Language of God
247 episodes - English - Latest episode: 9 days ago - ★★★★★ - 397 ratingsSharing stories of people who have found a better way of understanding the harmony between science and Christian faith.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
170. The Sacred Chain | The Challenge of Pain and Suffering
April 11, 2024 08:05 - 43 minutes - 59.8 MBThe science of evolution has caused friction for many Christians. And science does pose some challenges to the way people have been taught to think about their faith, but those challenges don’t have to lead to a decision to reject faith—or to reject the findings of science. In fact, understanding science can lead to a deeper faith. Jim Stump, host of Language of God has a new book coming out—The Sacred Chain: How Understanding Evolution Leads to a Deeper Faith. In this series Jim walks thr...
169. The Sacred Chain | The Challenge of Time
April 04, 2024 08:05 - 36 minutes - 50.5 MBThe science of evolution has caused friction for many Christians. And science does pose some challenges to the way people have been taught to think about their faith, but those challenges don’t have to lead to a decision to reject faith—or to reject the findings of science. In fact, understanding science can lead to a deeper faith. Jim Stump, host of Language of God has a new book coming out—The Sacred Chain: How Understanding Evolution Leads to a Deeper Faith. In this series Jim walks thr...
168. The Sacred Chain | The Challenge of the Bible
March 28, 2024 08:05 - 43 minutes - 60.1 MBThe science of evolution has caused friction for many Christians. And science does pose some challenges to the way people have been taught to think about their faith, but those challenges don’t have to lead to a decision to reject faith—or to reject the findings of science. In fact, understanding science can lead to a deeper faith. Jim Stump, host of Language of God has a new book coming out—The Sacred Chain: How Understanding Evolution Leads to a Deeper Faith. In this series Jim walks thr...
167. Jonathan Haidt & Francis Collins | Technology, Mental Health, & the Role of Faith
March 21, 2024 08:05 - 1 hour - 109 MBSpecial guest-host Francis Collins discusses the children's mental health epidemic with Jonathan Haidt. Haidt has been studying the causes of the high rates of depression and suicide in children for many years and has found that social media is at the root of the worsening trends. But he doesn’t just have causes in mind. He also has solutions. In this discussion--and in his new book, The Anxious Generation--he proposes solutions to be put into place in the home, in schools, and by government...
166. Molly Worthen | Science and the Journey to Faith
March 07, 2024 09:05 - 1 hour - 88 MBMolly Worthen is a historian by training and wrote the book, Apostles of Reason, which explores the history of evangelicalism in America. When she wrote the book about 10 years ago, she approached the topic as an outsider, identifying as an agnostic. Then in 2022, she rather surprisingly found herself getting baptized at the front of a large evangelical Southern Baptist megachurch. In the conversation she tells the story of her conversion and questions she asked, including questions about m...
BONUS | Steven McMullen on Food and Thankfulness
February 29, 2024 09:05 - 7 minutes - 10.6 MBA bonus clip from an interview with Steven McMullen for our series The Gift of Food.
BONUS | Aminah Al-Attas Bradford on Feeding your Microbes
February 29, 2024 09:05 - 8 minutes - 11.7 MBA bonus clip from an interview with Aminah Al-Attas Bradford for our series The Gift of Food.
BONUS | Derrick Weston on Food not Lawns
February 22, 2024 09:05 - 9 minutes - 13.5 MBA bonus clip from an interview with Derrick Weston for our series The Gift of Food.
BONUS | Shauna Niequist on Gathering around Food
February 22, 2024 09:05 - 11 minutes - 16.3 MBA bonus clip from an interview with Shauna Niequist for our series The Gift of Food.
165. The Gift of Food | Economics, Justice, Fellowship (part 5)
February 15, 2024 09:05 - 48 minutes - 67.1 MBIn the last episode of the series we ask several related questions: How does the idea of food as a gift fit with the fact that food is also an economic commodity? How does food play into issues of justice? And how can food, instead of dividing us, bring us together? Finally, we end by discussing what all this means about how we should eat. When we eat with love as our guiding principle, it may not always be simple, but it may be more delicious. This is the last episode of a five part mini-...
