The BioLogos Foundation

The BioLogos Foundation
Formation 2007
Legal status Non-profit
Purpose "BioLogos invites the church and the world to see the harmony between science and biblical faith as we present an evolutionary understanding of God's creation."[1]
Headquarters Grand Rapids, MI, USA
President
 Deborah Haarsma
Website www.biologos.org

The BioLogos Foundation is a Christian advocacy group established by Francis Collins in 2007. BioLogos aims to contribute to the discussion on the relationship between science and religion and emphasize a compatibility between science and Christian faith.[2]

Francis Collins served as its president until he resigned on August 16, 2009 to become the 16th Director of the National Institutes of Health. The presidency was then assumed by Darrel Falk, who left the position at the end of 2012 after three years.[3] On January 28, 2013, Deborah Haarsma was announced as the new president, and Jeffrey Schloss the new Senior Scholar.[3] Karl Giberson has also been a prominent member of the organization, serving as its vice president until leaving BioLogos to pursue more time for writing.[4]

Background and goals

After his book The Language of God was published in 2006, Collins says that he received thousands of e-mails from individuals seeking to explore the relationships between scripture and science. Collins established the BioLogos Foundation to provide responses to these questions and promote a view of harmony between science and faith.

The foundation promotes theistic evolution, but maintains separation from the label to avoid being associated with atheism in some religious communities.[5] Evangelicals are the foundation's primary audience; however, Collins says that he hopes that skeptics, seekers and believers of other faiths will find the website to be helpful.[6]

Website

The BioLogos Foundation’s main project is its website, which launched on April 28, 2009. The site provides resources and readings for those interested in the compatibility of science and religion.[7]

Chief among these resources are the site’s “Questions,” which were originally developed as responses to the emails Collins received after publishing The Language of God. According to the website, “by providing brief but detailed responses, the Questions address many of the most interesting topics in science and faith.” Topics for the Questions include “What is evolution?” and “Can science and scriptural truth be reconciled?” Each Question has been reviewed by at least one scholar in its related subject area.[8]

The website also features a video interview section, “Conversations.” These interviews were held during a workshop in November 2009 titled “In Search of a Theology of Celebration” and they feature attendees offering their thoughts on a wide range of topics, from interpreting Genesis to how we should view the harmony of science and faith.[9] Similarly, the website’s blog is home to insights on science, faith and their integration from members of the foundation as well as guest contributors.[10]

Response

The BioLogos Foundation has drawn criticism from both creationists and atheists. In response to a Time Magazine article about the foundation,[11] Ken Ham, a young-earth creationist, said “it is compromisers like Collins who cause people to doubt and disbelieve the Bible—causing them to walk away from the church.”[12] Ham discussed his opposition to The BioLogos Foundation in detail during his second annual "State of the Nation" address on February 17, 2009.[13] Jerry Coyne, a professor of biology at the University of Chicago and secularist, calls the foundation the “latest endeavor to forcibly marry science and faith” and “embarrassing in its single-minded fervor to prove that conservative Christianity and evolution are really good buddies.”[14]

BioLogos has also received praise and positive responses. Supporters of the BioLogos Foundation include Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker, who claims the Foundation’s goal of “helping fundamentalists evolve can only be good for civilization,"[15] and Timothy Keller, author of The Reason for God and pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA) in New York City, who has stated that “the BioLogos foundation provides an important first step towards (a thoughtful dialogue between science and faith).”[16]

Notes and references

  1. ↑ BioLogos website background page
  2. ↑ BioLogos website background page
  3. 1 2 "New Leadershp for the BioLogos Foundation". Announcement of new BioLogos president and senior scholar. The BioLogos Foundation website. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  4. ↑ http://biologos.org/blog/karl-giberson-moves-on-to-create-more-time-for-writing
  5. ↑ "How is BioLogos different from Evolutionism, Intelligent Design, and Creationism?". BioLogos Foundation. Retrieved 2009-08-19.
  6. ↑ "Interview with Francis Collins". Christianity Today. April 30, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-18.
  7. ↑ "BioLoguration". 'Science and the Sacred'. April 29, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-18.
  8. ↑ BioLogos website "The Questions"
  9. ↑ BioLogos website "Conversations"
  10. ↑ BioLogos website "Science & the Sacred"
  11. ↑ Time Magazine piece
  12. ↑ Ham, Ken (May 11, 2009). "Who Teaches This? You May Be Surprised". 'Around the World with AIG's Ken Ham'. Retrieved 2009-04-18.
  13. ↑ Ken Ham "State of the Nation 2"(video)
  14. ↑ Coyne, Jerry (April 29, 2009). "Shoot me now: Francis Collins’s new supernaturalist website". 'Why Evolution is True'. Retrieved 2009-04-18.
  15. ↑ Parker, Kathleen (May 10, 2009). "An Evolution for Evangelicals". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2009-04-18.
  16. ↑ Quote from BioLogos.org

Bibliography

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