News

The Marriage of Science and Religion

Interview with D.J. Grothe

In this conversation with D.J. Grothe, Michael Dowd reveals how his kind of Christianity is different from most others who would call themselves Christian, and argues that all religions are evolving in the direction of naturalism. He argues that evolution must be mythologized in order to save our species.

Thank God for Evolution

Radio interview with D.J. Grothe

In this interview with D.J. Grothe, Michael Dowd discusses his new book Thank God for Evolution, which is a religious defense of the central organizing theory of modern biology. He reveals the agenda of the book, and the reception it has received from both the scientific and the religious communities.

The Gospel of Evolution

By Leslie Palma-Simoncek

Ever heard of Evolution Theology? Me neither, but the Rev. Michael Dowd, an ordained minister, and his wife, Connie Barlow, a science writer, travel around the country teaching their "Gospel of Evolution." They will be in Manhattan Tuesday at 7 p.m. at All Souls Church, 1157 Lexington Ave. at 80th Street. I can't go, but if anyone out there does, please let me know what they said.

Thank God for evolution? Yes, says national speaker

By Brandon Shulleeta

Evolution and the Bible don’t contradict each other. To have Jesus, Mary “most likely” had sex. And Charles Darwin is worthy of sainthood.

Those are statements the Rev. Michael Dowd, who spoke at Unity Church on Hydraulic Road on Sunday, made in a national tour to convince Christians that both God and evolution are real.

Holy Evolution

By Renee K. Gadoua

The Rev. Michael Dowd's Dodge Sprinter van bears an image of kissing fish. The fish, labeled "Darwin" and "Jesus," reflect his belief that evolution is sacred and that science and religion go hand in hand.

"I'm not into reconciling science and religion," said Dowd, 49, a former believer in creationism. "If evolution doesn't wholly jazz someone religiously, they should continue to reject evolution."

Evolution evangelist to speak at Church of River

By Lindsay Melvin

Believers on both sides of the evolution-creation debate have been slugging it out for more than a century.

But Rev. Michael Dowd is trying to make peace between science and faith by spreading the message that embracing evolution will bring people closer to spiritual fulfillment.

He is the author of "Thank God for Evolution: How the Marriage of Science and Religion Will Transform Your Life and our World."

Crisscrossing the country, he has been doing what he calls "evolutionary evangelism."

Evolutianity

By Michelle Mathews

It's surprising that Christianity didn't embrace the idea of evolution decades ago. Though they claim God is immutable, the church has had to constantly revamp its beliefs--evolve, that is--to remain in mainstream society. No, church, women are not the witch-vessels of Satan. No, the sun doesn't revolve around the Earth. Yes, it's wrong to keep slaves. Despite engaging in the evolution of theology, many Christians still won't embrace Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. (Maybe they just can't comprehend the argument; as the Bible says, "Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards.") On the other hand, Michael Dowd, the author of THANK GOD FOR EVOLUTION, thinks Darwin's theory can bring Christians closer to "spiritual fulfillment." Is this just another twist on intelligent design, or can Dowd's ideas really reconcile science and religion? Find out for yourself when he speaks at Unity Church of Dallas, 6525 Forest Lane, 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday. Admission is free, but a "love offering" will be collected.

They hold evolution sacred

On Sunday, couple brings message to area that marries religion to science.

by John P. Cleary

Evolution isn't quite the controversial topic the media makes it out to be, says the Rev. Michael Dowd.

The media like to focus on extremes, says Dowd, an ordained minister and former Pentecostal pastor. There is a group, he says, between the creationist and intelligent design groups who think Charles Darwin's "Origin of the Species" is the work of the devil and the outspoken atheists who hold all religion in scorn. They are the millions of ordinary people, a vast majority who see no conflict between the scientific concepts of evolution and their faith, Dowd says.

Dowd is the author of "Thank God for Evolution," published in June, which explores what he calls evolution theology, the spectrum of ideas between the two absolute positions. He'll give a talk on the topic Sunday at the First Baptist Church in Painted Post.

"What my book attempts to do is give voice to the millions of people in the middle," he says. "I tell them that science and religion can be mutually enriching, mutually enhancing, and can, in many ways, spur each other to greatness."

Evolutionary Evangelist

by Claire Hoffman

I was just about to toss my New York Times Magazine this morning when this article on Darwinists for Jesus fell open. It's about evolutionary evangelist Michael Dowd who, with his wife, has been traveling the nation and preaching on the sacredness of evolution. I love stories like this, that show the ways that religious thinking can adapt and synthesize to totally modern theories.

Yudhijit Bhattacharjee writes in the Times article that "For the last six years, he has traveled across North America with his wife, Connie Barlow, in a van that displays an image of two fish kissing each other — one labeled Jesus, the other Darwin — explaining to conservative and liberal congregations why understanding and accepting evolution will bring them closer to spiritual fulfillment. The religious advantage to embracing the evolutionary worldview, Dowd says, is that it explains our frailties, our addictions, our infidelities and other moral deficiencies as byproducts of adaptation over billions of years. And that, he says, has a potentially liberating effect: never mind guilt; once we understand our sinful ways, we can get past them and play a conscious role in the evolution of humanity."

A genre bender

By William Grassie

Michael Dowd, Thank God for Evolution!: How the Marriage of Science and Religion Will Transform Your Life and Our World. San Francisco: Council Oak Books, 2007. 432 pages, $24.95.

Japanese Buddhists use the term “the stench of Enlightenment,” or so I have been told, to describe someone who has newly achieved satori. The newly initiated or born-again religious believer is often just too much to take, hence “the stench”! With time and maturity, the Zen masters reassure us, the over enthusiasm of the newly enlightened will wear off a bit, and a more mature spirituality will ensue.