Language of God

Science helps us to explain many things in the natural world. When it comes to psychology, it may even be able to help us understand why we think, behave, and believe the way that we do. Sometimes people fear these explanations, and even psychology itself, because of the perceived potential to be used to explain away their belief in God. Experimental psychologist Justin Barrett joins Jim Stump in...

April Maskiewicz Cordero joins Jim Stump and BioLogos’ Resources Editor, Kathryn Applegate, to discuss what it’s like to teach college biology at a Christian college. She touches on her personal experience with the climate of conflict between science and religion, and how that helps her to meet her students where they are. She shares some stories of students that give her hope and touches on her r...

Alister McGrath is one of the iconic voices in the dialogue between science and faith. After receiving his doctorate in biological sciences from Oxford University he decided to pursue theology with the same gusto that he approaches all of his intellectual work. Today, he brings his wisdom on these topics that is backed up by multiple doctoral degrees, many books on the subject, and several decades...

In this episode we tell two stories of finding harmony in faith and science. The stories come from Garrett and Amanda, two young people who were deeply connected to young-earth creation—that is, until they started to see some cracks developing in their reasoning which sent them on a journey to discover how to reframe their scientific view of the world while holding closely to their Christian faith...

This is Part 1 of our dialogue with Reasons to Believe.  For many years BioLogos and Reasons to Believe have been having a dialogue about faith and science. The two organizations agree about the scientific conclusions on the ancient age of the Earth, but disagree on the science of evolution. But we have built a fruitful relationship together. In the first half of our live dialogue, Fuz Rana and Da...

This is Part 2 of our dialogue with Reasons to Believe For many years BioLogos and Reasons to Believe have been having a dialogue about faith and science. The two organizations agree about the scientific conclusions on the ancient age of the Earth, but disagree on the science of evolution. But we have built a fruitful relationship together. In the second half of our live dialogue, Hugh Ross and De...

Mike McHargue, aka Science Mike, is the cofounder of The Liturgists podcast and host of the podcast Ask Science Mike . In this episode he shares the story of his own faith journey, which involves leaving the church and eventually finding his way back after a mystical experience. Since then, he has made an effort through his podcast and writing to help others going through faith transitions.  In th...

Theology is a tool we use to better understand God. But how does it work? How do we know when a theological claim is true? Jim asks these questions to professional theologian Oliver Crisp. Oliver’s search for theological truths has led him think and write about topics like Adam and Eve, sin, and the fall and he talks to us about how other disciplines, including science, have informed this theologi...

Jim Stump is joined by BioLogos president Deb Haarsma to talk about one of the perennial science and faith topics—Adam & Eve. They lay out some of the different perspectives on Adam & Eve and also some of the problems that come along with each perspective, bringing in science where it’s appropriate but also finding that science won’t lead us to definitive answers on many of the questions t...

Jim Stump and Templeton Award winning physicist, Marcelo Gleiser dive into the ocean of the unknown, discussing the nature of science and how we know what we know. Since he was a child, Gleiser has been fascinated by the biggest questions about life and existence. Those questions led him to physics and cosmology and he has spent a significant part of his career communicating science to the general...

The question of faith and science has often been posed in only one direction—how does faith affect science? As Christians, this question is more comfortable because it plants our religious beliefs in the center, keeping them untouched. But what about when the question is flipped—when science affects faith? Rick Lindroth joins producer Colin Hoogerwerf to describe how this latter question has playe...

In this bonus episode, Language of God Producer Colin Hoogerwerf brings a short reflection on finding hope in the outdoors.  Find more articles and resources about caring for creation at biologos.org  or join a discussion about this episode at the BioLogos Forum , A good place to start is Why Should Christians Care for Creation?

On today’s episode, Lynette Strickland joins Jim and producer Colin Hoogerwerf to ruminate on her love for creation. Lynette shares how her childhood curiosity in the natural world grew into a passion for doing science, why variation in a species could help it adapt to changing environments, and how studying beetles has helped her understand God’s creation.  Lynette Strickland is a Ph. D. candidat...

