Leading Figures

The BioLogos position on origins sits partway between two fundamentalisms: on the “left” end of the spectrum is the fundamentalism of people like Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett who are committed to the belief that the only reliable form of knowledge comes from science, and that alternate ways of knowing must be either rejected entirely or completely subordinated to science. On the “right” end of the spectrum is the fundamentalism of those who insist that reliable knowledge can only be found in an ultraliteral interpretation of the Bible, and that alternate ways of knowing must be completely subordinated to this way of reading the Bible.

BioLogos takes both the Bible and science seriously and believes that since God authored both, they must complement each other and be in harmony. We reject the two fundamentalisms mentioned above. Science is not the only way of knowing, but an ultraliteral interpretation of the Bible must also be rejected. To understand how BioLogos relates to other positions “in play” in our cultural conversation on origins, we have created the following categorical scheme into which most participants can be readily placed.

We have produced labels for the groups that help to show how they span the range of possible viewpoints. Our labels indicate what we think are the critical and defining characteristics of the group, rather than the name that the group has chosen for itself.

Young Earth Creationists

Young earth creationists believe that a “natural” or “plain” reading of the English text of the Bible provides a completely accurate account of science. Any scientific ideas incompatible with this – no matter how well-established – must be rejected. BioLogos rejects this position because it denies the revelation of God in nature and the gift of science.

Carl Baugh

Carl Baugh is the founder and director of the Creation Evidence Museum in Glen Rose, Texas. He hosts a weekly television show titled “Creation in the 21st Century,” which presents scientific evidence for creation.
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Ken Ham

Ken Ham leads the nation’s largest young earth creationist organization, Answers in Genesis. He is a popular speaker and author of numerous books about the accuracy and authority of the Bible and the consequences of evolutionary thinking.
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Kent Hovind

Kent Hovind, also known as “Dr. Dino”, is a young-earth creationist and founder of Creation Science Evangelism (CSE). He has been a frequent critic of evolutionary theory, which he contends is neither scriptural nor scientific.
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Henry M. Morris

Henry M. Morris is considered the father of the modern creation science movement. Morris was a staunch young earth creationist and supported the belief that the world’s creation occurred over a literal six days.
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Paul A. Nelson

Paul A. Nelson is a philosopher of biology specializing in evolutionary developmental biology and is an advocate of young earth creationism.
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Kurt Wise

Kurt Wise is a theology and science professor. He has published more than 30 articles supporting young earth creationism and has been a scientific consultant to the Answers in Genesis Creation Museum in Kentucky.
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Strong Concordists

Strong concordists, of which old-earth creationists are the best example, believe that God placed modern scientific ideas in the Bible, sometimes using secret language that could not be understood by the original audience and even the actual writers of the texts. BioLogos rejects this viewpoint because we believe that God worked within the worldview, culture and language of the Biblical authors and since they would not have known, for example, about heliocentricity or the Big Bang, we do not think that God encoded those ideas in the scripture.

Hugh Ross

Hugh Ross heads the leading Old Earth Creationist organization Reasons to Believe. He promotes the use of scientific research as a means of supporting and reinforcing the accuracy of the Bible.
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Gerald Schroeder

Gerald Schroeder is a scientist, author and lecturer who holds a doctorate in earth sciences and physics. He focuses on what he calls the extraordinary confluence of modern science and ancient biblical commentary.
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Intelligent Design

Intelligent design (ID) proponents believe that much of modern science is wrong and must be rejected because of its naturalism. The term Intelligent Design, although appropriated by these science critics, is used in many ways and is embraced by the first 5 groups on this list. ID proponents highlight mysteries within science, arguing that science will never explain mysteries like what caused the Big Bang, or how life originated. They then argue that we must use non-scientific explanations like “Intelligent Design.” Favorite topics include the Cambrian explosion, complex structures, and the origin of biological information. BioLogos rejects such “god of the gaps” reasoning.

Michael Behe

Michael Behe is a biochemist, intelligent design advocate and a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture. Behe originated the argument of irreducible complexity.
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William A. Dembski

William A. Dembski is one of the leading figures in the intelligent design movement and a leading proponent of the idea of “irreducible complexity” as proof of intelligent design in nature.
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Phillip E. Johnson

Phillip E. Johnson is considered the father of the intelligent design movement. He first coined the term “intelligent design” as it is understood today in his 1991 book, Darwin on Trial.
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Stephen C. Meyer

Stephen C. Meyer is director and senior fellow of the Center for Science and Culture at the Discovery Institute. Meyer has promoted intelligent design and debated the movement’s critics on television and other public forums.
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BioLogos

BioLogos takes both the Bible and science seriously, and seeks a harmony between them that respects the truth of each. By using appropriate biblical and theological scholarship BioLogos believes that the apparent conflicts that lead some to reject science and others to reject the Bible can be avoided.

