Language of God

Justin Brierley has been the host of the Unbelievable? Radio Show and Podcast for almost 15 years and in doing so has been a part of conversations with Christians and non-Christians wrestling with questions of faith, and yet he has found his faith not only intact but sharpened. We talk to him about his experience on the show and about how his own beliefs have grown, changed, and continue to be formed. 

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Elaine Howard Ecklund is a sociologist who has devoted her career to understanding the attitudes and perceptions that scientists and religious people have toward each other. What she has found does not always match what would be expected. We talk about some of what she has learned over her years of research on this topic and talk about her new book, Why Science and Faith Need Each Other: Eight Shared Values The Move Us Beyond Fear.

Elaine Howard Ecklund is a Professor of Sociology at Rice University and Director of the Religion and Public Life Program at Rice University.

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In this episode, Jim Stump is joined by Tim Mackie, one of the founders of BibleProject. Tim’s transformation from West-coast skateboarder, to Bible student, to video producer may seem surprising, but his unorthodox journey to faith has given him a unique perspective and passion for the Bible. Tim discusses the history of the Bible, explores the context in which it was written, and demonstrates what it looks like to bring the Bible into relevance for the people of today.

Tim Mackie is a writer and creative director for BibleProject, an animation studio that produces videos to help make the Bible accessible to everyone. He has his Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible and Jewish Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

BibleProject YouTube Channel

BibleProject Website

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Prayer is a central tenet to the Christian faith. In this episode we explore the intersection of science and faith when it comes to prayer. Can the effectiveness be prayer be tested with scientific studies? How does prayer affect us physically and what happens in our brain when we pray? And what is the role of prayer during a worldwide pandemic? 

The first part of this episode is from episode 8 which aired on May 2nd, 2019

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Our last conversation with Katharine Hayhoe aired in early March, the same week as the United States declared a state of emergency because of COVID-19. We’re bringing part of that conversation back in this episode, along with an update on how we might think about climate change in a post-COVID world, without falling into despair.

Katharine Hayhoe is the Political Science Endowed Professor in Public Policy and Public Law in the Department of Political Science, a director of the Climate Center, and an associate in the Public Health program of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Texas Tech University. She and her husband wrote A Climate for Change: Global Warming Facts for Faith-Based Decisions, a book that untangles the complex science and tackles many long-held misconceptions about global warming. Her TED talk titled “the most important thing you can do to fight climate change: talk about it” has been viewed over 2.5 million times. 

You can find the extended version of our first conversation with Katharine Hayhoe in Episode 35, which aired on March 12th, 2020.

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Today we revisit one of our favorite early episodes. From Praveen’s childhood, growing up in a Hindu family, to his later conversion to Christianity and his entry into science, he has gained great insight into the science and faith conversation. With grace and humility, Praveen shares some of that insight as he considers what it means to be made in the image of God in light of our understanding of evolution and DNA. He has long felt the importance of fostering healthy dialogue among Christians and the scientific community and discusses how such a dialogue might actually bring us closer together.

Praveen Sethupathy is a Professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Cornell University, where he directs a research laboratory focused on human genomics and complex diseases.

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Philip Yancey returns to the podcast to dig deeper into his many years spent traveling and writing with Dr. Paul Brand and learning about the marvel of the human body. What we can learn from the human body—about the importance of pain, about healing and unity—can also be applied to the body of Christ. In doing so, we find relevance with many of today’s issues including the coronavirus and the need for the church to find unity among racial tensions. 

Philip Yancey, author of books like Disappointment with God, The Jesus I Never Knew, and What’s So Amazing About Grace, is one of the best selling Christian authors alive today. His most recent book is an updated collaboration with Dr Brand called Fearfully and Wonderfully: The Marvel of Bearing God’s Image. Yancey lives in Colorado as a freelance writer and avid hiker. 

Fearfully and Wonderfully: The Marvel of Bearing God’s Image

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Amid a surge in COVID-19 cases across the country, what should be the Christian response? Bible scholar N.T. Wright and BioLogos founder Francis Collins, two influential Christian figures and long-time friends, ponder this question and more. 

N.T. Wright is a globally renowned New Testament scholar, Pauline theologian, and Anglican bishop. He is considered to be one of the most respected theologians and Christian apologists in the world.

Francis Collins is the Director of the National Institutes of Health, and works closely with Dr. Anthony Fauci, a key White House advisor on the national health crisis. He also wrote the bestselling book The Language of God, which led to the creation of BioLogos.

This conversation was originally broadcast live on video on July 12, 2020. 

Watch the “Genesis” music video.
Watch the video of this conversation.
God and the Pandemic book
More BioLogos resources on Coronavirus

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Shauna Niequist brings her passion for food and her Christian experience to a conversation about how food connects us to the created world and to each other and how our spiritual lives might be nourished around the table. Shauna is a popular author, speaker, podcaster. Her most recent book is Present Over Perfect, which came out in 2016.

The interview was originally streamed live on June 29th.

Original music in this episode is from Carp.

You can find a link to a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos forum. 

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.

Dr. Graves is the author of The Emperor’s New Clothes and The Race Myth.

Need a refresher on Evolution? Check out Evolution Basics, an introductory series on the BioLogos website.

Hear Dr. Graves on the Science Vs podcast episode on race.

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