164. The Gift of Food | Eating Meat (part 4)
February 08, 2024 09:05 - 55 minutes - 63.1 MBAs creatures that must eat to live, human life is dependent on taking the lives of other creatures. In this episode, we explore ethics, science, and theology behind taking the lives of animals who become our food. In the process, we meet some of the animals and some of the people who raise them. We end up with at least as many questions as when we started and yet we also find a richer appreciation for the ways in which we are connected to other creatures through eating. This is part four o...
163. The Gift of Food | The Science of Food (Part 3)
February 01, 2024 09:05 - 47 minutes - 65.2 MBTaste is a sense that sometimes gets overshadowed by sight and sound, but it has played a crucial role in the development of our species. Some expert guides help us understand what is happening in our brains when we eat. We also talk about food and cooking and the roles they have played in making humans what we are today. This is part three 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 B...
162. The Gift of Food | God’s Love Made Delectable (Part 2)
January 25, 2024 09:05 - 48 minutes - 66.1 MBThe 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 ele...
161. The Gift of Food | Sacred Morsels (Part 1)
January 18, 2024 09:05 - 46 minutes - 63.5 MBFood 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 tab...
160. David Brooks | To See and Be Seen
December 07, 2023 09:05 - 50 minutes - 69.2 MBTalking 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 conversat...
159. Andrew Davison | Cosmic Incarnation
November 30, 2023 09:05 - 1 hour - 57.9 MBIn 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 theolo...
158. Emily Smith | Science & Neighborliness
November 16, 2023 09:05 - 51 minutes - 47.6 MBBeing 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 reso...
157. Jessica Moerman | No Act Too Small
November 09, 2023 09:05 - 1 hour - 83.7 MBJessica 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...
156. Joanna Ng | Data, Truth, & AI
November 02, 2023 08:05 - 58 minutes - 81 MBJoanna 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:...
155. Sy Montgomery | Soul Deep Sameness
October 19, 2023 08:05 - 56 minutes - 77 MBSy 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...
154. Janet Kellogg Ray | Science Denial and Christian Culture
October 12, 2023 08:05 - 1 hour - 85.6 MBJanet 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 scie...
153. BioLogos Book Club | Braiding Sweetgrass
October 05, 2023 08:05 - 1 hour - 97.1 MBIn 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 m...
152. Lee C. Camp | Opening the Door to Faith and Flourishing
September 14, 2023 08:05 - 55 minutes - 76.9 MBAs the host of his own podcast, No Small Endeavor, Lee C. Camp is well-practiced at conversations that explore what human flourishing could look like. In this conversation, he looks back to his own experiences in which doors were opened to him in his thinking about faith. He tells about his journey from preaching sermons against the theory of evolution to coming to understand that scientific knowledge about the world was not a threat to his faith, even when that knowledge presented new and c...
151. Joe Vukov | Navigating the Technological Divide
August 31, 2023 08:05 - 1 hour - 83.1 MBFor some technology offers humanity a path into perfection. For others it is the means of our downfall. Somewhere in between there is Joe Vukov. In the episode, Joe helps to explain the pitfalls of both extremes—on one side, the transhumanists (who embrace technology as a way to become more human) and on the other, the neoLuddites (who shun certain kinds of technology)—and begins to clear a path somewhere in the middle. Original music in this episode is by Carp. Join a conversation about ...
150. Trees
August 24, 2023 08:05 - 49 minutes - 68.6 MBTrees are often seen merely as backdrops or immovable scenery. When we start to learn about the physical realities of trees, their names and histories and the ways they interact with the world around them, we start to wonder if we’ve gotten the wrong idea about what trees are. In this episode, Jim and Colin go on a journey to see trees more completely, to see them as living, dynamic creatures. Learning about the scientific reality of trees leads to an enriched understanding of the role trees...
