Scholarly Essays
Below is a collection of articles by leading scholars and pastors. Written primarily by individuals who accept the BioLogos perspective, these essays provide trustworthy and authoritative information about the science and faith conversation. Essays written by scholars who do not accept the BioLogos perspective — and who may not even be Christians — are equally reliable because they are written by experts on the specific subject.
Readers are welcome to use this royalty-free material with attribution to The BioLogos Foundation. Please note, papers are listed in alphabetical order by author's last name.
How Does a BioLogos model need to address the theological issues associated with an Adam who was not the sole genetic progenitor of humankind?
By Denis Alexander
December 2010
Science and Religion scholar Denis Alexander presents two models for relating Adam and Eve with the findings of contemporary anthropology. This essay was presented at the November 2010 Theology of Celebration Workshop
Related topics: BioLogos | Adam |Design in Nature
By Oliver R. Barclay
March 2011
In this paper, adapted from an article from Science & Christian Belief, Dr. Oliver R. Barclay compares and contrasts the biblical view of design in nature with modern design arguments that draw on contemporary science.
Related topics: Intelligent Design |Intelligent Design, Thomas Aquinas, and the Ubiquity of Final Causes
By Francis Beckwith
May 2010
In this paper, Baylor philosophy professor and jurisprudence scholar Francis Beckwith distinguishes between Intelligent Design (ID) and Thomistic Design (TD) as well as offers an example of how atheist critics of final and formal causes in nature implicitly rely on those causes.
Related topics: Theology | Intelligent Design |What Scientists Do
By Steven Benner
April 2010
In this scholarly essay, Steve Benner, a Distinguished Fellow of The Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution in Gainesville, Fla., looks at what the role of a scientist should be. Benner looks specifically at "falsifiability", the acceptance of uncertainty, and the place of the scientist in public discourse.
Related topics: Philosophy of Science |Recovering the Doctrine of Creation: A Theological View of Science
By Robert C. Bishop
January 2011
Philosopher and physicist Robert Bishop highlights the elements of the Biblical doctrine of creation, which he describes as "perhaps one of the most helpful pieces of theology for thinking about science", and why the doctrine needs to be recovered from narrower, contemporary interpretations of creation.
Related topics: Genesis | Science and the Church | Theology |Why Dembski’s Design Inference Doesn’t Work
By James Bradley
December 2010
Mathematics professor James Bradley looks at the design argument presented in William Dembski's book The Design Inference and offers his criticisms on the accuracy of the model.
Related topics: Intelligent Design |Understanding Adam
By Pete Enns
March 2010
In this paper, Pete Enns looks at from a unique angle to some: Adam is the beginning of Israel, not humanity. He follows through with how this line of thinking affects our reading of the Genesis account.
Related topics: Adam |Evangelicals, Evolution and the Bible: Moving Toward a Synthesis
By Pete Enns
March 2010
Why are the numerous interpretive issues related to the Apostle Paul’s view of Adam important, exactly? Why invest so much time in trying to understand Genesis as the ancient Israelites would have, or in reading Paul in a non-literal way? In a new essay, Enns argues that Christians must engage in these activities, because ignoring the scientific and archeological evidence for evolution is not an option for believers in the twenty-first century.
Related topics: Science and the Church |Preliminary Observations on an Incarnational Model of Scripture: Its Viability and Usefulness
By Pete Enns
May 2010
From the author: "One such theological model is called an incarnational model. Simply put, this is the idea that the Bible is no more a book dropped out of the sky than Jesus is some superman who flew down from heaven. Instead, just as Jesus was a human being, the Bible is a book that fully reflects its cultural contexts. Jesus is “God incarnate,” both divine and human. Likewise, the Bible is a book that speaks God’s word but thoroughly reflects the thoughts, ideas, and worldviews of the human authors."
