I’m thrilled to announce that Thank God for Evolution (affectionately known by Connie and me as TGFE, pronounced “tee-gee-fee”) has been born again! In April, Viking Penguin bought world rights to TGFE from Council Oak Books, the original publisher. The publication date for the new Viking edition is June 19th. And because the “born again” TGFE will have a new cover, over the next few weeks this companion website will undergo a makeover as well.

More soon.

Governor of New York, Lieutenant Governor of New York, Mayor of Detroit: Recently, the men occupying these powerful posts have had their sexual indiscretions publicly aired. The Governor’s alleged cross-state tryst with a prostitute, and the mayor’s indictment for perjury in his previous denial of sexual impropriety entangled in government business, could subject both to felony charges. Governor Eliot Spitzer, now-Governor David Paterson, and Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick thus join the ranks of American political (and religious) leaders whose legacies have been marred or even destroyed by sex scandals.

Among the reports and commentaries I have sampled on these three events, none thus far has offered a perspective that will provide future governmental leaders with any real help in staying the path. Heightened fear, perhaps. But fear subsides over time — or is decisively over-ruled in the moment by the powerful urges of (what I like to call) our “Lizard Legacy,” supercharged by jolts of testosterone that are both cause and consequence of a significant rise in status. As I wrote in my book (referring to the fall of Pastor Ted Haggard and the impeachment proceedings of President Bill Clinton),

“Have we learned anything from these personal and public tragedies? I would venture this: So long as religious and political leaders continue to ignore our evolutionary heritage, and thus do not put in place structures of internal and external support that can withstand the high dosages of testosterone that high status and power necessarily confer, then there will be no hope for a less calamitous future. — TGFE p. 148

How, specifically, would an evolutionary understanding offer effective guidance? First, let us consider the science. Again from my book:

“Our reptilian brain [what I call, our Lizard Legacy] truly has its own agenda, a set of three ultimate goals: sustenance, survival, and sex. Evolution found ways to make sexual fulfillment extraordinarily pleasurable in order to ensure procreation. But the penis, in particular, doesn’t remember the ‘in order to’ part of the deal.” — TGFE p. 147

“Sexual drives that would lead to marital infidelity may, of course, be quiescent in some individuals, but there is a well-established link between high levels of testosterone and how insistent and relentless the sexual drives become. Moreover, there is a well-established link in mammals between gains in status and elevated levels of testosterone. Either can cause an upswing in the other. So even if we begin our social climbing with our internal ‘assassin’ adequately restrained, once our status exceeds a threshold, without support and accountability our elevated hormones may be our undoing. As our secret indiscretions become public, our paleomammalian drive to maintain high status kicks in big time, such that we are tempted to violate other moral principles as well—by lying, blaming others, covering up, perhaps even blackmailing possible informants and threatening them with physical harm. — TGFE p. 147

Science leads to self-understanding, which opens the way for truly effective self-help practices:

“Appreciating that unwanted inclinations are part of our heritage doesn’t mean we must do their bidding. But it does help us accept that the yearnings themselves need not be judged as shameful — and thus we don’t have to be in denial about their existence. A man choosing to live in a committed, monogamous relationship with a woman, for example, can accept that sexually promiscuous thoughts (heterosexual and/or homosexual) are natural and to be expected from time to time. This is true even for those who are completely happy with their partner. Only from the stance of acceptance can one effectively notice and then seek peer support and accountability to remain in integrity when unwanted urges do arise.” — TGFE p. 145

“As I walk an evolutionary path of personal salvation, humility is a requisite, for I cannot save myself by myself. Original Sin runs deep. My Lizard Legacy is too powerful, and my Furry Li’l Mammal lives in a world of small and often selfish concerns. I need others and, in fact, I need the Whole of Reality. Here we see another face of deep-time grace in and through evolutionary psychology and brain science. How much more workable to accept ourselves, in all our flaws, rather than to resist those inborn aspects as if they shouldn’t be! Instincts simply are, and we can see how they served our ancestors. Now, how do we go about the task of channeling those energies in integrous ways, with equanimity and insight rather than white-knuckle horror?” — TGFE p. 169

Accountability is key. Here are some practices that promote accountability and community nurturance:

