Language of God

The idea of food as a gift is one that comes to us frequently in scripture. In this episode we look to the Bible and see if we can better understand God’s intended relationship to food. Beginning with the Old Testament, we explore how ancient Israelites might have thought about food. In the New Testament we see Jesus continually gathering around a table and feeding people, and even many of his miracles were food related. And at the last supper, food takes on even more significance as the elements of communion.

This is part two of a five part mini-series. Learn more about the series and find related resources at biologos.org/the-gift-of-food.

Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Tiny Music, High Street Music, Klimenko Music, Lost Harmonies, Klaus Hergersheimer, Babel, & Chill Cord courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc.

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Food is a great connector. It can connect us to the ground and the soil that produces food, to the plants and animals that turn into food, and to one another. It also has the possibility of connecting us better to God. In part one of the series we talk about some of these connections, eventually leading us to the idea that food is a gift. In the rest of the series we’ll consider what that might mean about how we eat, what we eat, and how gathering around a table, whether it’s a communion table or a dining room table, can strengthen our connections to the world, to each other, and to God. 

This is part one of a five part mini-series. Learn more about the series and find related resources at biologos.org/the-gift-of-food.

Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Tiny Music, Vesper Tapes, and Babel courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc. 

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Talking about any hard topic—science and faith included—requires first recognizing the person on the other end of the conversation. That’s what David Brooks set out to do and is the result of his most recent book, How to Know a Person, The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen. He draws on neuroscience in order to understand how to see and be seen by others, but ultimately this is a habit that must be formed by practice and it is one that will help us all to have better conversations and relationships. 

Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Babel, courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc.

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In the last couple of decades, we have solved the question of whether there are other earth-like planets in the universe by finding evidence of billions of them. But while we don’t know whether there could be life on those planets—or what it would be like if there was—we can still explore the theological questions that might arise if we did find life. These questions might seem like they don’t have much relevance for us, but besides being fun to think about, they help us to refine the theology of things like the incarnation and what it means for us here on earth.

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Being a good neighbor in a wide and complicated world can be challenging. Emily Smith has attempted to share her scientific knowledge with the hopes that it can contribute to neighborliness and even help to identify those who are most in need of the caring that can come from medical help. 

Emily is known to many as the Friendly Neighbor Epidemiologist. Her work as an epidemiologist is to study how disease and illness affects populations, specifically those who don’t have access to many resources. In the episode, she talks about epidemiology and about the pushback that came from her attempts to share information during the COVID pandemic. And she talks about her new book, The Science of the Good Samaritan: Thinking Bigger About Loving Our Neighbors.

Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Babel, courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc.

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Jessica Moerman’s scientific research has included the study of stalagmites in Bornean caves and digging up ancient lakes in Africa. Through this work, she and other paleoclimatologists—those who study the climate of the past—have started to piece together the puzzle of how earth’s climate has changed in the past, which helps us to understand how it could change in the future. For Jessica, science has always been a tool for ministry and for understanding God’s creation. That idea has led her to her current role as the CEO of the Evangelical Environmental Network where she is able to share her knowledge of science, her passion for ministry and the call to act to bring about a healthy future.

Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Northern Points, courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc.

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Joanna Ng has worked on many projects which have been turned into tools we use everyday. In the episode she talks about the journey to become a Master Inventor and some of the highlights of her career and then discusses some of the risks that come from putting too much trust in computers and artificial intelligence.

Glossary of Terms:
Groundtruth: The information or data that acts as a reference point against which we can measure the performance of computer programs or algorithms.
Compiler: A special computer program that turns the code that programmers write into something a computer can understand and run. It's like a translator between humans and computers.
Parsing: Parsing in computer science is like grammar-checking a sentence. It looks at the code to make sure all the parts are in the right order and make sense together, so the computer can understand what to do.
Black box: A system or device where you can see what goes in and what comes out, but you don't know exactly how it works on the inside. 
Bootstrap: The initial push that gets a computer or program running so it can do more complicated tasks on its own. Just like you need that first push to start pedaling a bike, a computer needs a bootstrap to get going.

Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Titan Sound, courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc.

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Sy Montgomery has been writing about animals for over 30 years and has befriended many fascinating creatures in those years. Both turtles and octopuses, subjects of two of her books, are ancient relatives of ours, separated from humans by millions of years of evolution. That hasn’t stopped Sy from connecting with individuals of each of these species, learning something about their amazing and special capabilities but also finding a surprising commonality that allows for a deep connection. In the conversation Sy shares her love for all creatures and calls for us to reach into our limitless compassion to care for the creatures that make our world bright and beautiful. 

This conversation was recorded live in Grand Rapids, Michigan at the BioLogos Creation Care Summit on October 7th. 

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Janet Kellogg Ray is a Christian science educator and author. In the episode, she shares her personal journey of reconciling her faith with the science of evolution and discusses the challenges faced by Christians in accepting scientific evidence. She explores the connection between the denial of evolution, climate change, and COVID vaccines, highlighting the cultural and political factors that contribute to science denial within religious communities. Janet emphasizes the importance of science literacy and understanding the nature of science in order to build trust and engage in meaningful conversations about faith and science.

Learn more about Janet Kellogg Ray and see her books here.

Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Pink Marble, courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc. 

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In our second ever BioLogos book club, we bring you a discussion on the book Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Our expert guests include Carol Bremer-Bennett, the Executive Director of World Renew; Rick Lindroth, a retired professor of ecology; and Debra Rienstra, a Professor of English. They discuss various themes from the book, including the importance of reciprocity and harmony in our relationship with the natural world, the dangers of consumerism and greed, and the need for a more inclusive and respectful language to describe non-human beings. They also explore the intersection of indigenous wisdom, science, and Christianity, and the potential for these perspectives to complement and enrich one another.

Download our discussion guide for Braiding Sweetgrass here.

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