Preacher, science writer teach on faith, evolution
Johnson City Press
by S.J. Dahlman
“Nothing matters more at this time in history than what people think about evolution.”
We might expect that kind of universal claim to come from a passionate evangelist, and in a way that’s correct. Except that this preacher, Michael Dowd, says evolution is the good news.
Dowd, ordained in the United Church of Christ, and his wife of seven years, science writer Connie Barlow, travel the country full-time, preaching and teaching a surprising message: Rather than threaten or undermine faith, evolution can sustain, inform and even motivate religious belief.
“Both of us have this passion of telling the story of evolution in an inspiring way,” Dowd explained in a phone conversation this week. “We share the same purpose of communicating a science-based vision of the universe in a religious way.”
Devolution in Education
Forth Worth Weekly
The fight is on over teaching “intelligent design” in Texas schools.
By Laurie Barker James
Regularly updating the subject matter taught in public schools would seem such a basic good idea as to be a no-brainer — and noncontroversial. Who would want their kids learning from history textbooks, for example, that end with the Soviet Union still intact or literature classes that cover only the works of dead white guys from Europe who wrote with lots of where-art-thou’s?
The Texas Education Agency reviews each subject matter area, from kindergarten through high school, once a decade. A committee of teachers spends months studying the curriculum, recommending what new material should be added and outmoded information eliminated. Then the proposal goes to the 15-member elected State Board of Education for review, and the public gets to comment.
"America's evolutionary evangelists" are coming to Elizabethton
Elizabethton Star
By Greg Miller
First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton and Holston Valley Unitarian Universalist Church of Gray are teaming up to host the Rev. Michael Dowd and his wife, science writer Connie Barlow, Sept. 7-9.
Dowd is the author of "Thank God for Evolution."
Shuck says he has read Dowd's book, which is also being used as a tool for the Thursday morning study group at First Presbyterian.
Shuck says he was "always intrigued" by the fact that Dowd was a minister and that he actually wrote and spoke against evolution...He kind of had a change of heart, and now he is a traveling evolutionary evangelist."
Book Review by Jack L. Kennedy
Prairie Fire: The Progressive Voie of the Great Plains
Sometimes, you can tell a book by its cover. That is evident from the moment you spy the dust jacket for “Thank God for Evolution,” with the subtitle “How the marriage of science and religion will transform your life and our world.”
The Rev. Michael Dowd, a veteran Church of Christ minister, and his wife believe so deeply that science and religion can not only coexist but can—should—feed on each other that they spend much of their time in travel, trying to convince others that it is not “really necessary to choose between science and religion.” “What if they were simply two sides of the same coin? Could it be that our personal well-being and even the future of humanity hinge on their reunion?” they ask.
The Marriage of Science and Religion
Point of Inquiry with D.J. Grothe
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
Point of Inquiry with D.J. Grothe
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
Staten Island Advance
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
Charlottesville Daily Progress
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
Winston-Salem Journal
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
Memphis Commercial-Appeal
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."