“Integrity is not a solo sport; it is a community undertaking. For this reason, I dream of the day when baptism in a Christian church comes to mean this: We know that Original Sin cannot be washed away by a daub of water. Rather, the baptismal act is a commitment by the community to lovingly guide the baptized individual through all of life’s stages and through every challenge, using the awareness and tools that God has revealed and will continue to reveal through the time-tested wisdom of our cultural and religious inheritance and the public revelations of science. The religious community would provide structures of education and support that would acquaint us with our evolved Quadrune Brain: our Lizard Legacy, our Furry Li’l Mammal, our Monkey Mind, and our Higher Porpoise. In adolescence and continuing throughout adulthood, our baptismal community would be counted for peer counseling, recovery work, and encouragement of our Higher Porpoise through participation in evo-integrity groups.” — TGFE p. 174

In summary,

“There is profound relief in knowing that the inclinations we most dislike in ourselves and others are often not of our or their own doing. In a way, our flaws are not our fault. We didn’t choose them; nor did others. We all, to some extent, inherited them. Our inherited proclivities were shaped by the particulars of our human, mammalian, and vertebrate evolutionary journeys, nuanced by the developmental journey each of us navigates from womb to tomb. This gift of understanding is the foundation for any lasting transformation. It encourages us to move beyond denial or condemnation and simply accept that there are powerful drives within all of us that we did not choose. Once relaxed and accepting, we can begin to forgive self and others for past transgressions. This forgiveness, in turn, clears the board and gives us the courage to look full-square at our current situation and from that vantage to embark on realistic paths for bettering our lives, enriching our relationships, and blessing our world.” — TGFE p. 154

On February 15, I was honored to participate in an evolutionary revival — likely, the world’s first evolutionary revival. It was fabulous!

What is an evolutionary revival? It is an opportunity for folks to gather together to sing, celebrate, and learn about evolution in a salvific way, such that many are moved to respond to a “call to commitment” to the future: to the ongoing evolutionary journey.

This first evolutionary revival was hosted by the First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego. It was the brainchild of UU member Keith Mesecher (photo above), a musician with a knack for composing songs that are simple enough for everyone to sing and understand, yet profoundly inspiring. Beginning last September, Keith and his band have been providing the musical frame for a monthly, Friday-night “Cosmos” service at the church. For the revival, Keith ramped up the scale of his usual program and moved it from the chapel to the sanctuary.

My wife and I happily produced core components of this special event. Connie used her techie skills to compose digital slides, verse by verse, for all the songs. She chose beautiful photos of space and Earth to provide the background on which the text appeared. Projecting these slides onto a big screen made it possible for all 150 participants to join in the singing of praise — to Cosmic Creativity, to God, to whatever one feels is drawing us into gratitude, reverence, and celebration.

Connie also narrated the “evolutionary parable”, working with 3 volunteers who acted out the parts to “Startull: The Story of an Average Yellow Star”. Because this parable draws upon the scientific understanding of how the atoms in our bodies came into being inside giant, ancestor stars, Connie needed to deliver a mini-science lesson first. This she chose to accomplish not by lecture but through song.

I came onstage toward the end of the evening to deliver the sermon component, leading up to a call to commitment. I was moved to watch almost the entire audience stand in solidarity, as we each committed to serve the future: the future of humanity, of the life community, of this amazing journey.

But no question: what made this a celebratory event was the quality of the songs and the enthusiasm of all who joined to sing and dance in praise. And for that, I applaud the achievement of visionary Keith Mesecher. NOTE: Keith and his band are working on a CD of songs, songsheets, and digital slides so that other churches are empowered to grow their own expressions of evolutionary revivals.

Visit the brief picture essay that Connie posted of this historic event.

It matters what we think about evolution. Trying to understand reality without an evolutionary worldview is like trying to understand infection without microscopes or the structure of the Universe without telescopes. It’s not merely difficult; it’s impossible.

Thank God for evolution!

Until we recognize billions of years — not just thousands of years — of grace and guidance, we will remain stuck with abstract and trivial concepts of God, morally confusing and divisive notions of scripture, and unnatural and competitive understandings of religion.

It matters what we think about evolution!

God didn’t stop revealing truth vital to human wellbeing back when people believed the world was flat and religious insights were recorded on animal skins. God is still communicating faithfully today, publicly, through the worldwide, self-correcting scientific enterprise. Facts are God’s native tongue.