Related topics: Theology |When Was Genesis Written and Why Does it Matter? A Brief Historical Survey
By Pete Enns
December 2010
The question of when Genesis was written is not a new one. It has been a focus of modern biblical scholarship since at the eighteenth century. How modern biblical scholarship has handled this question is not unanimous and has hardly been above criticism. Enns' essay provides a descriptive historical survey of some issues surrounding the question of when the Pentateuch was written and how that question was answered.
Related topics: Biblical History | Genesis |Barriers to Accepting the Possibility of Creation by Means of an Evolutionary Process: III. Concerns of the Typical Agnostic Scientist
By Darrel Falk
November 2009
Falk's paper begins by noting that few, if any, theories in the history of science have ever unified all the disciplines of the natural sciences as has the theory of evolution. He asks evangelical Christians to explore whether they are propping up the layers of a bubble that they—not God—have put in place and there by have artificially isolated themselves from the world of academics. The essay describes five layers that may play a role in unnecessarily blocking entry, or reentry, of agnostic scientists into the realm of evangelicalism. (A white paper from the 2009 November workshop.)
Related topics: Evolutionary Biology | Philosophy of Science |Adventist Origins of Young Earth Creationism
By Karl Giberson
July 2009
Many evangelicals believe that young-earth creationism is the only authentic and Biblical way for Christians to understand origins, and that until the advent of Darwin's theory of evolution, young-earth creationism was the only view held by Christians. However, in this excerpt from his book, Saving Darwin, Karl Giberson explains that young-earth creationism is a relatively new phenomenon that stemmed from the 20th century fundamentalist movement.
Related topics: Young Earth Creationism |Scientific Fundamentalism and its Cultural Impact
By Karl Giberson
November 2009
Giberson's essay makes the case that scientific fundamentalists are not merely arguing for the omnipotent supremacyof science but also presenting science as a quasi-religious replacement. The agenda of the "New Atheists" is not merely to refute mainstream religion but to replace it. Unfortunately, the scientific community is poorly represented by these aggressive public figures.
Related topics: New Atheism | Science and the Culture War |Biblical Creation and Storytelling: Cosmogony, Combat and Covenant
By Brian Godawa
February 2010
The literary conventions employed in Genesis chapter 1 mark it out, not as a scientific document describing material origins, but as a literary polemic against surrounding ancient Near Eastern pagan religions. This interpretation divests the text from any obligation to communicate “accurate science” to the modern reader. Genesis 1 is a theological-political document that has nothing to do with science as the modern reader understands it. Creation language here and elsewhere in Scripture is not about establishing scientific origins of material substance and structure but about covenantal establishment and worldview.
Related topics: Biblical History | Literary Genre |Science and Faith at the Movies: "Contact"
By Brian Godawa
March 2011
This on-going series from filmmaker Brian Godawa looks at how the "moral premise" of story, particularly as presented in movies, can shed light on our own dialogue about the harmony of science and faith. This entry looks at the 1997 science-fiction film Contact, based on the book of the same name by Carl Sagan.
Related topics: Astronomy/Cosmology |Science and Faith at the Movies: "Creation"
By Brian Godawa
March 2011
This on-going series from filmmaker Brian Godawa looks at how the "moral premise" of story, particularly as presented in movies, can shed light on our own dialogue about the harmony of science and faith. This entry looks at the film Creation, a biographical look at Charles Darwin's life and work on Origin of Species.
Related topics: Charles Darwin |Science and Faith at the Movies: "Avatar"
By Brian Godawa
April 2011
This on-going series from filmmaker Brian Godawa looks at how the "moral premise" of story, particularly as presented in movies, can shed light on our own dialogue about the harmony of science and faith. This entry looks at the 2010 science-fiction blockbuster by James Cameron, Avatar, and its messages about faith and the environment.
Related topics: Creation Care |Mesopotamian Cosmic Geography in the Bible
By Brian Godawa
May 2011
Brian Godawa looks at several aspects of ancient cosmography (maps of the universe) that also appear in the Bible, and what these aspects of the text mean for our understanding of the Bible as a scientific text.
