My Favorite Eugene Peterson Quotes

On Monday, October 24th, Eugene Peterson, pastor, professor, and author of The Message and numerous other books died at the age of eighty-five. He left a rich, reflective, earthy, and grace-filled legacy. Below are the insights from his writings that I’ve appreciated or have influenced me the most. At the beginning, I’ve also included one passage from The Message because … Read More

How Death is a Pre-Fall Reality That Points Us to Christ

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned…. (Rom. 5:12, ESV) Recently I was asked in light of the series I did on “How I Changed My Mind About Genesis 1 and Science” the following question: How do evolutionary creationists account for the idea … Read More

Civility Again: Why We Need to Say More About How We Say Things

I was grieved this week. Not only because children were being separated from their parents as a result of the new “zero-tolerance” policy at the U.S.-Mexico border—something that has been opposed by major evangelical organizations for weeks, but because I saw relationships severed due to the emotional and ugly rhetoric on both sides. We so easily villainize each other and Christians … Read More

How I Changed my Mind About Genesis 1 and Science, Part 5 of 5

I am incompetent to endorse evolution. My point is that the scientific consensus endorses it, and, like B. B. Warfield, as an exegete and biblical theologian I see no need to interpret natural selection for the origin of species within an atheist worldview. Natural selection can be accepted within a framework of trusting Scripture as inerrant as to its source … Read More

How I Changed my Mind About Genesis 1 and Science, Part 4 of 5

If indeed nature and Scripture have the same author, as Christians affirm, then there cannot, ultimately, be any disagreement between what we “read” in one book and what we read in the other.[1]– Dennis R. Venema, Ph.D. and professor of biology Theology shouldn’t merely withstand scientific discovery—it should celebrate it as a display of God’s handiwork.[2]– Daniel M. Harrell, Ph.D. … Read More

How I Changed my Mind About Genesis 1 and Science, Part 3 of 5

Neither the Bible nor nature are self-interpreting, so our interpretations in either realm are always potentially fallible and wrong.- Gordon Fish, Ph.D. physicist and patent agent Unwillingness to critically challenge one’s interpretative methods sounds dangerously close to declaring personal infallibility.- Stephen Ashley Blake, President of Realm Entertainment We mentioned last week that there’s evidence that God in his kindness used … Read More

How I Changed my Mind About Genesis 1 and Science, Part 2 of 5

The most hurtful theologically-driven myth of all times [is] that human beings are… specially created and endowed with souls, whereas ‘they’—all other creatures—were not.[1] -David P. Barash, Professor of Psychology Emeritus at the University of Washington Once many of us climb out of the swamp of our own, often fear-based and isolated, Christian subcultures, we’ll be better prepared to respond … Read More

How I Changed my Mind About Genesis 1 and Science, Part 1 of 5

I’m no kin to the monkey and the monkey’s no kin to me. I don’t know much about your ancestors but mine didn’t swing from a tree. It’s a ditty I learned in Sunday School. It was also the extent of my knowledge of evolutionary biology, except a few things I learned in Jack Chick’s comic books. When I was … Read More