Language of God

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 the formative role philosopher Dallas Willard has played on his own life. 

John Ortberg is the Senior Pastor at Menlo Church in Menlo Park, California. He holds a Master of Divinity and doctorate degree in clinical psychology from Fuller Seminary. John is on the Board of Trustees at Fuller Seminary as well as on the board for the Dallas Willard Center for Spiritual Formation. He is the author of several books, including Soul Keeping, The Life You’ve Always Wanted, and Eternity is Now in Session.

Find a conversation about this episode at the BioLogos Forum.

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 mentioned in the conversation on our website.

Ask your own questions to a community committed to exploring topics of faith and science at the BioLogos Forum

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 way.

Special thanks to Greg Cootsona, Kate Vosburg, and Len Tang.

Find more resources like STEAM in our Resource Center.

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 throughout their conversation is the question, ‘What does it mean to be human?’

Dr. Rick Potts is a paleoanthropologist and curator of the Hall of Human Origins at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. Before coming to the Smithsonian in 1985, he received his Ph.D. in biological anthropology from Harvard University and taught anthropology at Yale University. He has lead excavations throughout the East African Rift Valley as well as in southern and northern China. His research focuses on human adaptation to environmental change.

Find a conversation about this episode at the BioLogos Forum.

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 variety. Dr. Conde-Frazier speaks to life in the US with immigrant parents, the troubled history of race and science, and the importance of mentorship and role models for young people looking to careers in science.  

Dr. Elizabeth Conde-Frazier serves as Coordinator of Relations with Entities of Theological Education at Wesley Theological Seminary. She is the author of Hispanic Bible Institutes and A Many Colored Kingdom and has written extensively on multicultural education, Latin feminist theology, academic spirituality, and education for justice. She received her Master of Divinity from Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary and holds a PhD in theology and religious education from Boston University.

How do we live when we don’t have all the answers? How do we find answers amidst Biblical contradictions? Theologian Peter Enns refuses to shy away from asking the larger questions about Christian faith. He brings these questions to his conversation with Jim, wrestling with how the Bible relates to our lives today. They explore the potential behind reading the Bible creatively, the dangers of our modernist sense of truth, and the growing desire for spiritual authenticity.

Theologian and Biblical studies scholar Dr. Peter Enns is Abram S. Clemes Professor of Biblical Studies at Eastern University. His research has focused on a broad variety of topics such as Old Testament interpretation, hermeneutics, and the relationship between science and scripture. In addition to writing and teaching, he hosts a popular podcast called The Bible for Normal People. Peter received his B.A. from Messiah College and an M.Div. from Westminster Theological Seminary. He holds an M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Find a conversation about this episode at the BioLogos Forum.

In today’s episode, Jim talks to evangelical theologian Dr. Richard Mouw. Rich shares his experiences from working in interfaith dialogue and lays out a compelling vision for Christian civility. Reflecting on his career, he finds our polarized cultural environment is not new—we’ve been stalwart in battling over big questions for decades at minimum. Looking ahead, exciting avenues of progress and growth are entangled in the corrosive arms of static certainty. The first step to a greater humility is greater understanding. Mutual understanding helps us reckon with what we stand to gain by drawing closer to those we disagree with.

Richard Mouw is a theologian, philosopher, and former president of Fuller Theological Seminary, where he now acts as Professor of Faith and Public Life. Hoping to help resolve deep conflicts, his work often wrestles with interfaith issues and he has long been in dialogue with the Mormon and Catholic communities. He received his BA from Houghton College, an MA from the University of Alberta, and his PhD from the University of Chicago.

Find a conversation about this episode at the BioLogos Forum.

One of the foundational practices of faith, prayer is an essential part of Christian life. But what is prayer? How does it work? Can we see its effects? Does science have anything to tell us about prayer? In this episode on prayer, Language of God producer Colin Hoogerwerf explores the relationship between science and prayer with Dr. David Myers, journalist Barbara Bradley Hagerty, author Philip Yancey, and Dr. Jimmy Lin. They discuss a 1997 Harvard experiment meant to measure the effects of prayer, the findings of neurotheology, and why we should pray at all. By melding their personal prayer lives with their research, our guests find a more robust understanding of the sacred practice.

Read David Myers’ response to the Harvard Prayer Experiment here.

Find a conversation about this episode at the BioLogos Forum.