Theistic evolution is a theological interpretation of evolutionary biology as it is understood through evolutionary molecular biology, natural selection, and population genetics (the Modern Synthesis), as well as epigenetic inheritance, evolutionary-developmental biology (evo-devo), and convergent evolution, to name a few of the most important scientific contributions to the general field of evolutionary biology. The central…

There is no single view about the authority of Scripture held amongst analytic theologians. There is no single view about how to use Scripture in theological argument among analytic theologians either. This should come as no surprise to those acquainted with analytic theology. It is, after all, a methodological approach to doing theology that is…

On the day of Pentecost, in one of the most dramatic sermons ever preached, Peter proclaimed that “You killed the author of life” [Acts 3:15]. Authorship is a powerful metaphor for referring to the Christological creation, that wonderful created order in which we find our existence. The New Testament insists that it is through Christ…

A Quick Story In 2007, I gave a paper at Oxford University for the British Society for the Philosophy of Religion titled “Why God Might be Poly-present, not Omnipresent.” Though not a gem of an essay, I basically argued that Scripture consistently presents God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—in particular spatial location, not ubiquitously present everywhere…

Deerfield, IL – The Henry Center for Theological Understanding, a ministry of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and its faculty, has been awarded a 4.2 million dollar grant from the John Templeton Foundation to continue the Creation Project, a multi-year initiative on the Christian doctrine of creation within evangelical theology. The Creation Project aims to recover…

Messianic expectation is a central aspect of Jewish eschatology, and throughout Jewish history, Psalm 95 has been seen as looking toward the reign of the coming king. It is not surprising, then, that Christian interpreters of the sixteenth century read these texts as clear references to Christ. Konrad Pellikan (1478-1556) argues here in reference to…

It is generally agreed that the most recent and perhaps greatest challenge posed by science to Christianity came with the publication in 1859 of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. Although evolution as a concept had become current and popular in the eighteenth century due to the work of pioneering French biologist Jean Baptiste…

No, the phrase “evolutionary creationism” purposely does not allow for detectable divine intervention. Let me explain why. For any discussion of evolution or creation to have even a chance of being constructive, one first must define those terms, plus any other words or phrases whose meaning is not completely transparent. Otherwise, as can be seen…

A Review of C. John Collins, Reading Genesis Well: Navigating History, Poetry, Science, and Truth in Genesis 1–11 There is a blindspot hampering most debates about the early chapters of Genesis. In recent centuries, traditional interpretations of the creation and flood narratives were challenged by advances in astronomy, geology, and evolutionary biology. Now in the…

The question has been purposefully left rather vague, but of course the answer will depend on what is meant by the relevant terms. Language can be surprisingly tricky, and while dictionary definitions might act as a guide, they really only reflect how people use words—which changes over time (consider “guy” or “gay” or “literally”). Particularly…

On the traditional reading of the Genesis account up until Darwin, God miraculously brought the universe into being through immediate divine action. In all its astonishing diversity, the universe emerged by divine fiat. Charles Darwin would end up toppling that old picture in one fell swoop. Not singlehandedly, of course—he had intellectual forebears and was…

Reformed commentators tend to find Christ in the Psalms typologically, and that approach to the text is demonstrated in John Calvin’s (1509-1564) interpretation of Psalm 41:9. While Christ applied this text to Judas, Calvin finds a broader correspondence between David and Christ. David’s words concerning his own situation, Calvin argues, are representative of Christ, and…