Truth, Usefulness, and Phenomenological Language

When we talk about “translation,” we understand that we have in mind two languages. Translation is to render something originally in one language in the other language. Saying that the Bible teaches a wrong cosmology also implies a difference: a correct version and a wrong version. Where “accommodation” is invoked the biblical version might not…
Teaches or Assumes? Ancient Near Eastern Cosmology

Theories abound on the inspiration of Scripture, from God dictating precise words to the Holy Spirit inspiring biblical authors in much the same way musicians speak of being inspired when they create a masterpiece. One theory of inspiration that holds great sway among American evangelicals particularly, states that the Bible is true in all that…
Teaches or Employs? Six Reasons to Accept Accommodation

During the first day of my college course on the relationship between science and religion, I have my students draw a diagram of the scene that they envision in Genesis 1:2. “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the…
We Are Earth-Bounded Humans in Every Way

The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth he has given to mankind. (Ps. 115:16) When Copernicus published his theory, challenging Ptolemy’s model (second century A.D.) and favoring that of Aristarchus of Samos (third century B.C.), that the sun not the earth is the center of the solar system, he could not stand outside his…
Once More on Accommodation

Thinking deeply about science and religion, and thinking especially about how the two disciplines should properly interact, is now a multimillion-dollar industry. Or so it seems. The Templeton Foundation and BioLogos, for example, are big players. But there are many other participants, including the Henry Center’s Creation Project. Top tier universities like Oxford and Cambridge…
Henry Center Awarded $3.4 Million Templeton Grant

Deerfield, IL –Trinity Evangelical Divinity School’s Carl F. H. Henry Center for Theological Understanding has been awarded a grant of $3.4 million from the Templeton Religion Trust for a multi-year study project that will examine and develop the Christian doctrine of creation within evangelical theology. The initiative, titled “Evangelical Theology and the Doctrine of Creation,”…
Greater Is He Who Is in You

Although Christian lay people and their leaders in Congo almost universally affirm the existence of witches, a significant number manage to navigate life without giving into fear or to the pressures of family members who want them to consult a shaman (or a Christian prophet) in order to identify the alleged witch behind this or…