Denis Alexander

Denis Alexander is the Director of the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, a member of the National Committee of Christians in Science, and has been Editor of the journal "Science & Christian Belief" since 1992.
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John D. Barrow

John D. Barrow, FRS, is Professor of Mathematical Sciences at Cambridge University, Director of the Millennium Mathematics Project, and a recipient of the Templeton Prize.
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Simon Conway-Morris

Simon Conway Morris has held the Chair in Evolutionary Palaeobiology in the Earth Sciences Department in Cambridge University since 1995. He is a noted author and lecturer, a Fellow of the Royal Society, and a Templeton Fellow.
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Ted Davis

Ted Davis is Distinguished Professor of the History of Science at Messiah College in Grantham, Pennsylvania, and author of numerous articles for historical and theological journals.
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The Rev. Rodney Holder

The Rev. Rodney Holder is Course Director of the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion and was formerly Priest in Charge of the Parish of the Claydons, Diocese of Oxford.
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Howard Van Till

Howard Van Till is emeritus professor of physics and astronomy at Calvin College in Michigan and author of The Fourth Day: What the Bible and the Heavens Are Telling Us About the Creation.
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Timothy Keller

Timothy Keller is pastor and founder of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, New York, and author of the book "The Reason for God."
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Denis Lamoureux

Denis O. Lamoureux is an associate professor of science and religion at St. Joseph's College in the University of Alberta and author of the books Evolutionary Creation and I Love Jesus and I Accept Evolution.
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Ernest Lucas

Ernest Lucas is Vice-Principal and Tutor in Biblical Studies at Bristol Baptist College and author of the books "Can We Believe Genesis Today?" and "Think God, Think Science".
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Alister McGrath

Alister McGrath is Chair of Theology, Ministry, and Education at King's College, London, and serves as the academic leader of the Centre for Theology, Religion, and Culture.
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Kenneth Miller

Kenneth R. Miller is a cell biologist, Professor of Biology at Brown University and a frequent public defender of the compatibility of evolution and Christianity.
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The Rev. Sir John Polkinghorne

The Reverend Sir John Polkinghorne KBE FRS worked in theoretical elementary particle physics for 25 years before he was ordained. After some years in parish life, he returned to Cambridge and has written many books on issues in science and theology.
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Jeffrey Schloss

Jeffrey Schloss is Distinguished Professor of Biology and Director of the Center for Faith, Ethics, and the Life Sciences at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California and a noted writer and lecturer on topics of science and religion.
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Liberal Christians

Liberal Christians encompasses a diversity of thinkers who have reinterpreted many of the traditional Christian ideas in ways that sometimes disconnect them from their history. Some in this category attach little to no significance to belief in the authority of the Bible, the divinity of Christ, or the reality of miracles. Others have simply found ways to interpret those beliefs that may not be entirely appealing to evangelicals. BioLogos is more firmly rooted in the Bible than most that hold this position.

Ian Barbour

Ian Barbour is a physicist, theologian and winner of the 1999 Templeton Prize. Barbour's many books and articles have compared methods of inquiry in science-and-religion and have explored the theological implications of modern science.
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Francisco Ayala

Francisco Ayala is a philosopher, biologist, a former Dominican priest, and a popular author and lecturer on the compatibility of science and religion.
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Phil Hefner

Phil Hefner is a systematic theologian whose work focuses on the interaction of religion and science. Hefner developed the influential theory that humans are “created co-creators” to describe the religious implications of evolution.
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The Rev. Canon Arthur Peacock

The Rev. Canon Arthur Peacocke was a British theologian and biochemist. Peacocke was a self-described “panentheist,” meaning he believed God exists and penetrates every part of nature and everything beyond.
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Non-religious Accommodationists

Non-religious accommodationists do not necessarily have conventional religious beliefs of their own but do believe that personal religious beliefs—variations of Christianity in particular— are compatible with belief in scientific explanations of origins.

Stephen Jay Gould

Stephen Jay Gould was a prominent American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist and historian of science. He put forward the idea of science and religion as non-overlapping magisteria.
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Michael Shermer

Michael Shermer is a science writer and historian of science, founder of The Skeptics Society, and editor- in-chief and founding publisher of Skeptic magazine.
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Ron Numbers

Ronald Numbers is the Hilldale Professor of the History of Science and Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of several books on the history of science and religion in America.
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Michael Ruse

Michael Ruse is a philosopher of biology well known for his works on the creationism and evolution debate. He considers himself agnostic but takes the position that it is possible to reconcile Christian religion with evolutionary theory.
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Eugenie Scott

Eugenie Scott, a former professor, is executive director of National Center for Science Education (NCSE). She has been a researcher and an activist in the creation-evolution controversy for more than 25 years.
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Anti-religious Non-accommodationists

Anti-religious non-accommodationists believe that religious and scientific beliefs compete with each other in such a way that only one can be true, which they believe is science. An important part of their agenda is to show that there are scientific explanations for religious phenomena.