Related topics: Biblical History | Young Earth Creationism |Science and Faith at the Movies: "A.I."
By Brian Godawa
June 2011
This on-going series from filmmaker Brian Godawa looks at how the "moral premise" of story, particularly as presented in movies, can shed light on our own dialogue about the harmony of science and faith. This entry looks at A.I., a science fiction film by Stephen Spielberg which looks at the question of what it means to be human.
Related topics: Imago Dei |The Collapsing Universe in the Bible: Literal Science or Poetic Metaphor?
By Brian Godawa
August 2011
In this essay, Godawa argues that the decreation language of a collapsing universe with falling stars and signs in the heavens was actually symbolic discourse about world-changing events and powers related to the end of the old covenant and the coming of the new covenant as God’s “new world order.” In this interpretation, predictions of the collapsing universe were figuratively fulfilled in the historic past of the first century.
Related topics: Literalism | Literary Genre |The How of Creation: Parameters and Nodes for Gracious and Fruitful Dialogue: The Foundations and the Forward Motion of Pilgrims in Unity, Part 1
By Ross Hastings
January 2011
In this paper, the first part of a plenary address delivered at the Vibrant Dance of Science and Faith Symposium in Austin, TX., October 26, 2010, Hastings provides a biblical and theological basis for healthy and fruitful dialogue on the theology and science of origins for pilgrims destined for the same heaven-on-earth celestial city.
Related topics: Science and the Church |Ephesians 4:7-16: Moving the Science/Faith Discussion Forward
By Ross Hastings
April 2011
In this essay, Hastings looks at what may be called “front edge” areas for forward motion in ongoing healthy dialogue in the field of science and Christian theology, areas which are specifically theological in nature. These are important issues around which fruitful dialogue may occur to take the discussion forward.
Related topics: Science and the Church |Engaging Today's Militant Atheist Arguments
By Ian Hutchinson
March 2011
In this paper, taken from our second Theology of Celebration meeting, MIT professor Ian Hutchinson addresses the question of how to engage arguments put forward by the New Atheists by offering a critique of scientism, the assumption that scientific knowledge is all the real knowledge there is.
Related topics: New Atheism |Science and the Question of God
By Randy Isaac
September 2010
Can science provide substantive insight into the question of God’s existence? Isaac's paper examines three schools of thought regarding the possibility of detecting God’s existence through science: Evolutionism, Creationism, and Intelligent Design. He asserts, though without formal proof, that science may not be able to lead us to a clear conclusion regarding the existence of God. In harmony with the revelation of God’s Word, however, science brings us to a deeper and more profound understanding of God and his works.
Related topics: Science and the Church |Barriers to Accepting the Possibility of Creation by Means of an Evolutionary Process: II. Concerns of the Typical Parishoner
By Tim Keller
November 2009
In this paper, Keller considers three main clusters of questions lay people raise when they learn of anyone teaching that biological evolution and biblical orthodoxy can be compatible. Keller offers some ideas on how to provide responses that take these concerns seriously.(A white paper from the 2009 November workshop.) A Japanese translation of the paper can be found here.
Related topics: Science and the Church |The Biblical Creation in its Ancient Near Eastern Context
By Joseph Lam
April 2010
From the author: "When I was asked recently to speak on the story of creation in Genesis 1, [...] it occurred to me that such a task would involve not merely presenting the apparent biblical and extra-biblical parallels, but also providing a way for my audience to understand them in their proper context. In particular, I wanted to articulate a broader framework of biblical composition that takes into account contemporary developments in the historical-critical study of the Bible, while remaining compatible with a Christian view of inspiration."
Related topics: Biblical History | Genesis | Literary Genre |Evolutionary Creation: A Christian Approach to Evolution
By Denis Lamoureux
January 2010
Science-and-religion professor Denis Lamoureux presents the theory of evolutionary creation, which claims that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit created the universe and life through an ordained, sustained, and design-reflecting evolutionary process. The view of origins, says Lamoureux, fully embraces both the religious beliefs of biblical Christianity and the scientific theories of cosmological, geological, and biological evolution.
