Pastors Resource Center

Clues to the original intended meaning can be found in the style of language, the genre of literature, the original audience, and the historical and cultural context.

The seven-day pattern in Genesis 1 is a literary device that serves the theological purposes of the author, rather than revealing information about the chronology of natural history.

The Flood story proclaims God’s grace and love for his people.

N.T. Wright discusses principles for interpreting Biblical texts by giving examples from both the Old and New Testaments.

Many secular and evangelical voices agree that if you are an orthodox Christian with a high view of the authority of the Bible, you cannot believe in evolution. But is this true? Depends what you mean by "evolution."

Loren Haarsma argues that the church should consider multiple theories of Original Sin because the theological stakes are high and the questions are challenging.

What was God’s intention for the beginning portions of the Bible? What is its cultural context? In this highly readable volume, John Walton formulates a literary and theological understanding of Genesis 1 within the context of the ancient Near Eastern world.

Doesn’t evolutionary creation contradict a plain reading of the Bible? Well, that depends on whose plain reading you mean.

A morally neutral chaos has a creative place within God’s dynamic world, with both the potential for good and bad for creatures.

Christians can easily get the feeling that science is always attacking the faith. What can churches do to study and engage science well?

Pastors have both a responsibility and privilege to guide their “flocks” through the science and faith discussion. Pastor Mario Russo shares four simple ways to do so.

Pastors need to be more aware of what people in their church with various views on creation could be thinking and feeling. Here are five ways pastors can help shepherd their people in this area.

The new questions are actually giving us the opportunity to rediscover what was always present in the tradition, even if we didn’t know it/

The beauty of God's creation can be glimpsed in some of the wonderful creatures that inhabit it.

A pastor shares how a social media post about evolution tore his church apart, and how he helped it heal.

Considering evolutionary creation has important benefits for Christians both in our relationship with God and in our relationships with other people, believers and non-believers.

A vast number of congregational leaders know that when they deal with evolution, they are also dealing with job security.

Jennifer Wiseman uses an excerpt from the hymn “How Great Thou Art” to explain why the study of Creation can lead Christians into meaningful worship and overcome obstacles which impede true praise.

From BioLogos and InterVarsity Press, here are the stories of 25 people who have come to embrace evolution and faith, including Francis Collins, Scot McKnight, John Ortberg, James K.A. Smith, Jennifer Wiseman, and N.T. Wright.

At a 2015 BioLogos gathering, Claude Alexander shared some of his reflections on the ways that the science conversation plays out in the African American church.

The honest, and humbling, truth is that there is likely more intellectual humility in the average physics laboratory than in the average theology classroom.

“This 5-session study provides Christians scriptural considerations and scholarly information on some of the most fundamental, modern scientific concepts (creation, evolution, conservation, and transhumanism) so that both science and faith will be seen as critical components of a flourishing life.”

Preaching science is all about bringing God’s revelation through creation into conversation with God’s revelation through the Bible in a co-illumining, mutually intelligible way.

Is Christianity anti-science? Can Christians be good scientists? Is science the only source of true knowledge? Pastor Dave Gustavsen of Jacksonville Chapel addresses these questions.

Discussing our belief in God as creator reminds us that some parts of the Bible need not be historical in order to convey deep theological truths.

One of the biggest hurdles to the science and faith conversation in congregations is the complexity of scientific research.

So what is BioLogos? Well it all began with a scientist and a book. Francis Collins, the physician and geneticist who led the Human Genome Project, wrote the book, The Language of God.

We affirm that the Bible is the inspired and authoritative word of God. We also accept the science of evolution as the best description for how God brought about life on earth.

So how old is the earth? Some people think the Bible says it was created about 6,000 years ago. While the Bible does include a number of genealogies, many conservative Bible scholars believe that these lists are not intended to be a complete method of dating the age of the earth.

Doesn’t evolutionary creation contradict a plain reading of the Bible? Well, that depends on whose plain reading you mean.

What if we told the story of the Bible from the perspective of what science has learned about God's world? This is the epic, sweeping, and continuing story of God that stretches from creation to new creation.

The science–Scripture relationship can feel one–sided (favoring science), but there are many ways in which, for Christians, Scripture provides the lenses through which we look at the natural world.

Rev. Scott Hoezee shares his story of wrestling with his faith and the age of the earth and the universe.

God is not immediately apparent in scientific data.

The more Mario Russo studied and learned, the less he needed “answers” to every possible question.

Too many people—both Christians and atheists—seem to think that the completeness of scientific theories removes any role for God.

Properly understood, evolution is a scientific theory about the development of life and is consistent with Christian theology.

So how did God bring about the diversity of life we see on earth today? First he needed a place where life could survive—a planet that is just the right distance from the sun, and full of the right kinds of elements.

In this video, Jeff Schloss discusses some things we should be mindful of when we discuss evolution. He begins with the observation that when we use the term “evolution,” it is not always exactly clear what we are actually discussing unless we denote the intended usage.

The study of DNA has revolutionized our understanding of how creatures share common ancestors. (19:57)

There are several reliable ways to accurately estimate the age of materials on Earth. Some methods measure radioactive atoms that decay at steady and predictable rates; others count layers that grow or are deposited in recognizable yearly patterns.

Some people see science and religion as enemies, at war for leadership in our modern culture. Others see science and religion as completely separate and unrelated facets of life.

The unaffiliated believe the conflict about science and religion to be mostly “out there,” while Evangelicals mostly believe the conflict is an in-house affair.

In 2012, the Barna Group conducted telephone interviews with pastors from across the US from all Christian denominations, providing a fascinating analysis of clerical views on origins today.

Pastors may be interested in science, but they often get little exposure to science in their training. Recently, the PBS program Religion & Ethics News Weekly featured a discussion of science training for religious leaders.

This project, led by Craig Story and Justin Topp, is entitled "Pastors, Faith and Science" and has the goal of equipping pastors with tools to approach issues of science and faith with greater confidence.

Their goal was to “deepen and broaden the discussion about evolution in the Church of the Nazarene.”

During 2011-2013, a Grand Rapids, MI church featured several special events which included talks such as “Do You Understand What You’re Reading? Interpreting Genesis 1-11” and “Evolution and One Christian Biologist.”

This program involved providing grants to 35 congregations in the U.S. and two internationally to begin to catalyze the dialogue of theology and science.

A network of scientists at Grace Chapel in Lexington, Massachusetts. They are dedicated to helping people integrate science and the Christian Faith and seek to do so through their website, church courses, and monthly book club discussions.

This website of resources was developed by the Center for Excellence in Preaching at Calvin Seminary and the Science Division at Calvin College.