![74. Francis Collins & David Anderson | How Christians Can End the Pandemic]()
April 15, 2021
Polling data tells us Christians are the most hesitant group in the United States about receiving the COVID-19 vaccines. Yet research on the vaccines show that they are incredibly safe and effective. It’s clear that if we want to get past this pandemic, our Christian community needs a radical reorientation based on sound evidence and an abundance of grace. Offering perspectives rooted in Biblical faith, Dr. Francis Collins and Dr. David Anderson join in conversation about how Christians can bring about the end of the pandemic. Dr. Collins brings a depth of scientific knowledge alongside Dr Anderson’s pastoral wisdom to talk about the vaccine and the hesitancy many people harbor about the vaccines. In doing so, these renowned spiritual leaders lay the groundwork for Christians to build bridges toward healing and change.
This conversation was originally aired as a livestream video event on April 11, 2021.
Original music in this episode is by Carp.
Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.
April 8, 2021
Joel Chopp and Geoff Fulkerson are the editors of a new book called Science and the Doctrine of Creation: The Approaches of Ten Modern Theologians (InterVarsity Press, 2021). In the episode Geoff, Joel and Jim talk about the doctrine of creation itself before taking a look at four of the ten theologians in the book to see how they have influenced the conversations around faith and science.
Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.
April 1, 2021
Dan Kuebler got his undergraduate degree in English—it was not until his senior year that he joined his first lab and fell in love with biology. He joins Jim on this episode to discuss what fascinated him about science, and how his subsequent career as a biology professor has impacted his faith as a Catholic believer. The conversation covers his experience as a graduate student at University of California Berkeley, later work on science and faith (exemplified by The Evolution Controversy, which Dan co-authored with Thomas Fowler), and the impact all this has on his approach to science and faith education as Dean of the School of Natural and Applied Sciences at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio.
Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.
Read the article Dan coauthored with Dennis Venema here.
![71. Curtis Chang and David French | Christians and the Vaccine]()
March 18, 2021
With the rollout of several different COVID-19 vaccines and the prominence of anti-vaxx groups, gracious conversations between opposing sides are increasingly difficult to initiate. Yet when our family members and friends voice doubts about a vaccine’s safety or effectiveness, these are the exact conversations needed to bridge that divide. Our two guests on today’s episode, Curtis Chang and David French, offer eminently approachable places to start. Two well-known voices in the conservative Christian arena, Curtis and David are passionate about having informed and empathetic discussions around vaccination. Whether you have doubts about the vaccine or are trying to find common ground where you and your family members or friends can broach these difficult topics, this conversation is a great place to start.
Curtis Chang is not only a consulting professor in innovation and organization at Duke Divinity School but also founder and head of Consulting Within Reach, a firm which aims to help nonprofits implement best practices to more effectively achieve their goals. David French is a former lawyer and current writer. He was a fellow at the National Review Institute and staff writer for National Review from 2015 to 2019. Currently, he serves as senior editor of The Dispatch. Curtis and David collaborated on a series of videos addressing common concerns Christians have around the vaccine called Christians and the Vaccine. For more on this resource, check the link below.
Check out the videos mentioned in the episode at Christians and the Vaccine homepage.
Read David French's newsletter.
Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.
March 11, 2021
In 2017 Andy Crouch wrote My Tech Wise family, a practical book about how to have a healthy relationship to technology. In that book was a foreword by his daughter Amy, who called herself Test Subject Number 2. Well Amy has gotten a bit older since that book and has written one of her own, an expansion of sorts to My Tech-Wise Family called My Tech-Wise Life.
My Tech-Wise Life is a book filled with wisdom along with practical tips on how to flourish in a world in which technology often pulls us away from reality. In the episode we talk about the book and dig into the differences between science and technology and the balance between when technology is adding to or taking away from our role as image bearers of God.
Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.
![69. Fatima Cody Stanford | Care & Disparity]()
March 4, 2021
Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford has seen the effects of how healthcare is provided differently across the population, both in her work and in her own experiences as a patient in the healthcare system. One outcome of the disparities in healthcare—the mistrust of the healthcare system—is now hindering the ability to get vaccinations to many of those who are at risk. We talk about the causes and some possible solutions and look at how some of the same issues play out in the treatment of obesity—the most prevalent chronic disease in the United States.
In the episode, Dr. Stanford mentions an event she will be speaking at, a collaboration of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center and the Faith Based Cancer Disparities Network. Here is a link to the event: https://www.dfhcc.harvard.edu/events/covid-19-community-education/
Learn more about the Black Women's Health Study
Read the article Beyond Tuskegee—Vaccine Distrust and Everyday Racism (in the New England Journal of Medicine)
Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.
February 25, 2021
The way she sees it, when Lori Banks was in line for spiritual gifts, she was given the aptitude for understanding amino acid structures and figuring out how to manipulate microbial systems. The gift has led her to her work in microbiology and virology and teaching others with the goal of easing the pain and suffering of those who are sick. In the episode she tells the story of her journey and then helps us to understand some of the science behind disease, including the COVID vaccines and why they are safe and effective.
Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.
February 18, 2021
There is probably no one who has done more scientific work on the genetics of race than Dr. Joseph L Graves. Dr. Graves has been writing, thinking, and doing research on this topic for almost 30 years. In the midst of a national uprising of anger and frustration at the continued systemic racism in this country and around the world, this conversation probes the scientific reality that there is no genetic basis for race and addresses some common misconceptions as well.
We split our conversation up into two parts. In this second part of the conversation we dig into the genetic sciences and we talk about some common misconceptions, such as whether race affects athletic abilities and what you can actually find out from genetic ancestry testing.
Need a refresher on Evolution? Check out Evolution Basics, an introductory series on the BioLogos website.
This episode originally aired on June 25, 2020.
Join a conversation about this episode at the BioLogos Forum.
![48. Joseph Graves | The Genetics of Race (Part 1)]()
February 11, 2021
There is probably no one who has done more scientific work on the genetics of race than Dr. Joseph L Graves. Dr. Graves has been writing, thinking, and doing research on this topic for almost 30 years. After a year which included a national uprising of anger and frustration at the continued systemic racism in this country and around the world, this conversation probes the scientific reality that there is no genetic basis for race and addresses some common misconceptions as well.
We split our conversation up into two parts. In this first part Dr. Graves tells the story of his journey through higher education, which was not without hardships. Then, as a precursor to talking about the genetics, we discuss some basics of evolution and what it even means to be a species or a subspecies.
Need a refresher on Evolution? Check out Evolution Basics, an introductory series on the BioLogos website.
This episode originally aired on June 25, 2020.
Join a conversation about this episode at the BioLogos Forum.
February 4, 2021
A common refrain at BioLogos is “you don’t have to choose,” and usually it is in the context of the Bible and science. Esau McCaulley, assistant professor of New Testament at Wheaton College, was presented with a different choice, one between the Bible and racial justice. But this too is a false dichotomy.
The Bible is a good place to turn in times of confusion or questioning, but whether it is science or issues of injustice, it is important that a reading of the Bible be informed by the perspectives of other people and other cultures. McCaulley’s new book, Reading While Black lays out the case for a Black Ecclesial interpretive tradition. He shows how asking questions of the text that grow out of the reality of being Black in America, helps to give us a fuller perspective on what the Bible has to say about things like race, governing authorities, and justice.
Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.
