Videos Galore On Evolution And Christian Faith (RJS)

This has been a summer of travel. This week I am enjoying the American Chemical Society Meeting in Boston with some 17,000 colleagues. Stimulating talks, dinner on the waterfront … all in all a good week.

Rather than struggle to pull together an original post, today I am going to highlight a number of videos from a somewhat smaller meeting. In Grand Rapids at the end of June BioLogos held a public conference celebrating the culmination of the projects funded by the Evolution and Christian faith program. This was a wonderful three days, highlighted by worship, fellowship, and a number of very stimulating talks. Both the plenary sessions and the topical breakout sessions provided a lot of useful material. I, like many others, left the conference a buzz with new ideas and insights.

If you weren’t able to attend, never fear … most of the plenary lectures are now available on YouTube. You can choose the ones you find the most interesting.

Ard Louis Professor of Biophysics at Oxford University (UK) gave an excellent talk “Randomness and Other Metaphors in the Theory of Evolution.” My personal favorite.

John Walton Professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College gave an concise and entertaining talk summarizing his most recent work on the question of Adam “Investigating What the Bible Claims Concerning Adam and Eve.

Scot McKnight (who needs no introduction here) spoke on “Adam and the Scientists.” Also an excellent talk and very thought-provoking, although more academic than for a general audience.

Ted Davis, Professor of the History of Science at Messiah College gave a fascinating overview of the history of the science and faith discussion: “The Bible and Biology: How Did We Get Here?“

Oliver Crisp, Professor of Systematic Theology at Fuller Seminary, gave an academic talk on the problem of sin: “A Moderate Reformed Doctrine of Original Sin.”

And last, but in the running for my favorite, Rev. Leonard Vander Zee gave a pastor’s perspective in a talk entitled “From Stardust to the New Jerusalem” This talk ended with powerful retelling of the story.