Thank God for evolution!

Interpreting the insights of evolutionary psychology and brain science religiously, we vitalize our appreciation of doctrines such as ‘The Fall’ and ‘Original Sin’. Now we can comprehend in a realistic way why it is that we and our loved ones struggle with unwanted habits, and why our most important relationships can be so challenging.

It matters what we think about evolution!

Until we see the entire history of the Universe as scripture, and create laws and incentives that align the self-interests of individuals, corporations, and nations with the wellbeing of life as a whole, we will continue to toxify the air, water, and soil, drive other species to extinction, and be hounded by religious, political, social, and economic crises.

Thank God for evolution!

We cannot trust our future to anyone who believes the world is but a few thousand years old and who interprets ancient apocalyptic writings as revealing God’s perfect will. With global warming and global warring on the horizon, the time has come for down-to-earth leaders with heavenly aspirations that include everyone, everywhere.

It matters what we think about evolution!

These are not the ‘End Times’ for humanity; they are just the beginning. We know this from the fossil record and from careful observation of the cosmos. Studying evolution is like following cosmic breadcrumbs home. Dinosaur bones and prehistoric artifacts, Hubble space photos and DNA are here to teach us faith, not test it.

Thank God for evolution!

Until we grasp that death plays a vital and necessary role in an evolving cosmos, medical technologies will continue to prolong physical and emotional suffering, medical choices will continue to provoke family discord, and the medical industry will continue to underwrite the widening gap between the rich and the poor.

It matters what we think about evolution!

Until churches in America preach evolution enthusiastically, sacredly, in ways that expand and enrich faith, the battle over teaching evolutionary science in public schools will never end.

Thank God for evolution!

Until we learn to see through sacred deep-time eyes, atheists and fundamentalists will continue to blame each other for the world’s ills, liberals and conservatives will keep trashing one another, and, collectively, we will fail to see that enormous global challenges are divine evolutionary drivers guiding us to greatness.

It matters what we think about evolution!

Thank God for evolution! … Amen?

NOTE: A PRINTABLE PDF OF THIS LITANY CAN BE FOUND HERE.

The single greatest advantage that an evolutionary worldview has over traditional, flat-earth worldviews is that evolution provides a firmer foundation for godly ethics and morality, individually and collectively, than can ethical systems based on the Bible, Qur’an, or any other ancient writings alone.

Connie and I are in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area for a couple of weeks. Yesterday I was interviewed twice, first by the religion reporter for the Dallas Morning News, next by a staff writer for Pegasus News. In both interviews I was asked about where, from an evolutionary perspective, I derive my sense of morality and ethics. In my replies I referenced Stephen Pinker’s fabulous article in the January 13th issue of The New York Times Magazine: “The Moral Instinct”.

Pinker’s essay on the evolutionary roots of morality is the latest in a brilliant and compelling lineage. One of my favorite quotations on this topic comes from the 2004 book by Michael Shermer: The Science of Good and Evil: Why People Cheat, Gossip, Care, Share, and Follow the Golden Rule. Shermer writes, “In an evolutionary theory of morality, asking ‘Why should we be moral?’ is like asking ‘Why should we be hungry?’ or ‘Why should we be horny?’ For that matter, we could ask, ‘Why should we be jealous?’ or ‘Why should we fall in love?’ The answer is that it is as much a part of human nature to be moral as it is to be hungry, horny, jealous, and in love.”

Another valuable resource on this subject (and one of the wisest books I’ve ever read) I mentioned a few months ago in my Evolutionary Religious Studies blog post. It is the book, The Happiness Hypothesis, by Jonathan Haidt (pronounced “Height”). A short essay,“Moral Psychology and the Misunderstanding of Religion” that Haidt originally posted in an online salon, “Edge”, was singled out by New York Times columnist David Brooks as one of the best articles of 2007. That essay powerfully bridges conservative and liberal religious sensibilities.

My own thoughts on this subject can be found throughout Thank God for Evolution!. The following is excerpted from Chapter 18: “Our Evolving Understanding of ‘God’s Will’”:

In America we often hear, especially in conservative settings, how the Bible is the only secure foundation for moral instruction and ethical guidance. Yet those of us who have actually read the entire Bible, and are clear-headed enough to see it as it actually is, know that it would be ludicrous (indeed, immoral) to advise a child, “Yes, dear. You should use as your own model for appropriate behavior whatever actions you read in the Bible that are attributed there to God or to what God commands us to do.”

