Rachel Held Evans | Tag Landing

I Could Have Used This Book Twelve Years Ago: A Review of “The Evolution of Adam” by Peter Enns

Within the first week of my freshman year of college, my Introduction to World Literature class included a reading of Gilgamesh, an ancient Mesopotamian myth about a hero who is described as 1/3 man and 2/3 god. As we read the text together in class, I couldn't help but notice some striking similarities between this text and the familiar texts of Genesis and Ecclesiastes, but when we got to the part where Gilgamesh speaks with Utnapishtim, a survivor of the Great Flood, I disintegrated into a ... read more

Sex, Science, & Salvation, Part 1

Rachel & Tripp Talking 1 from tripp fuller on Vimeo. In the first installment of RATT (Rachel And Tripp Talking)—or, if you prefer, TART (Tripp And Rachel Talking)—my friend Tripp Fuller and I discuss the three “s”s and the future of evangelicalism. Well, I would argue that the debate surrounding the three “s”s comes down to a fourth “s”—Scripture. I believe that evangelicals are the verge of a BIG conversation about the nature an... read more

What happened when I tried to love God with my mind

photo © 2006 Tom Martin | more info (via: Wylio) Last week Al Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote an excellent blog post about intellectual discipleship and the importance of loving God with our minds. I actually agreed with quite a few of his conclusions, including this one: A robust and rich model of Christian thinking—the quality of thinking that culminates in a God-centered worldview—requires that we see all truth as interc... read more

Al Mohler Responds

Al Mohler has responded to my piece on the Washington Post’s religion blog about evolution and Christianity. Read my piece: When Atheists and Baptists Agree Read Mohler’s response: Evolution – When Atheists and Baptists Agree? Mohler seems to agree with my premise (that both atheists and young earth creationists present faith and evolutionary theory as incompatible), but not my conclusions (that perpetuating this dichotomy is harmful to the future of the church).... read more

When Atheists and Baptists Agree

I believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and that the earth is roughly 4.5 billion years old. This position routinely puts me at odds with two groups of people—atheists and Baptists... [Read the rest on my article on the Washington Post’s religion blog]] Do you ever find yourself drawing fire from both sides of an argument after staking some middle ground?... read more

A Response to Ken Ham: Let’s Make Peace

Evolving in Monkey Town made national news last week when it was featured in a Nashville Tennessean story that was picked up by USA Today. The story described various views regarding the evolution-creationism debate and included my perspective that young Christians long for a more nuanced, constructive approach to this issue. “My generation of evangelicals is ready to call a truce on the culture wars,” I said. “We are ready to move on." This quote caught the... read more

13 Things I learned at the BioLogos Conference

Today I kick off a short, three-post series about science and faith with a little summary of what I learned at the BioLogos Foundation conference last week. Tomorrow Sometime in the next couple of days, we will talk about the questions you posed to help me pass as an intellectual at the event, and next week I’ll review John Walton’s excellent book, The Lost World of Genesis One. The BioLogos Foundation was founded by Francis Collins to address the central them... read more

Help me pass as an intellectual at the BioLogos Conference

On Wednesday I head to Boston to attend “A Dialog on Creation”—a workshop hosted by the BioLogos Foundation and Gordon College that explores questions at the intersection of science & faith. Among those in attendance will be Peter Enns, (a biblical scholar and Harvard Ph.D. who has authored multiple books, including the controversial Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament), Karl Giberson, (a physicist and scholar who has published o... read more

Students are the real victims of Waltke’s resignation

* See my first comment for updated information on this story. As you may have heard, renowned Old Testament scholar Bruce Waltke resigned from his position at Reformed Theological Seminary last week amidst controversy surrounding statements he made in support of evolutionary theory in a video posted by the BioLogos foundation. Conservatives are praising the decision as a firm stand against liberalism, while progressives are hailing Waltke as a martyr for the cause of truth and free thought. N... read more

Eight Reasons to Give Evolution a Second Chance

If you have already embraced evolution as a credible explanation for why life on earth is the way it is, I hope you will find the resources below useful in helping to harmonize this view with your faith. If you still aren’t sure what to make of evolution or if you have always been suspicious of it, I hope these ideas will inspire you to at least give the theory second chance. They certainly inspired me. 1. I recently discovered The Biologos Foundation and have been really impressed w... read more

Kirk Cameron and Six Evangelical Stereotypes

You know that feeling you get when your sweet, 90-year-old grandmother makes a blatantly racist comment at Thanksgiving dinner or your creepy uncle starts rambling about how the moon landing was staged? You are no doubt familiar with the spontaneous full-body wince that inevitably follows an interview with Al Sharpton in which he claims to represent all African Americans, Michael Moore in which he claims to represent all liberals, or Ann Coulter in which she claims to represent all Christians. W... read more

The Missing Link?

This week I recorded and watched the History Channel documentary, “The Link,” which featured the recent scientific findings surrounding a miraculously intact primate fossil, estimated to be about 47-million years old. The documentary was interesting, but far too long. I’ll save you some time and summarize the two-hour presentation in two sentences: The fossil, (discovered in the Messel Shale Pit in Germany), appears to be a transitional species that shows characteristic... read more

Making Peace with Science

In belated recognition of Darwin’s 200th birthday, I thought I’d post a series on faith and science, culminating with a really fun post on Friday that you’re not going to want to miss. (Hint: It’s about the billboard war in Dayton.) I thought I’d start by sharing my own story of how I came to respect evolutionary theory as a viable explanation for how God created the heavens and the earth, and how this position has enriched rather than destroyed my faith. Defacing... read more

Stein takes on Darwinism

As you may have heard, Ben Stein (remember Ferris Bueller's Day Off?) is trying his hand at documentary filmmaking with the April 18 opening of “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.” The film is bound to have the intelligent design community buzzing, as it criticizes what Stein sees as Darwinism’s monopoly on academia. In an interview with Newsweek, Stein says, “Darwinism is a brilliant theory, but to say it has all the answers would not be truthful or sensible. And today&r... read more

A few more thoughts on evolution

Your responses to my recent posts about evolution were so stimulating, I thought I’d add a few more comments and some suggested online reading. I liked what Leah (our biologist/young earth creationist) said about the importance of educating Christians about this issue. Leah wrote: “I've had several uncomfortable conversations with pastors who have decried the evils of evolution because when I was teaching labs in graduate school I taught evolution. I had to tell the pastor that after... read more

Cable and the Cosmos: What I Learned about the Big Bang

While stuck in beautiful LaGrange, Dan and I took full advantage of cable and watched six straight hours of National Geographic, HGTV, and the History Channel. (Yes, we know we’re cheap for not buying cable of our own; and yes, we know we’re nerds for watching six straight hours of National Geographic, HGTV, and the History Channel.) So they had this really interesting documentary about the Big Bang theory on one of these educational stations. About halfway through the show, I ... read more

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