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Tuesday 31 March 2015

Evolution and the Bible - a Recommended Viewing List

We've seen that material such as the CMI video "Evolution's Achilles' Heel" is not going to provide an informed, reliable overview of how a Christian should understand the creation narratives in light of the fact of evolution. The following videos, largely from the excellent BioLogos, will provide the interested layperson with an excellent overview of the evidence for an ancient, evolving universe, how the ancient Hebrew audience understood Genesis, and how we can understand the Bible in light of the witness of the natural world.

The first point would be the BioLogos film "From the Dust":
"The question of where we come from is a mystery man has explored throughout human history. As Charles Darwin composed his theory of natural selection, he defined for the modern generation a suitable, if altogether scientific answer for the origin of man. Yet, there is one segment of society that has been consistently uncomfortable with its revelations—the community of faith.
"Does the Bible provide a narrative of mankind's material origin? What is the real source of the controversy surrounding evolution vs. creation?

"In From the Dust, a feature-length documentary film from Highway Media and The BioLogos Forum, renowned theologians, educators, and scientists reexamine this perennial debate, and infuse it with fresh theories, new theological insights, and an open desire for truth and dialogue."



Critical to understanding Genesis is to see it as the ancient Hebrew audience would have seen it. Respected Old Testament scholar John Walton shows how the ancient audience would have read Genesis, and with this knowledge, we can contextualise the message for our day:



For those wanting an informed, reliable overview of the scientific evidence, these BioLogos videos are accessible and succinct without being too brief:

Age of earth



Speciation and macroevolution



Transitional fossils



Genetic evidence for evolution



Randomness and evolution



Hominids and evolution