150. Trees | Living Symbols of Praise
August 24, 2023 08:05 - 49 minutes - 68.6 MBTrees are often seen merely as backdrops or immovable scenery. When we start to learn about the physical realities of trees, their names and histories and the ways they interact with the world around them, we start to wonder if we’ve gotten the wrong idea about what trees are. In this episode, Jim and Colin go on a journey to see trees more completely, to see them as living, dynamic creatures. Learning about the scientific reality of trees leads to an enriched understanding of the role trees...
149. Kate Boyd | Science and the Messy Middle
August 17, 2023 08:05 - 56 minutes - 78 MBKate Boyd has been learning to live out her faith in the messy middle in a culture that rewards picking a side. While her journey didn’t begin with a conflict between science and religion, her story explores the complexities of understanding the Bible in today’s context and anyone who has struggled with issues of science and faith will resonate with this conversation. Kate’s new book, which tells the story of her journey is called An Untidy Faith: Journeying Back to the Joy of Following Jesu...
148. New Genes | A Science Explainer with Dennis Venema
July 06, 2023 08:05 - 22 minutes - 30.9 MBIn a recent article in the journal Science, researchers described a process where new genes come about from parts of DNA that were thought to be useless and led to bigger brains in humans. Jim and Colin, along with Dennis Venema, discuss what’s going on and describe some of the basic science that reveals why this discovery is an exciting new development in understanding what it means to be human and how we got to be the way we are. Here's the article in Science Dennis Venema is also the a...
147. Curtis Chang | Anxiety & the Doorway to Resurrection
June 08, 2023 08:05 - 53 minutes - 73.9 MBAnxiety disorders are extremely common. Curtis Chang knows firsthand how anxiety can be extremely disruptive to the healthy and happy lives we all strive for. In this episode Curtis, who is a theologian, host of the Good Faith podcast and executive director of Redeeming Babel, tells the story of his own struggles and the peace he found when he reframed his anxiety as an opportunity to participate in resurrection. Additional Resources Redeeming Babel Good Faith Podcast (apple podcasts) Ch...
146. Sally Bingham | Churches Leading Change
June 01, 2023 08:05 - 36 minutes - 50 MBSally Bingham, the founder of Interfaith Power & Light (IPL), and the Canon of the Environment for the Diocese of California, shares the story of the inception of IPL and discusses the influential role that churches and faith communities can play in the effort to reduce climate change impacts. Learn more about Interfaith Power & Light Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum. Donate to BioLogos
145. Dawn Wright | A Divine Abyss
May 18, 2023 08:05 - 53 minutes - 73 MBIn the summer of 2022 Dawn Wright became only the 27th person ever, the fifth woman, and the first Black person to descend into the deepest part of the ocean, a place called Challenger Deep. As a scientist, Dawn has been studying and helping to map the depths of the ocean, but being there in person uncovered a new dimension and deepened her connection with the mysterious underwater world. In the episode, Colin and Dawn talk about the science of mapping, the world of deep sea submersibles, an...
144. Francis Collins & Deb Liu | Live from Silicon Valley
May 11, 2023 08:05 - 53 minutes - 73 MBDeb Liu, the CEO of Ancestry, and Francis Collins, the previous director of the NIH and leader of the Human Genome project, delve into the fascinating world of genetic science, exploring its implications on our understanding of human identity, ancestry and health. Throughout the conversation they also share stories and reflections on how their Christian faith motivates their work and sheds light on the ethical and moral considerations that arise when navigating the complex world of genetic r...
143. The Ocean Declares | Horseshoe Crabs, Hospitality & Creatureliness
April 27, 2023 08:05 - 48 minutes - 66.5 MBWhen the wind is just right, on a small beach in Titusville, Florida, horseshoe crabs crawl out of the water and onto the beach to lay their eggs. Jim and Colin joined up with two marine biologists—Bob Sluka who works with A Rocha, a Christian conservation organization and Margaret Miller, a coral biologist who works with SECORE International—and three A Rocha interns to survey the horseshoe crabs. That experience began an exploration into paying attention to many of the creatures that surro...