Among those who are thrilled to encounter a holy view of evolution are parents yearning for inspiring ways to teach their children moral values — moral values grounded in science and commonsense, rather than based on ancient writings, which (in today’s world) offer an ambiguous moral compass at best. Yes, the Bible contains hundreds of wonderful and useful passages that can help us teach our children how to become good, happy, loving, on-purpose adults. The Bible also, however, contains many grotesque and morally repugnant passages that none of us would want our children to see, much less emulate.

As Michael Earl points out in Parts 1 and 2 of his free online audio program, Bible Stories Your Parents Never Taught You, those who claim that the Ten Commandments can or should serve as an ethical foundation for us today fail to realize how far they themselves have evolved morally beyond the biblically prescribed consequences for violating these so-called “laws of God.” According to the Bible, “God’s will” can be, and often is, brutal. Deuteronomy 13:6–10 prescribes that if someone breaks either of the first two commandments (”no gods before God” and “no idols”), they are to be put to death. Leviticus 24:13–16 and 23 instructs readers that if the third commandment (”Don’t take the Lord’s name in vain”) is broken, the penalty is death. Numbers 15:32–36 warns that if you work on the Sabbath, thereby breaking the fourth commandment, your life will be taken from you. And according to Exodus 21:17 and Deuteronomy 21:18–21, if you curse your parents, or even if you’re just a stubborn and rebellious teenager (thereby violating the fifth commandment, to honor your father and mother), God’s prescribed penalty for this, too, is death. (That’ll teach little Isaac—or, at least Isaac’s younger brother, who has to watch his sibling being stoned to death for mouthing off to mom and dad.) This is not the sort of justice making or parenting practice that Americans in the main would support today.

Many Christians today advocate, or at least support the notion, that the Ten Commandments should be our moral benchmark. We are told that God is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. But as Earl points out, today we don’t kill Sabbath breakers. Nor do we stone to death our teenage daughters who lose their virginity before marriage, or our teenage sons who disobey us. And the reason we don’t kill Sabbath breakers or our troublesome children is quite simple: it would be immoral. Moreover, who among us would qualify as stoner rather than stonee. Clearly, we’ve evolved beyond (at least some) biblical values and scriptural morality. As Earl states, “When compared to the regime of Moses, the regime of the Taliban comes off looking like the ACLU.”

Not long ago I was talking with a woman, the mother of two teenagers, after one of my programs. We were discussing the mixed moral messages found in ancient written scripture. The woman confided, “I wouldn’t even think of encouraging my kids to apply in their own lives whatever values they found in the Bible. And most other parents I know feel the same way.” She continued, “Why, then, do so many of us Christians—liberals and conservatives alike—still refer to these texts as ‘God’s Word’?” My response was simple: “What alternative, until now, did we have?”

We can finally (thank God!), once again speak boldly and prophetically about right and wrong, and do so without needing to appeal to ancient texts. From the perspective of Evolution Theology, something is right if it honors or fosters the health and wellbeing of the larger and smaller holons of our existence or furthers the emergence of greater cooperation and interdependence at increasing scale and evolvability. A thing is wrong if it undermines these values. Said another way, a thing is right if it helps individuals and collectives to grow in trust, authenticity, responsibility, and service. A thing is wrong if it tends otherwise.

In oral cultures of ancient times, the inborn moral sense would have been honed and amplified by storytelling, songs, and ceremony. When writing developed, right and wrong tended to become identified by whether or not something aligned with written laws and guidelines held sacred by the community. Judgment was also based on whether an act would promote cooperation and wellbeing at the level of tribe, religious group, or nation—or whether it would do the obverse. Today, thanks to print, electronics, computers, and the Internet, we’ve come to see that the wellbeing of every individual, corporation, and nation-state is integrally connected to the health and wellbeing of the entire body of Life. This is why right and wrong are now discerned in larger, more comprehensive ways than ever before, and why conversations to find insights and solutions that meet the needs of all parties are so central to the Great Work we are now engaged in.

