\nwho is in the midst of a profound personal crisis. <\/span>Was this a financial problem? <\/span>A failure in course work that threatens a lifelong career
\ndream? <\/span>A romantic breakup? <\/span>No doubt there are plenty of
\nthose kinds of crises happening all over college campuses. <\/span>But none of those accounted for her
\ndistress. <\/span>Instead, my
\ncorrespondent was having a wrenching crisis of worldviews, and her deepest
\nfoundations were being shaken.<\/p>\n
She had been home-schooled by loving parents who were That is, until she decided to major in biology. <\/span>For the first time, she had the chance She is not alone. It is a sad reality that this kind of misunderstanding has The voice that is not being heard is one that strives for We are delighted and honored to have been asked by Steve We would like to point interested readers to a new web My college correspondent is still searching for the Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D.<\/p>\n Former Director, Human Genome Project<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It happened again this week. I received an e-mail from a student at a major university who is in the midst of a profound personal crisis. Was this a financial problem? A failure in course work that threatens a lifelong career dream? A romantic breakup? No doubt there are plenty of those kinds of crises…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":252,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-weekly-feature"],"yoast_head":"\n
\ndedicated Christians, and who made sure that she learned the deep and profound
\nprinciples of their faith. <\/span>She
\nmade a personal commitment to that faith as a teenager, and her relationship
\nwith Christ was a central part of her life. <\/span>She arrived at university fully aware that this secular
\nenvironment might threaten her faith, but she quickly found other believers to
\nshare experiences with, and she learned to love the undergraduate experience.<\/p>\n
\nto see the scientific evidence for the actual age of the earth (4.55 billion
\nyears) and the theory of evolution.
\n<\/span>Like 45% of Americans, she had based her previous conclusions on an
\nultraliteral reading of Genesis promoted in many conservative churches – that
\nthe earth is less than 10,000 years old, and that all species of animals and
\nplants came into being by individual acts of special creation by God. <\/span>But with gathering alarm, she
\ncould see that a veritable mountain of data from physics, cosmology, chemistry,
\ngeology, paleontology, biology and genomics made that interpretation of Genesis
\nno longer tenable. <\/span>She tried to
\nthink of ways that the scientific evidence could have been misunderstood, or
\neven (as she had heard from some Christian friends) that there was a widespread
\nscientific conspiracy to promote these false ideas, but she could not see how
\nto dismiss the massive weight of evidence. <\/span>She sought guidance from her professor, but he made no
\nsecret of the fact that he thought religion was a waste of time. <\/span>The ice was cracking under her
\nfeet. <\/span>If her spiritual mentors had
\nbeen wrong about origins, might they have been wrong about other things? <\/span>Was faith just an illusion? <\/span>Was God really out there?<\/p>\n
\n<\/span>Over the last three years since my book The Language of God<\/i> was published, I have heard from dozens of
\nindividuals experiencing this same crisis. <\/span>I have tried to provide reassurance, based on my own path
\nfrom atheism to belief, and my own experience as a physician, geneticist, and
\nChristian, that science and faith are entirely compatible. <\/span>We humans have the privilege of
\ndiscerning the truth from both <\/i>of
\nGod’s books – the book of God’s words (the scriptures) and the book of God’s
\nworks (nature). <\/span>But when the Bible
\nis read as a scientific textbook, or when scientific findings are taken to
\nprove or disprove certain spiritual conclusions, trouble ensues. <\/p>\n
\nled to an increasingly hostile battle of worldviews, especially in the United
\nStates. <\/span>The conversation is
\nparticularly dominated by those at the extremes of the spectrum. <\/span>Some of those are religious fundamentalists. <\/span>Some are scientific
\nfundamentalists. <\/span>This contentious
\natmosphere has often discouraged a more deep and meaningful dialogue. <\/span>And the battle is having a lot of
\ninnocent casualties, like my college correspondent.<\/p>\n
\ntheological and scientific rigor, that takes seriously the claims of both
\ntheism and science, and that finds compelling evidence for their
\ncompatibility. <\/span>To try to fill that
\nvoid, my colleagues Darrel Falk (Ph.D., biology), Karl Giberson (Ph.D.,
\nphysics), Syman Stevens (M.A., philosophy), and I have founded the non-profit
\nBioLogos Foundation. <\/span>The word
\nBioLogos arises by combining the Greek words Bios (life) and Logos (the Word),
\nreflecting our conviction that the universe, and the life within it, can be
\nunderstood as a manifestation of God’s creative purpose. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nWaldman to host this new Beliefnet blog on Science
\nand the Sacred<\/i>. <\/span>Today’s
\ninaugural entry could thus be considered our “BioLoguration”. <\/span>New entries will appear weekly, penned
\nby one of us, or by guest bloggers that will offer new and refreshing insights
\non the interface between science and faith. <\/span>We encourage responses (but let’s keep it civil,
\nplease!). <\/span>We will also aim to post
\ndaily images, quotes, and prayers on this same site.<\/p>\n
\nsite: www.biologos.org<\/a>, also being
\nunveiled on April 28, 2009, which contains many more resources for those interested
\nin this topic. <\/span>That includes <\/span>thoughtful responses to more than two
\ndozen of the most frequently asked questions about science and faith – as posed
\nby atheists, agnostics, skeptics, seekers, and believers in the more than 1000
\ne-mails and letters I have received since The
\nLanguage of God<\/i> was published.<\/p>\n
\ntruth, but she was reassured to know that it is possible to embrace both
\nscience and faith, without having your brain explode. <\/span>I hope these new resources will help her. <\/span>I hope they will help you also. <\/span>Join us here and at www.biologos.org<\/a> <\/span>for a chance to explore some profound questions about science
\nand the sacred.<\/p>\n![\"logotype_with_dove.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/202\/import\/logos\/logotype_with_dove.jpg\")
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