Answer
BioLogos is the name of an organization that promotes various forms of theistic evolution. Their slogan is “science and faith in harmony,” and they seek to show that science and faith do not have to be mutually exclusive. One of the central claims of BioLogos is that God began the process of evolution, making Him responsible for origins, but they reject a six-day literalist interpretation of creation. Based on scientific evidence, i.e., what we can observe of the natural world, BioLogos claims that a six-24-hour-day creation is not the way God intended us to interpret Scripture.
BioLogos does well in reminding everyone, Christian or not, that science does not preclude the miraculous. Arthur C. Clarke, a noted science fiction author, said, “Magic is simply science that we don’t understand yet,” a statement that highlights the limitations of science (a paraphrase of Clarke’s Third Law, from Profiles of the Future, Harper and Row, 1973, p. 21). Just because we don’t understand how God accomplished a miracle does not mean He was unable to accomplish it. Christians believe that God is omnipotent and that He upholds the entire universe by the “word of His power” (Hebrews 1:3).
Consider the story of Joshua’s army and the sun standing still—a story that many people find utterly unbelievable and scientifically irrational (Joshua 10:13). In order for the sun to stop, under natural circumstances, the earth would have to stop in its rotation, which skeptics note would destroy all life on the planet. But this is not the only possible explanation of how God performed the miracle. Even if He did stop the earth’s rotation, could not the all-powerful, all-wise God have compensated for the lack of rotation and preserved life on earth? Christians do not say, “Based on science, this or that is impossible”; they say, “With God, all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).
In our view, BioLogos sometimes exerts too much effort trying to explain the actions of God using natural means, rather than supernatural means. God inhabits the supernatural world, a realm that science is incapable of measuring, testing, or explaining. Science is the study of what is natural—it does not inform us about the supernatural. Some aspects of creation are simply better understood as supernatural events, rather than being given contrived “natural” origins.
Christian theology depends heavily upon supernatural occurrences, and BioLogos accepts the reality of miracles. This includes the virgin birth of Christ, the atonement, the resurrection of Christ, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. All these doctrines are essential to Christianity and cannot be done away with. Fortunately, BioLogos does not reject the supernatural or the miraculous. According to BioLogos, God can intervene in the natural world and has done so, as recorded in the Bible.
BioLogos also does well in reminding all people, Christian or not, that science is not infallible. Science is subject to interpretation and bias, just as study of the Bible can be influenced by fallible human error. Evolutionists often criticize Christian beliefs for being axiomatic—and not subject to change based on new information—but the science world has its axioms as well.
While we disagree with the conclusions of BioLogos, in particular those related to evolution and the precise nature of God’s role in creation, their views are not incompatible with a high view of Scripture. We reject some of their argumentation on scientific issues but appreciate their acceptance of Scripture and the truths of Christianity.