People everywhere today know that love, respect, gratitude, compassion, integrity, responsibility, humility, kindness, accountability, and so on are God’s will and lead to healthy maturation, healthy relationships, and healthy communities. Similarly, we all know that hatred, pride, arrogance, self-righteousness, envy, resentment, bitterness, deception, theft, and so forth damage the human spirit and unravel social bonds. We don’t need ancient writings to tell us this. It may be the case that in biblical times, the size and complexity of societies and information systems had not yet developed to a point where these moral principles were as obvious as they are to us today, just as the moral issues around war and use of fossil fuels became apparent during the 20th century. Now God’s will and God’s ways can be discerned throughout biological and human history, as well as in our own experience and within the quiet places of our hearts.

It matters what we think about evolution. In many situations, nothing matters more. My wife, Connie, just spent the past several hours browsing Internet news and blogs on the Jamie Lynn Spears fiasco. She files this guest post:

Jamie Lynn Spears (16-year-old sibling of Britney) for three years has played the smart, good-girl lead on Nickelodeon’s popular tweens television show, Zoey 101. On December 18, she (and her mom) announced to the world that she was pregnant — about 3 months pregnant.

Now many parents are faced with not only having to help their tween (and even pre-tween) girls deal with their grief and anger that their idol has fallen, but also helping them come through this ordeal better prepared to face the intimacy challenges that they themselves will surely face.

Here is where an understanding of our evolved quadrune brain can be of enormous help.

Chapters 8 through 10 of Thank God for Evolution! (a pdf of which can be downloaded for free here) is a great way to quickly absorb not only the science but also the parenting implications of the profound insights born of evolutionary psychology and evolutionary brain science.

For this blog post, we offer a color version of the 2-part illustration that appears on page 135, along with its caption:

OUR QUADRUNE BRAIN. Our deepest, oldest brain components (and behavioral drives) reflect our ancient reptilian heritage — what might be called, our Lizard Legacy. Next, and wrapping around the reptilian core, is our paleomammalian brain, the limbic system, which is the seat of emotions — our Furry Li’l Mammal. Superimposed on these two structures is our newer, neomammalian brain: our neocortex, which is our incessantly talkative Monkey Mind. Last to evolve is the section of neocortex at our forehead. With a left side and a right side, these are our frontal lobes — the seat of our sense of purpose, our Higher Porpoise.

Okay, so what does this have to do with Zoey (er, Jamie Lynn Spears)?  Everything!

Briefly, Jamie Lynn Spears got pregnant because the powerful instincts for sex that are embedded in the Lizard Legacy part of our brain, and which are awakened by the surge of hormones that mark puberty, got the best of her better judgment — that is, her Higher Porpoise.

And let’s give her the benefit of the doubt.  Let’s assume that she really was committed, deeply committed, to acting in accordance with her values regarding intimacy — whether those values might have been outright sexual abstinence or perhaps sexual responsibility, i.e., commitment to use contraceptives and STD protection every time.

When her Furry Li’l Mammal’s enormous desire for romance and nurturing touch teamed up with her (or maybe just his) Lizard Legacy’s compelling desire for copulation, it is no surprise that Jamie Lynn’s commitments succumbed to lapses in judgment for a very simple reason: the frontal lobes of the human brain do not fully develop until our early twenties!

That is why all teens — be they from conservative families or from liberal families — absolutely require support systems that, in effect, can serve as their external frontal lobes. This, from the 17 October 2004 issue of The New York Times:

Teenagers in stressful situations . . . are not going to act like adults. Their brains can’t handle it. . . . “This is why kids who are good kids, who know right from wrong, sometimes do stupid things,” says Dr. David Fassler, a psychiatrist in Burlington, Vt., and a spokesman for the American Psychiatric Association on this issue [whether to ban the death penalty for murderers under the age of 18]. ”They act on impulse.”

How, then, do most teenagers survive adolescence without harming themselves or winding up in jail? Good parenting is one reason, Baird says. “The people around you are like an external frontal cortex,” she says.

If you’ve never heard that parents and other adults responsible for teens must serve as a stand-in for the as-yet under-developed executive function of their brains (their frontal lobes, prefrontal cortex, or “Higher Porpoise”), it is because until very recently scientists were clueless about one crucial fact of brain development. Before 2004, scientists assumed that the human brain was fully developed by around the time of puberty. Teens made bad choices because they held the wrong values, lacked experience, or were subject to harmful social influences of peers. But in 2004, scientists announced the discovery of this alarming fact: the part of the human brain that is absolutely crucial for staying out of trouble does not mature until our early twenties!

