Soul, Strength and Mind: How BioLogos brought me out of hiding

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been two things: a Christian and an avid learner. I devour scientific literature as enthusiastically as I do Scripture, and personally there’s never been any dissonance with this. In fact, I’ve often thought the exact opposite to be true. We’re called to love God with all our soul, strength and mind. My scientific pursuits and interests were an important part of the latter. Learning more about the world—including how we got here—was simply another facet of honoring God. And to do anything less than wonder, question and learn would be to deny a very important part of the potential God so graciously gave us all. I saw no wrong. I felt no shame.

The problems started, though, when I realized that others felt differently, others whom I respected, loved and even aligned myself with spiritually. While I saw absolutely no problem with embracing evolution as the means through which God created humanity, others found it to be an absolutely unacceptable view to take. I found myself feeling alienated, often having to keep my true thoughts, opinions and views to myself in an effort to keep the peace with those around me. Sometimes it was implied. Other times it was bluntly stated. I couldn’t have both. It was either God or science, my faith or empirical evidence. The peer pressure was palpable, yet I couldn’t—I wouldn’t—choose.

While this personal harmony between science and my biblical faith served me well as a teacher and even now as a parent, it continued to prove unpopular in the Christian community. From friends to family members to other Christian co-workers, now there was shame where there once was none. I experienced a gut reaction to be guarded, even disingenuous at times, all in an effort to maintain an albeit false sense of unity. I avoided “outing” myself because I resented the implication that I had to choose in the first place. How could possibly learning more about God’s creation and his creative process be wrong? After all, I never questioned who the builder was in the first place (Hebrews 3:4).

And so it went for a number of years. I publicly worshipped and fellowshipped with other Christians, but also privately worshipped God through a love of science, too. But this admittedly felt a bit like hiding. I’ve felt completely comfortable in my own “spiritual skin,” so-to-speak, but I lacked community tremendously. I couldn’t possibly be the only person out there that this had occurred to. Surely others had thought to embrace scientific discoveries—including evolution—as evidence of God’s intelligent design and handiwork. I took Paul’s words in Romans 1:20 to heart and head: “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” No matter how it sometimes felt, I knew I couldn’t be alone in these thoughts and in this spiritual discernment. That’s when I found BioLogos.

BioLogos helped me come out of hiding. It’s provided me with a meaningful connection with other Christians who also want to seek truth in both the world around us and in the Bible. In short, it helps me have a voice, a voice that also speaks another important truth: Science is an honest and noble pursuit, evidence of human intellect and curiosity and to turn away from these is to deny a very important part of who God created us to be in the first place.