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Science and the Sacred

Variation among a species plays an important part in their evolution. The appearance of beneficial physical traits through genetic mutation drives species to evolve over time, as the best suited traits are passed on to future generations. However, not every physical trait seems to have immediate benefits. For example, many species have numerous distinct visible…

Biologoist Ken Miller recalls first reading Darwin’s famous work The Origin of the Species during the summer after high school.  Despite it’s revolutionary ideas about biology, Miller found the book fascinating for a completely different reason: “The truth is during that summer I thought it was the most boring book I read the whole time,…

Ever wanted to try your hand at establishing a viable evolutionary lineage?  If so, the Science Channel has the perfect opportunity.  The free game, “Who Wants to Live a Million Years?”, allows players to help a species survive a changing and harsh environment by choosing three variations to populate the landscape.  Just as in real…

“The God of my early religious training pulled off tricks that are not beyond the powers of any competent conjuror; Harry Houdini or David Copperfield could turn a stick into a serpent or water into wine without batting an eye.  But no Houdini or Copperfield can turn miscroscopic cells into a flock of birds and…

Every Monday, “Science and the Sacred” features an essay from one of The BioLogos Foundation’s leaders: Francis Collins, Karl Giberson and Darrel Falk. Today’s entry was written by Darrel Falk. We all love origins-stories — be it stories about our own family history, the formation of our nation, the early days of the motor car…

Are wisdom teeth good for anything other than a trip to the dentist’s office?  Why do we have an appendix anyway?  Why do we have a third eyelid?  Today, these body parts seem to serve no purpose.  But this doesn’t mean that they have always been that way.  In fact, some of the “useless” parts…

The Darwin Festival in Cambridge, held from July 6 – July 10, marked the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of his publication of Origin of Species.  Though the event was not meant to be a science-and-religion conference, Denis Alexander reports that 15% of the lectures at the event dealt specifically with…

For many evangelicals, the conflict between science and religion seems unavoidable.  After all, with a literalist interpretation, certain aspects of the Bible seem to clash with the facts of modern science.  Indeed, while embracing the harmony between science and faith is necessary, it is not always easy.  It places a huge burden on churches to…

Though an extremely important part of evolutionary theory, speciation has been notoriously difficult for scientists to observe in action.  However, a new study published in the August issue of the American Naturalist has found that a single genetic change has sent two different populations of monarch flycatchers on the path to speciation. The study, led…

What is the proper relationship between science and religion?  Why is the universe so seemingly ordered and comprehensible?  What can account for the suffering in the world?  Is the universe finite or infinite? These are just some of the questions addressed by John Polkinghorne in an episode of the ABC Radio national program Encounter, which…
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