This, from page 159 of Thank God for Evolution!:

From an “unintelligent design” perspective, one could argue that God blundered by arranging for the human body to develop its secondary sexual characteristics a full decade before the frontal lobes (Higher Porpoise) of the human brain become fully operative.

Hence, it really does matter what we think about evolution. In this situation, perhaps nothing matters more.

Conservative parents and guardians of teens will respond to the news of our evolved brains in a variety of ways that suit their values and traditions. Liberal parents and guardians will do likewise. But both groups will be well served to step up to the plate on this matter right now.

Evolution can no longer be ignored by either group.

Jamie Lynn, please hear this: Breakthroughs can emerge from breakdowns. By the time your baby is born and you step up to the responsibilities of parenthood, I hope parents everywhere are breathing a sigh of relief that, thanks to you, they are now equipped with far better insights and tools for safely guiding their own teens through this challenging life transition. And that my dear, will be a great gift to the world.

Note: In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court, cited the 2004 scientific research on frontal lobes in teens in ruling that youths under 18 who committed crimes could not be sentenced to the death penalty.

Much has been written in the blogosphere in the last week and a half about the Texas science curriculum director who was fired for sending an email to friends suggesting that she thought more highly of evolution than ‘intelligent design’ (ID). (I find this amazing given the fact that well over 95% of the scientists of the world hold an evolutionary worldview.) I first learned about this story in Wired, which directly led to Wired science blogger Brandon Keim’s blog about my version of Evolutionary Christianity, and then, the next day, his interview of me. Since then, however, this Texas story has been written up nearly everywhere.

While I appreciate the heart and soul of the intelligent design movement and respect its key proponents at the Discovery Institute, ultimately I believe ID is a dead-end path. The main problem with ID, as I see it, is that it trivializes God and dishonors science. The phrase itself, ‘intelligent design’, presupposes a view of the world as a created object rather than as a divinely creative reality in its own right. One of the great modern revelations, which could not possibly have been revealed in biblical times, is this: divine immanence is measurably real! The Universe as a whole (including planet Earth) is creative at all nested levels: atoms, molecules, cells, organisms, planets, and galaxies alike, with increasing complexity emerging over time. More, we don’t merely believe this is true, we know it. Reinterpreting traditional insights and doctrines in light of this fact is the Great Work of religion in the 21st century. ID presupposes an otherworldly designer outside the system - transcendent, but not immanent nor omnipresent.

It’s not a surprise to me that the scientific community has so roundly rejected intelligent design as an explanation for how the world became complex. ID fails to appreciate the revelatory nature of the worldwide, self-correcting scientific enterprise. It also perpetuates in people’s minds a ‘God of the gaps’ view of time, space, and matter. That is, wherever there’s a gap in our understanding, that’s where God’s activity is. To my mind, this is an inconsequential and trivialized understanding of the divine. An evolutionary God is so much more real than this—indeed, undeniably real!

‘Intelligent design’ as a term first appeared in 1989, two years after the teaching of ‘biblical creationism’ in public schools was ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. Its definition differs from creationism in that it is not tied to a literal interpretation of the Bible or Qur’an. Most of the leaders in the ID movement, in fact, accept that the Universe is billions of years old.

Unlike creationism and intelligent design—both belief-based approaches critical of mainstream science—Evolution Theology as a worldview and ‘evolutionary spirituality’ (Part IV of TGFE!) as a personal practice are knowledge-based approaches grounded in our best and most current scientific understandings of this evolving Cosmos and its human expression.

In my opinion, the courts are right to reject the teaching of intelligent design in public schools, at least in science classes. But I predict that the perspective offered in Thank God for Evolution! will be embraced by public school officials and the courts alike. Having endorsements from five Noble laureates and many other scientists, theologians, ministers, and cultural leaders across the theological and philosophical spectrum, including Eugenie C. Scott, Executive Director of the National Center for Science Education, should help. In contrast, I can’t imagine any of these science and religion leaders backing a book espousing intelligent design. (For those not familiar with Genie Scott, she and NCSE are the main defenders of teaching evolution in public school systems throughout the United States.)