142. Kyle Meyaard-Schaap | Environmental Evangelism
April 20, 2023 11:03 - 55 minutes - 75.9 MBWhen Kyle Meyaard-Schaap joins a climate march or calls a senator to talk about his concerns about climate change, he sees it as an act of evangelism. His new book Following Jesus in a Warming World: A Christian Call to Climate Action tells the story of how he came to understand that acting on climate is necessary and urgent and that it fits within the call to follow Jesus. He tells some of his story here and also talks about parenting, imagination, and the role a pastor can play in bringing...
141. Gayle Boss | Let Compassion Take Root
April 06, 2023 08:05 - 47 minutes - 65.3 MBOver the season of lent we’ve been reading excerpts from Gayle Boss’ Book Wild Hope. In this episode we talk to Gayle about where the book came from and about how the stories of wild and imperiled creatures can help us into the story of Christ and his journey to the cross. Find out More about Wild Hope and Gayle's other books. Thanks to Paraclete Press which gave permission for the experts from Wild Hope throughout lent. www.paracletepress.com Join a conversation about this episode on th...
140. Brandon Vaidyanathan | Beauty in Science
March 30, 2023 08:05 - 51 minutes - 70.7 MBAs a sociologist, Brandon Vaidyanathan has been studying what scientists think about beauty. Some people might be surprised that scientists think much about beauty at all, but for many scientists, beauty is an important reason for why they do the work that they do. Brandon talks about his research and the different ways scientists understand beauty to be a part of understanding the world and also tells the story of his conversion to Christianity and how he found his way to sociology. Join ...
LENT | Reflections from Wild Hope: The Hawksbill Turtle
March 27, 2023 08:05 - 8 minutes - 12.4 MBThis Lent we’re reading reflections from Wild Hope: Stories for Lent from the Vanishing, by Gayle Boss. We’ll end with an interview with Gayle Boss in the last week of Lent. The reflections from Wild Hope are grouped into five different weeks, with four creatures in each week, through the season of Lent and four more during Holy Week. Week five is "the Hunted" and the story is about the hawksbill turtle. Wild Hope: Stories for Lent from the Vanishing by Gayle Boss, illustrated by David G....
139. BioLogos Book Club | Transcendent Kingdom
March 23, 2023 08:05 - 54 minutes - 74.4 MBIn the debut of a new podcast Book Club feature we take on the novel Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi about a young PhD candidate in neuroscience struggling with questions about mental health, the problem of evil, and how to reconcile the evangelical faith she grew up with and her career in science. We asked three guests to join us to discuss the book. Lynette Strickland recently finished a PhD in biology, Rachel Wahlberg is a neuroscience graduate student herself, and Christina Bieber Lake...
LENT | Reflections from Wild Hope: The Olm
March 20, 2023 08:05 - 11 minutes - 15.4 MBThis Lent we’re reading reflections from Wild Hope: Stories for Lent from the Vanishing, by Gayle Boss. We’ll end with an interview with Gayle Boss in the last week of Lent. The reflections from Wild Hope are grouped into five different weeks, with four creatures in each week, through the season of Lent and four more during Holy Week. Week four is "the Poisoned" and the story is about the olm. Wild Hope: Stories for Lent from the Vanishing by Gayle Boss, illustrated by David G. Klein Copy...
LENT | Reflections from Wild Hope: The North Atlantic Right Whale
March 13, 2023 08:05 - 10 minutes - 14 MBThis Lent we’re reading reflections from Wild Hope: Stories for Lent from the Vanishing, by Gayle Boss. We’ll end with an interview with Gayle Boss in the last week of Lent. The reflections from Wild Hope are grouped into five different weeks, with four creatures in each week, through the season of Lent and four more during Holy Week. Week three is "the Homeless" and the story is about the North Atlantic right whale. Wild Hope: Stories for Lent from the Vanishing by Gayle Boss, illustrate...
138. Sarah Augustine | Ever Present Every Moment
March 09, 2023 09:05 - 56 minutes - 77.3 MBWe have a lot to learn from Indigenous ways of thinking and knowledge about the world, particularly as it relates to the climate and environmental crisis and the place of humans in creation. And in learning about Indigenous knowledge we learn also that Christianity has played a role in the displacement of Indigenous People. Sarah Augustine shares the wisdom she has gained about how a Christian worldview can lead to a different kind of discipleship that both cares for the land and the people ...
