Language of God

Denis Lamoureux didn’t just stumble unto evolutionary creation, though, as he will tell you, there was a great deal of stumbling on his path to get there. In the first part of the conversation he tells the story of faith to atheism, back to young earth creationism, and finally to evolutionary creationism, and how it was the bible, not science, which led him to where he is today. 

His new book, The Bible and Ancient Science: Principles of Interpretation, gives 22 different principles for reading the bible. We focus on a few of those in our conversation, including accommodation, inerrancy, and what he calls, the message incident principle, which is that the most important thing about scripture is the spiritual truths held within. These principles have helped Denis, and now his students, to dig deep into scripture, remain committed to Christ, and also to see to see the beauty of biology. 

The Bible and Ancient Science: Principles of Interpretation.

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Alister McGrath joins Jim Stump to talk about his book Born to Wonder. McGrath describes his early conversion to Christianity as feeling like he walked through a doorway—his new found faith gave him a fresh perspective when looking at the world. But instead of being content with standing just inside the doorway, he found that there was a whole world worth exploring. After many decades of deep exploration he has come away with a higher tolerance for uncertainty, even in the midst of all the knowledge and wisdom he has found.

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David grew up exploring the natural places where there were few people but his love for nature led him back to people and to a deep desire to understand why we have the ideas that we have about the world. His training in both philosophy and biology has given him an ability to explore these questions from many different angles. In the episode, David tells of his circuitous journey, from childhood to his current career, and how his scientific view of the world and his spiritual view of the world were developed in a way that made them inseparable. Then Jim and David talk about cultural evolution and how the ideas interplay with the current landscape of faith and science in the United States.

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Deb Haarsma, president of BioLogos, takes a turn in the interviewee’s seat as she tells her own story of an interest in science from a young age and how she was able to hold closely to her faith through her study of physics and a PhD in astronomy. But that doesn’t mean she has everything figured out—she also talks about some of the questions that remain unresolved. Even in the face of uncertainty, it is God’s glory, which she finds in abundance, including in the study of our vast universe, which turns her always back to praise. 

Original music in this episode is from Carp.

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Both science and the Christian faith share a commitment to humility. Each also provides us with a perspective of the world which we believe to be true. How then do we hold onto these things we believe to be true and be open to the fact that we can’t know everything? In this episode we explore that tension, looking into the deeper meaning of humility in the realms of both science and faith. 

Thanks to our guests in exploring these ideas: psychologist, Charlotte vanOyen-Witvliet; theologian and poet, Padraig Ó Tuama; biologist, Steve Roels; and evolutionary biologist, Sarah Bodbyl Roels. 

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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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