Language of God

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.

Find a conversation about this episode at the BioLogos Forum.

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

Find a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos forum. 

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.

Find 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 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.

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.

Find a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos forum.

Last time we talked to Lynette Strickland, she told us all about the work that she was doing to show that tortoise beetles, which vary greatly in their appearances, are actually one species. We play some of that conversation but then we catch up with Lynette to press further into the beauty and importance of diversity within a species. And it’s a short step from talking about beetles to talking about humans. Lynette tells some of her own stories that highlight the ways that science as a discipline can benefit from increased diversity and inclusion. 

Lynette Strickland received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her B.S. in Marine Biology from Texas A&M. Her research focuses on how ecological factors and genomic factors shape a naturally-occurring color polymorphism in a species of Neotropical tortoise beetle and her work has been published in journals including Science and Hereditary.

Without Inclusion, diversity initiatives may not be enough, Science Magazine

Why Black Lives Matter for Science and Faith, video recording (with Lynette Strickland)

The first part of this interview is from episode 19, broadcast on October 3, 2019.

Find a conversation about this episode at the BioLogos Forum.

We find ourselves three months into a global pandemic, and one week into a movement of nationwide protests in response to the death of George Floyd. For this episode Jim Stump, vice president of BioLogos and host of the podcast, and Deb Haarsma, president of BioLogos, take a moment to talk about where we are, where the church and science can fit in, and how the work of BioLogos might have a role in moving forward.

The Prayer episode mentioned in this episode is Episode 8 and can be found in the Language of God podcast feed. 

Deb’s story about the doctor who prayed with his patient and family can be found here. 

Check out reopeningthechurch.com for resources and information on how to resume in person worship.

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Leading evangelical thinker Tim Keller joins Francis Collins, who heads our country’s biomedical research, in a conversation that includes updates on the latest COVID-19 research, a discussion on the value of human life and what it means to care for the most vulnerable among us, where God is during a pandemic, and much more.

Check out the livestream video!
NIH Director’s Blog Article
Francis Collins Templeton Prize Announcement
Tim Keller articles at BioLogos
Francis Collins articles at BioLogos

Thanks to the sponsors who made this conversation possible: Vijay and Susan Aggarwal | Don Ammerman | Barbara Bryant | Greg and Antje Campbell | Deborah and Loren Haarsma | Jason Jones | Josh and Jane Kwan | Alan and Cindy Marty | Phillip and Shauna Schneider | ServingLynk, Inc. | The BioLogos Board of Directors

Join a conversation on the BioLogos Forum.

In the episode, Jim talks with Bishop Claude Alexander about his growing up in the south with parents esteemed in the medical field--his mother was the first black psychiatrist in Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas and his father was family practitioner who was assigned to Martin Luther King, Jr. whenever he was in Mississippi--and about the role of science in racial reconciliation in America today. Claude provides some pastoral and poignant notes of hope at the end of the episode.

Bishop Claude Alexander is the senior pastor for The Park Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Join a conversation about this episode at the BioLogos Forum.