Related topics: Biblical History | Literary Genre | Science and the Church |Miracles and Science: The Long Shadow of David Hume
By Ard Louis
June 2010
In this paper, physicist Ard Louis, a "Christian scientist who believes in the miracles of the Bible", looks at the implications science has on the acceptance of miracles.
How Does the BioLogos Model Need to Address Concerns Christians Have About the Implications of its Science?
By Ard Louis
January 2011
In this paper, physicist Ard Louis, a "Christian scientist who believes in the miracles of the Bible", looks at the implications science has on the acceptance of miracles.
Related topics: BioLogos | Evolutionary Biology | Science and the Church |The Cambrian 'Explosion', Transitional Forms, and the Tree of Life
By Keith Miller
December 2010
Geologist Keith Miller examines the "Cambrian Explosion", a period of rapid evolutionary diversification approximately 575 million years ago, and whether it poses a challenge to evolutionary theory. It is an updated and extension of Miller and Campbell's 2003 essay “The ‘Cambrian explosion’: A challenge to evolutionary theory?”from the book Perspectives on an Evolving Creation.
Related topics: Fossil Records | Intelligent Design |Human Evolution in Theological Context
By George Murphy
October 2010
In this scholarly paper, physicist, theologian, and minister George Murphy offers a theological look at human evolution and the implications it has for Christianity.
Evangelicals, Creation, and Scripture: An Overview
By Mark Noll
November 2009
Mark Noll, historian and author of The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, enumerates 15 attitudes, assumptions, and convictions he considers to be most influential in inciting anti-intellectual sentiment among evangelical Christians. He also traces the historical background of these ideas and how they continue to affect the relationship between science and faith today. This essay was presented at the November 2009 Theology of Celebration Workshop.
Related topics: Science and the Church |Science, Religion, and A. D. White: Seeking Peace in the 'Warfare Between Science and Theology'
By Mark Noll
August 2010
Mark Noll, historian and author of The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, describes how Andrew Dickson White relentlessly advocated a view of history in which Science and Dogmatic Theology have always been at war with one another. Noll identifies 16 reasons why White’s notion of warfare is mistaken.
Related topics: Science and the Culture War |Come and See: A Christological Invitation for Science
By Mark Noll
August 2011
This sample chapter from Mark Noll's book Jesus Christ and the Life of the Mind, looks at the relationship between science and scripture.
Related topics: Science and the Church |C.S. Lewis on Evolution and Intelligent Design
By Michael L. Peterson
April 2011
This article is a comprehensive study of the views of Christian author and apologist C. S. Lewis on the theory of evolution and the argument from intelligent design. It explains how he would distinguish expressly philosophical arguments for a Transcendent Mind from the current claims of the intelligent design (ID) movement to provide scientific evidence for such a reality. It also expounds Lewis’s important distinction between evolution as a highly confirmed scientific theory and evolution as co-opted by naturalistic philosophy.
Related topics: BioLogos | Intelligent Design | Theology |Accommodationist and Proud of It
By Michael Ruse
April 2010
Science and religion scholar Michael Ruse gives a personal account of his experiences as an author and public speaker on the compatibility of Christianity and biological evolution.
Related topics: Accommodationism | New Atheism |After Inerrancy: Evangelicals and the Bible in a Postmodern Age
By Kenton Sparks
June 2010
Biblical scholar Kenton Sparks explains why some conventional evangelical understandings of Scripture may be flawed and surveys some important resources that can help the Church get beyond biblicistic inerrancy.
Related topics: Literalism | Theology |Metaphor, Mystery, and Paradox at the Confluence of Science and Faith
By Mark Sprinkle
November 2010
Artist and BioLogos Senior Fellow Mark Sprinkle considers the role mystery plays in both science and faith, and why basing one's faith purely on reason in fact contributes to a rationalist view of the world rejected by many Christians.
