Why the Origins Debate Matters for the Church with Joel Hunter

Published on January 16, 2013

Before You Read ...

Dear reader,

A new poll shows that for young adults in particular, belief in God is plummeting. From research, we know a primary driver behind a loss of faith among young people is the church’s rejection of science. To put it bluntly: Young people aren’t leaving the faith because of science, they’re leaving because they’ve been told to choose between science and God. That’s why BioLogos exists—to show that science and faith can work hand-in-hand. And although the challenge is clearly daunting, our work is having an impact!

As a nonprofit, we rely on the generosity of grassroots donors like you to reach those who are being told, “It’s God or evolution!” or “It’s God or vaccines!” or “It’s God or science!” In this urgent moment, we need your help to continue to produce resources such as this.

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Transcript

Well, first of all, if you really want to pour into the lives of your children, you want to build a child that can learn from everywhere in the world. You want them to be able to face issues that are difficult. You want them to have integrity when they study science. To be able to see the truth for what it really is. To be able to pursue the truth where it leads because we happen to believe that truth is a person. “I am the way, the truth and the life.” We believe the truth will ultimately lead to Jesus. So you want to raise kids that aren’t afraid.

When you talk about origins which begets, what does the science say? Another thing that you are talking about is if we operate the world according to how it’s really arranged. For example, I’m big into caring for creation because I believe that the mandate for creation care Genesis 2:15 “cultivate the garden and keep it” has never been rescinded. It didn’t have an expiration date.

I believe that when we do that we will touch on so many of these other issues. We will be caring for the vulnerable, which we are also commanded to do. We will be saving money, which is great stewardship. We will be not polluting, and therefore, one of the boards I work on is the Children’s Environmental Health Network. We actually harm the health of children when we don’t pay attention to how we’re caring for the earth. The scientists and the doctors in that organization are literally saving the lives of children because we are addressing the causes of disease. It’s important that Christians be good at science in order to carry out the moral mandates that we’ve been given by God.