Traveling "evangelical evolutionist" making pit stop preachings in D-FW
Pegasus News
By Chad Jones
Reverend Michael Dowd has been technically homeless for the past six years, roaming the fifty states in his Dodge Sprinter (named "Angel"), speaking to hundreds of congregations a year.
He's on a mission, he says, to proclaim the gospel. The "Gospel of Evolution," that is.
Accompanied by Connie Barlow, his acclaimed evolution writer spouse, Dowd espouses a theology that moves away from biblical literalism, views science as sacred, and proclaims the 13.7 billion year epic of evolution as "our common creation story."
This week, Dowd is in Dallas to give presentations and promote his new book, Thank God For Evolution! — a 400-page explication of his brand of Evolution Theology. Not that it needs much promotion, mind you; it's been touted by 5 Nobel Laureates, and it is offered free for download in its entirety (no joke) via his website.
Science should prevail at the Texas Education Agency
Austin American-Statesman
Michael Dowd's voice is a welcome addition to the evolutionary landscape. His movement, roughly encapsulated by its slogan "Thank God for Evolution", is a much needed perspective in contemporary American popular consciousness. But its necessity here and now belies the sad condition of our culture.
Ex-pastor feels called to promote evolution
Dallas Morning News
He says religion, science don't have to conflict; but he has critics
By SAM HODGES
Michael Dowd speaks in tongues, and when he's not doing that, he's talking almost nonstop about why Christians should embrace evolution.
As a Pentecostal-background pastor who finds salvation in accepting that the universe is 14 billion years old, and who believes our behavior can be accounted for by not only the apes but also the lizards in our ancestry, he's a popular oddity on the lecture circuit.
'Evolution Evangelist' Sees God In Science
The Morning News | Northwest Arkansas
Michael Dowd Follows 'Cosmic Bread Crumbs' To Divine
"Four billion years ago, the earth was molten rock. Now it sings opera." -- physicist Brian SwimmeAs a student at Evangel College in Missouri, the Rev. Michael Dowd walked out of his biology class, shocked that the textbook included the theory of evolution.The former United Church of Christ pastor once argued that the world was 6,000 years old at best. He now embraces a cosmology that spans nearly 14 billion years.The author of "Thank God for Evolution: How the Marriage of Science and Religion Will Transform Your Life" spoke at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Fayetteville on Wednesday. His wife, science writer Connie Barlow, led a sing-along presentation on evolution for children and families.The couple has spent the past six years on the road, speaking to a wide range of listeners in homes, churches and schools. Religious audiences have included Unitarian Universalists, evangelical Christians, Catholics, Buddhists and Jews.Dowd proclaims something he calls "evolution theology" -- the understanding that the 13.7 billion year history of the universe is the story of an "emergent moreness" he considers God.
Former creationist preaches gospel of evolution
Austin American-Statesman
Preacher travels country urging all to embrace science
By Eileen E. Flynn
The Rev. Michael Dowd gave up a permanent home to travel the country spreading his gospel in the hope of reconciling disparate beliefs. But the former pastor's gospel may shock many Christians.
Dowd preaches "evolution theology," a view that promotes evolutionary science and God as the ultimate reality.
In Dowd's mind, you can have Darwin and the divine.
Evolution, science and religion
BBC
There's a new evangelist on the road in the bible belt of America, but whereas Michael Dowd once believed in creationism he's now an evangelist for Darwin - and he's not abandoned his Christian faith. Indeed his new book is entitled "Thank God for Evolution" and in it he claims that the marriage of science and religion will transform your life and our world. When Roger spoke to Mr Dowd he put it to him there was a time when he believed evolution was "of the devil". What had happened?
> Listen to the BBC radio interview
'Thank God for Evolution'
The Express-Times
Author provides missing link in emotional debate over Darwin versus Intelligent Design by Tony Nauroth
The title of Michael Dowd's new book is intriguing, the kind that raises eyebrows and creates chatter in the pews before Sunday services.
The author says it's an emotional issue that tears people apart.
But "Thank God for Evolution," in its attempt to marry Darwinism and Design, seems to bring both sides together in a love feast of ideas, although Dowd admits extremists are unlikely to embrace it.
Former Evangelical Minister Has a New Message: Jesus Hearts Darwin
Wired
by Brandon Keim
The Rev. Michael Dowd is preaching a surprising message: Evolution is real and science points to the undeniably reality of God.
For the last five years, the author and former evangelical pastor has lived out of a van with his wife, crisscrossing the nation to deliver the good news.
His latest book, Thank God for Evolution!, drew endorsements from five Nobel laureates and dozens of religious leaders. With the battle between science and religion at a fever pitch, it couldn't come at a better time. Just last week Texas papers reported that a curriculum director had been fired in October for forwarding information about an evolution lecture to friends and colleagues.
Dowd wasn't always an evolution proselytizer. Presented with an evolution textbook on his first day of biology classes at Evangel University, he stormed out and told his roommate that Satan had a foothold in the Christian school. But after encountering the teachings of Catholic eco-theologian Thomas Berry, Dowd embraced what's known as evolutionary theology.
Wired News spoke with Dowd by phone about science, religion and his belief that "a holy understanding of evolution will usher the world's religions into their greatness in the 21st century."
Evolving toward a common ground
Carroll County Times
by Jordan Bartel
When Michael Dowd started college, he thought evolution was of the devil.So he was shocked when a biology professor at the Assemblies of God-affiliated Evangel University in Springfield, Mo., held up a textbook Dowd recognized as one teaching evolution. That day he proclaimed to his roommate, "Satan obviously has a foothold in this school."Fast-forward nearly three decades and Dowd, who just turned 49, is one of the leading proponents of the marriage of science and religion, a so-called - and at first thought oxymoronic - evolutionary evangelist. To Dowd, science is no longer the enemy."I've come to understand that science is a sacred endeavor," he said. "Science is revelatory."Dowd's latest book is titled "Thank God for Evolution!" The exclamation point is apt, for Dowd is excited about accepting both religion and evolution into his life. The book has won acclaim from both the science and religious communities, earning raves from Nobel Prize winners and prominent ministers.
Preaching the Gospel of Evolution
WIE Unbound
When we heard that evolutionary theologian Michael Dowd’s new book, Thank God for Evolution, has been garnering praise from everyone from Nobel laureates to U.S. senators, we wanted to catch up with him to speak about his recent work.
