Scholarly Essays

For similar resources, see our online Readings collection and Questions section.

This section offers a cross-section of articles by leading scholars in their fields, and provides indepth coverage of the science-and-religion dialogue. Written primarily by scholars who accept the BioLogos perspective, these essays provide trustworthy and authoritative information about science-and-religion. Essays written by scholars who do not accept the BioLogos perspective — and who may not even be Christians — are equally reliable because they are written by experts on the specific subject.

Readers are welcome to use this royalty-free material with attribution to The BioLogos Foundation.

• "Biblical Creation and Storytelling: Cosmogony, Combat and Covenant"
  by Brian Godawa
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  The literary conventions employed in Genesis chapter 1 mark it out, not as a scientific document describing material origins, but as a literary polemic against surrounding ancient Near Eastern pagan religions. This interpretation divests the text from any obligation to communicate “accurate science” to the modern reader. Genesis 1 is a theological-political document that has nothing to do with science as the modern reader understands it. Creation language here and elsewhere in Scripture is not about establishing scientific origins of material substance and structure but about covenantal establishment and worldview.

• "Science as an Instrument of Worship: Can recent scientific discovery inform and inspire our worship and service?"
  (A white paper from the 2009 November workshop.)
  by Jennifer Wiseman
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  In this essay, astronomer and author Jennifer Wiseman touts the benefits of instilling a positive view toward science in the church by asserting that studying creation can show us the nature of God; science can inform us of what we need to do as stewards of God’s creation; understanding the natural world gives us a deeper knowledge of Jesus Christ; and science can give us a better understanding of ourselves.

• "Evolutionary Creation: A Christian Approach to Evolution"
  by Denis O. Lamoureux
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  Science-and-religion professor Denis Lamoureux presents the theory of evolutionary creation, which claims that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit created the universe and life through an ordained, sustained, and design-reflecting evolutionary process. The view of origins, says Lamoureux, fully embraces both the religious beliefs of biblical Christianity and the scientific theories of cosmological, geological, and biological evolution.

• "Scientific Fundamentalism and its Cultural Impact"
  (A white paper from the 2009 November workshop.)
  by Karl Giberson
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  Giberson's essay makes the case that scientific fundamentalists are not merely arguing for the omnipotent supremacyof science but also presenting science as a quasi-religious replacement. The agenda of the "New Atheists" is not merely to refute mainstream religion but to replace it. Unfortunately, the scientific community is poorly represented by these aggressive public figures.

• "Evangelicals, Creation, and Scripture: An Overview"
  (A white paper from the 2009 November workshop.)
  by Mark Noll
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  In this paper, Mark Noll -- University of Notre Dame historian and author of The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind -- looks at 15 of the attitudes, assumptions and convictions considered the most influential in inciting anti-intellectual sentiment among evangelical Christians. He also traces the historical background of when these ideas became prominent and suggests how they still affect contested issues of science and religion.

• "Barriers to Accepting the Possibility of Creation by Means of an Evolutionary Process: I. Concerns of the Typical Evangelical Theologian"
  (A white paper from the 2009 November workshop.)
  by Bruce Waltke
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  In this white paper from the November BioLogos workshop, evangelical and renowned Old Testament scholar Bruce Waltke looks at eleven barriers that prevent evangelical theologians from accepting evolution as a possible means for creation and what we these barriers tells us about the tensions between science and religion perceived by many evangelicals. Waltke's work is based on a survey forwarded to presidents of the Fellowship of Evangelical Seminary Presidents and their faculty, asking them to identify the reasons that they do not personally accept evolutionary theory.

• "Barriers to Accepting the Possibility of Creation by Means of an Evolutionary Process: II. Concerns of the Typical Parishoner" or "Creation, Evolution, and Christian Laypeople"
  (A white paper from the 2009 November workshop.)
  by Tim Keller
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  In this paper, considers three main clusters of questions lay people raise when they learn of anyone teaching that biological evolution and biblical orthodoxy can be compatible. Keller offers some ideas on how to provide responses that take these concerns seriously.

• "Barriers to Accepting the Possibility of Creation by Means of an Evolutionary Process: III. Concerns of the Typical Agnostic Scientist"
  (A white paper from the 2009 November workshop.)
  by Darrel Falk
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  Falk’s paper begins by noting that few, if any, theories in the historyof science have ever unified all the disciplines of the natural sciences as has the theory of evolution. He asks evangelical Christians to explore whether they are propping up the layers of a bubble that they—not God—have put in place and there by have artificially isolated themselves from the world of academics. The essay describes five layers that may play a role in unnecessarily blocking entry, or reentry, of agnostic scientists into the realm of evangelicalism.

• "Adventist Origins of Young Earth Creationism" by Karl Giberson
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  Many evangelicals believe that young-earth creationism is the only authentic and Biblical way for Christians to understand origins, and that until the advent of Darwin's theory of evolution, young-earth creationism was the only view held by Christians. However, in this excerpt from his book, Saving Darwin, Karl Giberson explains that young-earth creationism is a relatively new phenomenon that stemmed from the 20th century fundamentalist movement.