How I Changed My Mind About Evolution

Kathryn Applegate

Description

Over two dozen Christian leaders describe how they changed their minds about evolution Perhaps no topic appears as potentially threatening to evangelicals as evolution. The very idea seems to exclude God from the creation the book of Genesis celebrates. Yet many evangelicals have come to accept the conclusions of science while still holding to a vigorous belief in God and the Bible. How did they make this journey? How did they come to embrace both evolution and faith? Here are stories from a community of people who love Jesus and honor the authority of the Bible, but who also agree with what science says about the cosmos, our planet and the life that so abundantly fills it. Among the contributors are Scientists such as: Francis Collins Deborah Haarsma Denis Lamoureux Theologians and philosophers such as: James K. A. Smith Amos Yong Oliver Crisp Biblical scholars such as: N. T. Wright Scot McKnight Tremper Longman III Pastors such as: John Ortberg Ken Fong Laura Truax

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Christian theology
• Relationship between religion and science
• Evolution

Informations

• Publié par: Lion Hudson
• Date de parution: 15 juillet 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780857217882
• Langue: English

Extrait

“This collection of firsthand experiences is important for showing that firm belief in the truth-telling character of Scripture can support, rather than undermine, the best scientific investigations. It also provides more solid evidence for the good that BioLogos is doing to transform science and religion from a war zone to an instructive conversation.”
Mark Noll, Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History, University of Notre Dame
 
“This book captures the convictions and stories of an array of Christians whose scholarship, reflection, faith and community have brought them to affirm God’s use of evolution in the processes of creation. Consider their stories. Ponder their convictions. May your journey too be one that fully opens to worshipful wonder and to scientific discovery.”
Mark Labberton, president, professor of preaching, Fuller Theological Seminary, author of Called
 
“While very few people seem to care about science as a philosophical construct, many people care about how scientific findings impact their understanding of life, love, meaning and faith. No scientific concept draws us into these contemplations more than evolution, which leads us to ask big questions about our nature and God’s. This book should be embraced as a treasure. In it you will find unique minds wrestling with how we got here and what our evolutionary history has to do with God, the Bible and the depth of our lived experience. I promise this book will challenge you on nearly every page as you discover new insight after new insight.”
Andrew Root, Olson Baalson Associate Professor of Youth and Family Ministry, Luther Seminary, principal leader, Science for Youth Ministry
 
“Atheists often cite religious opposition to evolution as a reason for their unbelief. This wonderful collection of essays by Bible-believing Christians demonstrates how unnecessary it is to oppose evolution in the name of faith. What is striking about the authors in this volume is the sheer range and diversity of their own spiritual journeys in coming to terms with science. It is my prayer that evolution might cease to be seen as a threat to faith on the part of some Christians rather than as an integral aspect of God’s created order for which the Christian can rightly give praise.”
Denis R. Alexander, emeritus director, The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion
 
“If we want to converse with someone, we must first be willing to listen, to understand. And these stories are easy to listen to—so well written, so personally engaging, so reflective of committed faith. You will find yourself liking the contributors as you get a glimpse into their thought processes. As someone who studies and ministers in the area of faith and science, I commend the authors and editors for this nicely done book.”
C. John “Jack” Collins, professor of Old Testament, Covenant Theological Seminary
 
“The conflict between Christian faith and science is long-standing and significant, and no issue has been more central to this perceived tension than evolution. In this welcome collection of essays, leading Christian thinkers explain their reasons for affirming evolution while remaining committed to their faith. It is to be hoped that this volume will find a wide readership, especially among those who struggle to relate their faith to the consensual canons of science.”
John R. Franke, theologian in residence, Second Presbyterian Church, Indianapolis

 
 
 
Text copyright © 2016 Kathryn Applegate, James Stump and BioLogos Foundation This edition copyright © 2016 Lion Hudson
The right of Kathryn Applegate, James Stump and Biologos Foundation to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This edition published by Monarch Books an imprint of Lion Hudson plc Wilkinson House, Jordan Hill Road, Oxford OX 2 8DR, England Email: [e-mail] www.lionhudson.com/monarch
ISBN 978 0 85721 787 5 e-ISBN 978 0 85721 788 2
First edition published in the United States by InterVarsity Press
Acknowledgments All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Cover image copyright © Getty
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
 
 
 
 
 
This book is lovingly dedicated to our children—
Kathryn’s Lucy and Josiah,
and Jim’s Casey, Trevor and Connor—
in the hope that their generation will never be
forced to choose between faith and science.
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
 