Related topics: Worship, Devotionals and Art |Faithful Poetics and Christian Knowledge of the World
By Mark Sprinkle
January 2011
Artist and BioLogos Senior Fellow Mark Sprinkle continues the thoughts and arguments he began in "Metaphor, Mystery and Paradox at the Confluence of Science and Faith" about the importance of acknowledging the creative and subjective aspects of human knowledge in the midst of the debates about the relationship between science and faith.
Related topics: Worship, Devotionals and Art |Genesis and the Genome: Genomics Evidence for Human-Ape Common Ancestry and Ancestral Hominid Population Sizes
By Dennis Venema
September 2010
This article provides an overview of genomics evidence for common ancestry and hominid population sizes, and briefly discusses the implications of these lines of evidence for scientific concordist approaches to the Genesis narratives.
Related topics: Evolutionary Biology | Genetics |An Evangelical Geneticist's Critique of Reasons to Believe's Testable Creation Model
By Dennis Venema
November 2010
Biologist and BioLogos Senior Fellow Denis Venema examines the interaction between RTB literature and several lines of genetics-based evidence for common ancestry. In so doing, he also addresses the scientific robustness and reliability of the RTB model.
Related topics: Genetics | Old Earth Creationism |Seeking a Signature
By Dennis Venema
December 2010
In this article, Venema offers his review of Stephen Meyer's book Signature in the Cell.
Related topics: Genetics | Intelligent Design |Evolution and the Origin of Biological Information
By Dennis Venema
March 2011
In this paper, Venema explores several examples in biology where random mutation and natural selection have indeed led to substantial increases in biological information. The question of how new specified information arises in DNA, far from being an “enigma”, is one of great interest to biologists.
Related topics: Evolutionary Biology | Genetics |From Intelligent Design to BioLogos
By Dennis Venema
July 2011
In this paper, Venema tells the story of his transition from support of Intelligent Design to the view that God uses evolution as a creative mechanism.
Related topics: BioLogos | Intelligent Design |Barriers to Accepting the Possibility of Creation by Means of an Evolutionary Process: I. Concerns of the Typical Evangelical Theologian
By Bruce Waltke
November 2009
Renowned Old Testament scholar Bruce Waltke considers eleven barriers that prevent evangelical theologians from accepting evolution as a possible means of creation and what these barriers tell us about the tensions perceived by many Evangelicals between science and faith. Waltke's work was based on a survey sent to members of the Fellowship of Evangelical Seminary Presidents and their faculty which asked respondents to identify the reasons that they do not personally accept evolutionary theory. This essay was presented at the November 2009 Theology of Celebration Workshop.
Related topics: Science and the Church |Science as an Instrument of Worship: Can recent scientific discovery inform and inspire our worship and service?
By Jennifer Wiseman
November 2009
NASA astronomer Jennifer Wiseman asserts that studying creation can show us the nature of God; science can inform us of what we need to do as stewards of God’s creation; understanding the natural world gives us a deeper knowledge of Jesus Christ; and science can give us a better understanding of ourselves. This essay was presented at the November 2009 Theology of Celebration Workshop.
Related topics: Science and the Church |Christian Geologists on Noah’s Flood: Biblical and Scientific Shortcomings of Flood Geology
August 2010
Geologists Davidson and Wolgemuth address the widely promulgated notion that the Flood can account for the earth’s complex geology, and that all genuine Christians should accept this viewpoint.
Related topics: Genesis | Geology |The BioLogos Foundation and "Darwin's Pious Idea"
By John Wesley Wright
January 2011
In this paper, theologian John Wesley Wright reviews Connor Cunningham's book Darwin's Pious Idea, a work that deeply explores the integration of Darwinian evolutionary theory and Christian faith.
Related topics: BioLogos | Charles Darwin | Evolutionary Biology |