Growing up in the church, Aaron Niequist never imagined he would experience a faith crisis—until he did. On this episode, he recalls this time of doubt and what helped him through it. Aaron and Jim also discuss reviving liturgy and the seeing faith in light of the Kingdom of Heaven. Aaron Niequist is a liturgist, writer, and pastor. After growing up in a Plymouth Brethren community, he led worship...

Biblical interpretation is all about asking questions—How did Ancient Israel understand the book of Genesis? How much context do we, as modern readers, need to discover the intended meaning of the text? Does the text hold the answers to the questions we are asking? Jim and guest host Rebecca McLaughlin discuss these thorny questions with biblical scholar John Walton and explore the answers his wor...

Fossils open a window deep into the history of the earth. Through that window we learn about how whales evolved from four-legged creatures to the aquatic animals we know today, we learn about our own species and where we came from, and we learn more about God who made it all. Language of God producer, Colin Hoogerwerf, journeys into the world of fossils alongside paleontologist Ryan Bebej to explo...

The roaring current of stubborn partisan standoffs challenges us to cement ourselves in our views; dialogue erodes as we ditch the public conversation to wrap ourselves in the self-affirming comfort of our isolated belief nooks. Among the most well-acquainted with this phenomenon is On Being host Krista Tippett, who worked as a journalist and diplomat in Cold War Berlin. But she sees something els...

It is all too easy to fall into the myopic assumption that our faith words are universal, that everyone has a shared understanding of what these words mean. But often this is not the case. Many times our sacred words—words like grace, mercy, wisdom—are painted with different hues on other peoples’ interpretive palates. Author Jonathan Merritt joins Jim on this episode of Language of God to discuss...

Our habits shape us in ways we often neglect, guiding the majority of our thoughts and actions. Pastor John Ortberg argues that when these save us from spending unnecessary energy on menial tasks, they are good. Trouble brews, however, when sin creeps in. In this episode, John talks about the forgotten practice of spiritual disciplines, how biological predispositions affect human character, and th...

In Season 2 of Language of God we’re going to hold faithfully to the truths of Christianity, while we explore the realities of this world, up to the limits of what we can know. Our guests include pastor John Ortberg, host of the On Being radio show Krista Tippett, writer and journalist Jonathan Merritt, biblical scholar John Walton, and many others. Episodes coming soon!

Language of God has hosted many great guests already in its first season but as hard as we try, we can’t always get to all your questions. So while we’re between seasons, we thought we’d open the phone lines. Jim Stump, host of Language of God, and a few BioLogos staff members sat down to try and wrestle with some of the questions we received. Here’s their conversation. Read Joel Duff’s article me...

BioLogos is not the only organization tackling issues of science and faith today. Today’s episode features a panel from Science and Theology for Emerging Adult Ministries ( STEAM ), a project from Fuller Theological Seminary which offers resources to help teens and young adults to think through issues of science and faith. The panel discusses their project and lessons they have learned along the w...

This bonus episode highlights a few favorite ‘Cool Creations’ of people in the BioLogos community. From walking whales to the largest organism on earth, these astonishing snippets of God’s creation offer a reinvigorated view of the world around us. Special thanks to: Ryan Bebej , Jeff Schloss , Rick Lindroth , Kate Vosburg , and Praveen Sethupathy . Original music from Carp .

Rick Potts has always had an interest in origins. As a kid, exploring the origins of musical instruments and the solar system fascinated him. In high school he stumbled upon the study of human origins; he has not stopped investigating since. Dr. Potts tells Jim stories of excavations in China and southern Kenya and of people encountering the exhibit on Human Origins around the US. Reverberating th...

The Christian story is both universal and individual, all-encompassing and intensely personal. A robust theology holds the two in tension, weighing the church body against the single sanctuary. In this episode of Language of God, Dr. Elizabeth Conde-Frazier joins BioLogos President Deb Haarsma to discuss the growth of a Latino/a theology which expresses the community’s experience in all its rich v...