Scientists Share Their Work with the Church, astronomer Deborah Haarsma shares her excitement about recent findings about our universe from a Christian perspective.
Sep 21, 2012 
Deborah Haarsma 
Earth, Universe & Time, Astronomy & Physics
Death and Rebirth: The Role of Extinction in Evolution

Death and Rebirth: The Role of Extinction in Evolution

When they imagine evolution, many Christians picture novelty: new species arising over time, or speciation events. But as the most recent Southern Baptist Voices exchange makes clear, many Christians also focus on the role of death in evolution—something that can be a stumbling block.
Aug 14, 2012 
Dennis Venema 
History of Life, Evolution - How It Works
16
What evidence do we have for evolution besides fossils and genes?

What evidence do we have for evolution besides fossils and genes?

Scientists have found multiple lines of evidence for evolution, not just one or two. These types of evidence are independent of each other, coming from sources as different as ancient fossils and modern genetics labs. Evidence also comes from comparing the anatomy of creatures living today. All creatures with four limbs (whether mammals, birds, or reptiles) have the same bone structure in each limb, pointing to their descent from a common ancestor. More evidence comes from biogeography. Isolated islands are missing common species found on the mainland, but are filled with many unique species that can be related by a common ancestor. Finally, evidence comes from embryonic development. As an embryo of a mammal grows, its heart develops through stages similar to fish, amphibians, and reptiles. God’s creation declares the history of life in many different ways. All these ways are pointing to a consistent picture of God creating through evolution.
Jul 13, 2012 
 
History of Life, Evolution - Evidence
The Fossil Record

The Fossil Record

There are two opposite errors which need to be countered about the fossil record: 1) that it is so incomplete as to be of no value in interpreting patterns and trends in the history of life, and 2) that it is so good that we should expect a relatively complete record of the details of evolutionary transitions within all or most lineages.
Jul 13, 2012 
Keith Miller 
History of Life, Fossils, Evolution - Evidence
8
What is the Higgs Boson?

What is the Higgs Boson?

At a press conference on July 4, 2012, and with 99.99994% confidence (5 sigma), CERN announced the discovery of a particle consistent with that of a Higgs boson (a.k.a. “the God particle”). This is very exciting for elementary particle physicists. But what is the Higgs particle, and what is its meaning?
Jul 11, 2012 
Gerald Cleaver 
Earth, Universe & Time, Astronomy & Physics
20
Naming 'the God Particle'

Naming 'the God Particle'

The discovery of the Higgs boson would certainly be a breakthrough for particle physics and cosmology, but would such a finding also radically redefine theology’s understanding of God or challenge the existence of such a deity? Is there actually any theological or religious significance in Higgs physics at all?
Jul 10, 2012 
Faith Tucker 
Earth, Universe & Time, Atheism & Scientism, Astronomy & Physics
25
The Transit of Venus

The Transit of Venus

Today we have a chance to witness a special moment in history as Venus transits across the disk of the Sun for people across the world to see. Not only is this process of discovery exciting for natural science, but it has profound theological ramifications as well.
Jun 05, 2012 
Faith Tucker 
Earth, Universe & Time, Astronomy & Physics
8
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 Wonder of the Universe

Series: The Wonder of the Universe

BioLogos is pleased to share excerpts from Karl Giberson’s book The Wonder of the Universe: Hints of God in a Fine-Tuned World. It presents a two-part argument: in the first section Giberson outlines the history of our understanding of the universe, emphasizing the reliability of our knowledge of its properties and its history. In particular he outlines the remarkable evidence of design. In part two of the book, however, he discusses the complexities of drawing inferences from the design of the universe, cautioning against arguments that fine-tuning of the universe proves the existence of God.
May 15, 2012 
Karl Giberson 
Worship & Arts, Earth, Universe & Time, Design, Astronomy & Physics
Scientists Tell Their Stories: Owen Gingerich

Scientists Tell Their Stories: Owen Gingerich

When it came time to go to graduate school, one of Owen Gingerich's science professors told him “If you feel a calling to go to astronomy, you should give it a try, because we shouldn’t let atheists take over any particular field.”
May 06, 2012 
Owen Gingerich 
Science as Christian Calling, Astronomy & Physics
0
<strong>Series:</strong> Universe and Multiverse

Series: Universe and Multiverse

Baylor University Physicist Gerald Cleaver describes the changing state of our understanding of the cosmos and suggests ways that Christians can make theological sense of a theoretical Multiverse.
Apr 23, 2012 
Gerald Cleaver 
Earth, Universe & Time, Astronomy & Physics
Understanding Evolution: Theory, Prediction and Converging Lines of Evidence, Part 1

Understanding Evolution: Theory, Prediction and Converging Lines of Evidence, Part 1

In science, we don’t really know the true way things actually work. What we have are theories—broad explanatory frameworks supported by experimentation, which we can use to make testable predictions about the natural world.
Apr 05, 2012 
Dennis Venema 
History of Life, Evolution - How It Works, Evolution - Evidence
59
<strong>Series:</strong> Science as an Instrument of Worship

Series: Science as an Instrument of Worship

In this brief series (taken from a 2009 paper), Jennifer Wiseman uses an excerpt from the famous hymn “How Great Thou Art,” to explain why the study of God’s creation can lead Christ’s followers into meaningful worship and overcome the obstacles which impede true praise. Creation as encountered through our senses is pondered by our minds, which flows into wonder-filled songs from the soul. She further explains how knowledge of creation will help Christians to address the moral dilemmas of science, and she encourages all to see the process of scientific inquiry as a means to discover God’s truth.
Mar 19, 2012 
Jennifer Wiseman 
Worship & Arts, Science as Christian Calling, Astronomy & Physics, Creation Care
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