“Michael Dowd illustrates in Thank God for Evolution! that there are many ways to be a spiritual person, and that all of them are enriched by an understanding of modern science, especially evolution. This is a creative, provocative book that sheds light on just about any spiritual path one might be on. Many will find their faith revolutionized.” — Eugenie C. Scott, Ph.D., Executive Director, National Center for Science Education

I’m often asked “How large is the Evolution Theology movement?” and “What kinds of individuals, churches, and other organizations find a sacred view of evolution inspiring?” These questions are not easy to answer, of course, for two reasons. The first is that there are many different ways that people have referred to a sacred, meaningful interpretation of cosmic history. Second, there are far, far more individuals and institutions that align with Evolutionary Theology than have ever used the term.

In future blog posts, I’ll introduce and share something about the many and diverse groups that embrace an understanding of grace that goes back billions, not just thousands, of years. Here, I’d like to just mention two of the more interesting and inspiring examples - both within Christianity: the Clergy Letter Project and the Emerging Church movement.

The Clergy Letter Project centers on a list of 11,000+ clergy who have signed a letter publicly stating that they see no conflict between their faith and a mainstream scientific understanding of evolution. The project also promotes Evolution Sunday (whichever Sunday falls closest to Darwin’s birthday, February 12th). Both of these are the brainchild of Michael Zimmerman, a biologist and the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Butler University, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Not only has the list of Clergy Letter signers continued to grow every year, but the national media attention it generates, such as in The New York Times, continues to grow too.

I wrote briefly about the Emerging Church movement a couple of months ago in my Progressive Evangelicals/Emergents blog post, while I was attending Soularize, a yearly gathering of leaders actively engaged in the Emerging Church conversation. Since then, my book, Thank God for Evolution! was sent to fifty of the leading bloggers in this movement. I’ll soon report on, and include links to, some of the exciting and heated discussion that this has generated.

Time will tell how rapidly Evolution Theology catches on in Progressive Christian and Emergent circles, but my sense is that once the Emerging Church ignites with a Gospel of Evolution message, which seems inevitable, watch out! I predict that we are on the verge of an evolution-celebrating religious revival that will transform America, and that evolutionary faith will gain ascendancy over traditional, pre-evolutionary faith here in less than a generation. I fully expect Emergent evangelicals, with their passion for God, postmodern sensibilities, and artistic/musical gifts, to play a vital and leading role in this evolutionary emergence.

The New Atheists and Young-Earth Creationists are both playing vital, necessary roles in furthering the evolution of religious perspectives. The New Atheists are assisting the evolution of religion by ridiculing trivial, uninspiring notions of God; the Young-Earth Creationists are doing their part by ridiculing trivial, uninspiring notions of evolution.

Although a number of insightful and welcome blog posts have manifested on the Internet in response to the November 2007 publication of my book, Thank God for Evolution, one particular blog entry especially delighted Connie and me - for it was written by perhaps the best-known advocate of Young-Earth Creationism.

Ken Ham posted his December 4, 2007 blog with this title: “Evolution Evangelist Visits Creation Museum.”. He wrote it in response to an article that appeared two days earlier in the Louisville Courier-Journal, titled “Will Science, Religion Kiss and Make Up?”.

Ken Ham is the president and founder of Answers in Genesis and the Creation Museum (in Petersburg, Kentucky). He blogged:

“AiG welcomed Rev. Dowd and his wife and a Courier-Journal reporter to the Creation Museum and granted interviews. All were extremely courteous, and even though Rev. Dowd and his wife totally disagreed with the message of the museum, they were very complimentary about the museum itself.”

No, Ken Ham has not misquoted us. Nor did the Courier-Journal. My wife, Connie, aptly expressed our view of the Creation Museum as reported in the newspaper:

“It really ups the ante for the rest of us to present evolution in a way that’s memorable, has a narrative story line in it and directly connects to our personal lives and personal challenges,” said Barlow, 55. “You walk into any of these other great museums in the world . . . you’re looking at some cool fossils and great interpretations,” she said. But “there isn’t a story.”

Thus, to reiterate the first sentence: The New Atheists and Young-Earth Creationists are both playing vital, necessary roles in furthering the evolution of religious perspectives. The New Atheists are assisting the evolution of religion by ridiculing trivial, uninspiring notions of God; the Young-Earth Creationists are doing their part by ridiculing trivial, uninspiring notions of evolution.