LENT | Reflections from Wild Hope: The Indiana Bat
March 06, 2023 09:05 - 9 minutes - 13.7 MBThis Lent we’re reading reflections from Wild Hope: Stories for Lent from the Vanishing, by Gayle Boss. We’ll end with an interview with Gayle Boss in the last week of Lent. The reflections from Wild Hope are grouped into five different weeks, with four creatures in each week, through the season of Lent and four more during Holy Week. Week two is "the Sick" and the story is about the Indiana bat. Wild Hope: Stories for Lent from the Vanishing by Gayle Boss, illustrated by David G. Klein C...
137. ChatGPT | AI on Faith and Science
March 02, 2023 09:05 - 42 minutes - 58 MBWe welcome our first non-human guest to the podcast, the language model ChatGPT. The chatbot joins us to answer questions about science and faith. ChatGPT draws on extensive digital information to answer the same kinds of questions we have been asking our human guests over the past few years. The results are…interesting. Jim and Colin reconvene afterward to talk about what to take from it all. The voice of ChatGPT in this episode is given by Steven McClure. A note about the role of AI in m...
LENT | Reflections from Wild Hope: The Red Knot
February 27, 2023 09:05 - 10 minutes - 14.2 MBThis Lent we’re reading reflections from Wild Hope: Stories for Lent from the Vanishing, by Gayle Boss. We’ll end with an interview with Gayle Boss in the last week of Lent. The reflections from Wild Hope are grouped into five different weeks, with four creatures in each week, through the season of Lent and four more during Holy Week. Week one is "Tthe Hungry" and the story is about the red knot. Wild Hope: Stories for Lent from the Vanishing by Gayle Boss, illustrated by David G. Klein C...
136. Jimmy Lin | Scientific Doxology
February 23, 2023 09:05 - 45 minutes - 62.6 MBJimmy Lin calls himself a scientific doxologist. The science part of that title describes his work to find cures and treatments for cancer and rare diseases and he talks about the real progress that has been made to that end. But for him, the science is merely his path toward doxology, the praise of God, and in this way, his work becomes a kind of hymn of praise. Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.
BONUS | Welcome Back Jim
February 16, 2023 09:05 - 19 minutes - 26.2 MBWe welcome back host Jim Stump after having been away for several months. We hear about where he's been, what he's seen, and what will become of his wanderings and wonderings.
101. Jemar Tisby | Splendiferous Wondrous Differences
February 09, 2023 09:05 - 1 hour - 96.8 MBEvery human bears the image of God and in God’s good future there will be a great diversity of people from all nations and tribes. But we don’t always live as if that were the case. Jemar Tisby joins us to talk about the church’s complicity in racism and what we can do about it. Jemar Tisby is the author of The Color of Compromise, a New York Times bestseller, and How to Fight Racism, as well as the recently published How to Fight Racism Young Reader’s Edition. He’s also the co-founder of Th...
135. David Anderson | Comprehension Begins with Conversation
February 02, 2023 09:05 - 57 minutes - 79.5 MBEach February, on the podcast, we make a point of increasing our comprehension about issues of race in America from within the BioLogos mission of exploring God’s word and God’s world. As Dr. David Anderson points out, conversation is an important step toward comprehension. Dr. Anderson tells his own story of how he came to be a pastor of a large multi-cultural church and bridge builder, and how he has integrated science and scientists into that work. Dr. David Anderson's books Praying for ...
134. Mónica Guzmán | The Gift of Curiosity
January 26, 2023 09:05 - 49 minutes - 68.5 MBIn a world of increasing division, Mónica Guzmán offers advice for approaching conversation with curiosity. When we attempt to understand those who we disagree with, instead of merely attempting to change their beliefs, we are able to see people more fully and to even learn more about our own beliefs and ideas. Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum. Donate to BioLogos
BONUS | God in the Noticing
December 22, 2022 09:05 - 13 minutes - 18.1 MBA reflection on dragonflies, neurobiology, attention and the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Support BioLogos Music in the episode is by Brian Mulder. (Spotify) Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.