Foreword by Denis Alexander
Acknowledgments
 
Introduction
Kathryn Applegate and J. B. (Jim) Stump
 1.  From Culture Wars to Common Witness: A Pilgrimage on Faith and Science
James K. A. Smith
 2.  Who’s Afraid of Science?
Scot McKnight
 3.  The Inevitable Conclusion
Ken Fong
 4.  Learning to Praise God for His Work in Evolution
Deborah Haarsma
 5.  An Old Testament Professor Celebrates Creation
Tremper Longman III
 6.  Embracing the Lord of Life
Jeff Hardin
 7.  Peace
Stephen Ashley Blake
 8.  Learning the Language of God
Francis S. Collins
 9.  Faith, Truth and Mystery
Oliver D. Crisp
10. Inspired by an Amazing Universe
Jennifer Wiseman
11. Boiling Kettles and Remodeled Apes
John Ortberg
12. From Intelligent Design to Evolutionary Creation
Dennis R. Venema
13. A Scientist’s Journey to Reflective Christian Faith
Praveen Sethupathy
14. A Fumbling Journey
Dorothy Boorse
15. A Biblically Fulfilled Evolutionary Creationist
J. B. (Jim) Stump
16. A True Read on Reality
Daniel M. Harrell
17. A British Reflection on the Evolution Controversy in America
N. T. Wright
18. Personal Evolution: Reconciling Evolutionary Science and Christianity
Justin L. Barrett
19. The Evolution of an Evolutionary Creationist
Denis O. Lamoureux
20. Learning from the Stars
Laura Truax
21. So, Do You Believe in Evolution?
Rodney J. Scott
22. The Spirit of an Evolving Creation: Surmisings of a Pentecostal Theologian
Amos Yong
23. Two Books + Two Eyes = Four Necessities for Christian Witness
Richard Dahlstrom
24. Finding Rest in Christ, Not in Easy Answers
Kathryn Applegate
25. Safe Spaces
Richard J. Mouw
Notes
Foreword
Denis Alexander

Minutes before starting to write this Foreword, I heard of a biology student from a well-known university who took his own life because he could not reconcile the anti-evolution stance of his fundamentalist church with the overwhelming evidence for evolution that he was hearing every day in his course.
Such tragic examples are thankfully rare. Yet the experience of cognitive dissonance that some feel as their beliefs about creation are threatened by the reality of evolutionary history is all too common in certain segments of the Christian community. Atheists, also, often cite religious opposition to evolution as a reason for their unbelief. This wonderful collection of essays by Bible-believing Christians demonstrates how unnecessary it is to oppose evolution in the name of faith.
What is striking about the authors in this volume is the sheer range and diversity of their own spiritual journeys in coming to terms with science. Yet all are agreed that what scientists do is to explore God’s creation, for all that exists has its source in Him, not the distant deistic God who establishes the laws of science and then has nothing more to do with the universe once created, but the one by whom and in whom all things continue to exist at every moment. It is no accident that theologians at the time of Darwin welcomed his theory because they understood that it was more consistent with the involved biblical God who is the on-going author of creation, rather than the cold rationalistic God of the deists.
Our identity as Christians, as Kathryn Applegate expresses it so well in the present volume, is in Christ not in evolution. It is my prayer that evolution might cease to be seen as a threat to faith on the part of some Christians, rather being seen as an integral aspect of God’s created order for which the Christian can rightly give praise.
Acknowledgments
 

The concept for this book originated in 2011, when philosopher and theologian Thomas J. Oord proposed it to the leaders of BioLogos and a publisher, Mark Russell. The original plan was to collect between fifty and sixty short essays by evangelicals who accept evolution, something Tom later accomplished (entirely within his own denomination!) in his book with Sherri B. Walker, Nazarenes Exploring Evolution (SacraSage Press, 2013). Later, and in consultation with InterVarsity Press (IVP), we decided to feature half the number of essays but allow the authors more space to share their often-complex journeys toward reconciliation between the Bible and evolutionary science. We are indebted to Tom and Mark, as well as to then-president of BioLogos, Darrel R. Falk, for their early work and ongoing support of the project.
Almost all of the chapters are brand-new essays written specifically for this book. A few of them have previously appeared on the BioLogos blog. The selections by Francis Collins and N. T. Wright are used with permission from their books, and the essay by John Ortberg is adapted with permission from one of his sermons. All of the contributors have been a pleasure to work with. Reading and rereading their stories has enriched our own. We pray the courage they’ve shown in sharing their stories will embolden others to do the same.
We’re grateful to IVP and