Intrigued? Hear more on this in the “REALizing God” video clip here and other video clips on the FAQ page on this website. Or, as I wrote on page 108 of TGFE!:

“Our common creation story offers a refreshingly intimate, scientifically compelling, and theologically inspiring vision of God that can provide common ground for both skeptics and religious believers. For peoples alive today, any understanding of ‘God’ that does not at least mean ‘Ultimate Reality’ or ‘the Wholeness of Reality’ (measurable and non-measurable) is, I suggest, a trivialized, inadequate notion of the divine.” (See chapters 5 and 7 in my book, which is available as a free download HERE.

The emergence of the Great Story - a sacred narrative that embraces yet transcends all scientific, religious, and cultural stories - will come to be cherished, I believe, first and foremost for enriching the depth and breadth of our experience of God.

NOTE: Pages 338-339 of my book report on our first visit to the Creation Museum, just after it opened. Ken Ham’s rendering of a Young-Earth Creationist view of how death came into the world appears on page 86, contrasted to a sacred evolutionary view of death as mirroring a cosmological reading of the early Christian scriptures: Death as natural and generative at all levels of reality and thus no less sacred than life. Also see the last section of Appendix B: “REALizing Christ’s Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven”.

While I find tremendous value in a wide diversity of religious orientations and spiritual practices, I remain unabashedly a Pentecostal Christian - an evolutionary Pentecostal to be sure, but a Pentecostal nonetheless. Whatever differences exist around the world, most Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians are united in emphasizing the following. I see these as ‘the four pillars of Pentecostalism’:

1. The authority of the Word of God
2. The need for conversion and discipleship
3. Spirit-filled worship and Christ-centered service
4. Evangelizing the gospel

As an evolutionary evangelist, I emphatically say “Amen!” to each of these, and I suspect you will too, no matter what your religious or philosophical worldview (even if you’re non-Christian or anti-religious!), once you think about such traditional religious language from the perspective of Evolutionary Theology.

When we truly get ‘public revelation’ and ‘facts as God’s native tongue’, we realize that of course if we want vibrant health - individually, relationally, and planetarily - nothing is more important than coming home to Reality and submitting to what God has been revealing for hundreds of years through the entire range of sciences. ‘God’s Word’ doesn’t get any more real than this! Ancient texts, no matter how inspiring, cannot hold a candle to the authority of measurable, undeniable facts. (And lest I be misunderstood, this is in no way a denigration of the written scriptures! See Part II: “Reality is Speaking” and Chapter 18: “Our Evolving Understanding of God’s Word” in my book, Thank God for Evolution! (TGFE!), which is available as a free pdf download here).

When we truly get that ‘Original Sin’ and ‘The Fall’ are traditional ways of pointing to our animal instincts (our unchosen nature or inherited proclivities), we realize that of course, if we want freedom from bondage, if we want heavenly joy, if we want peace that passes all understanding, of course we must choose (and keep choosing!), with the support of others, to grow in divine integrity (”in Christ”). It won’t happen naturally. We will instinctually serve older, baser drives – generally those relating to food, safety, sex, and feel-good states of consciousness. The path of Christ-like evolutionary integrity (humility, authenticity, responsibility, and service) really is our only way forward, individually and collectively. Repentance, salvation, and ‘the second coming of Christ’ don’t get any more real than this!

When we truly get that there is power in both message and music that moves body and soul, and that our gifts really are needed for the health of larger communities of which we are part, we realize that, of course we can fulfill our purpose and be a blessing to the future only by following where our joy and the world’s needs intersect. Praise God, never again will we be able to see worship apart from justice-making and pursuing the health of the body of life as a whole!

And, yes, when we truly get that freeing, transforming Good News craves to be shared, and that this ‘Gospel According to Evolution‘ is universal and based on what we know rather than what we merely believe, we realize that of course we can and must share this saving Good News as far and wide, and as effectively, as possible. Thank God for Evolution! is Connie’s and my best attempt to do just this. Only time will tell whether or not this effort is blessed by God.

NOTE: In Chapter 11 of TGFE!: “Evolutionary Integrity Practices”, I discuss my own understanding and ongoing experience of “speaking in tongues”, which many consider to be the defining characteristic of Pentecostalism.