Podcasts about evolutionary christianity

Prominent eco-theologian and “post-gloom collapsologist” Michael Dowd shines the light of evolutionary and ecological wisdom on this time of plagues, fires, floods, corruption, and collapse. He and Terry explore the psychological and relational journey into accepting our sobering predicament, living with accountability to the future, and even discovering lightheartedness amidst their heartbreak. They also consider how to balance certainty with epistemic humility (knowing we don’t know) in a way that keeps us realistic while still open to emergent possibilities. Ultimately, they each share their commitment to live at a depth that is never post-grief or post-gratitude — positively alive to the agony and the ecstasy of our moment in evolutionary time. Michael Dowd is a teacher, speaker, and bestselling author, whose book, Thank God for Evolution, was endorsed by many Nobel Laureates, science luminaries, skeptics, and religious leaders across the spectrum. He is also a prominent speaker and teacher, having delivered programs for TEDx, the United Nations, and Caltech, as well as three acclaimed online conversation series: “The Advent of Evolutionary Christianity” (2011), “The Future Is Calling Us to Greatness” (2015) and his current project, “Post-doom: Regenerative Conversations Exploring Overshoot Grief, Grounding, and Gratitude” (2020).  Here are some of the questions he and Terry explore in the episode: Which evolutionary, historical and, ecological patterns can help us understand our civilizational challenges? How might we ground ourselves in appropriate certainty of what we know about our predicament — and live with a sense of possibility that inspires us to be of benefit? How can we live with our individual and collective mortality as a close advisor?  How can embracing some gallows humor release us into gratitude for this very moment of life and breath? Why have “post-doom” conversations like this? Can they give us belonging and healing? Can they even prepare us to hold others amidst our looming mass mental health crisis?  How might we use the “denser energies” of societal disruption to serve gentler transitions (“softer landings”) into sustainable relationships to the body of life? For more information on Michael Dowd and Terry Patten, check out the following resources: PostDoom.com – Michael Dowd’s Work Michael’s book, Thank God for Evolution MichaelDowd.org TheGreatStory.org Writings of Connie Barlow (Michael’s wife) State of Emergence Podcast Website A New Republic of the Heart website Terry Patten's personal website   We hope you appreciate this week’s episode with Michael Dowd on State of Emergence. If you believe these conversations are important and want to support them, please join us as a monthly contributor and become part of our community of listeners. Thank you so much.

Reverend Michael Dowd is a Christian minister, author, and eco-theologian.  He is known as a bridge builder, making connections between liberals and conservatives, religious and non-religious people, science and religion, and showing how a sacred view of Big History, human nature, and death can inspire each of us to live with greater joy, integrity, purpose, and passion.  The heart his current "post-doom" work about living in the age of dying is summed up in his two-part video series, Collapse and Adaptation Primer. According to Rev. Dowd, "These two videos are a 'crash course' in post-doom and deeply adaptive thinking and living. They contain a distillation of humanity’s best and most up-to-date collective intelligence regarding Earth system science, ecology, abrupt climate change, environmental history, and collapsology .... Special attention is given to how we can support each other in staying sane, sober, and inspired in chaotic and challenging times." Core to his way of seeing, Rev. Dowd approaches nature from a sense of gratitude, sacredness, and understanding that he is here to be in service to all life and all creation.  Through his work, he has come to deeper understanding of the predicament of modern human civilization, and engages in efforts to give voice to this context, along with his perspectives on a “Christian response”, grounded in compassion and goodwill.  He supports audiences in transcending belief systems in a way that deepens connection to the core of their faith. Rather than seeing religion and science as antithetical to each other, Reverend Dowd’s work brings the two together.  He believes we are in the midst of an “evidential reformation”, with people increasingly open to religious interpretations based on new scientific, historical, and cross-cultural evidence.  For Reverend Dowd, this includes a belief that “Big History is the new Genesis” – that ecology is the new theology. Reverend Dowd believes in the sanctity of Big History -- “the 14 billion year science-based sacred story of cosmic genesis, from the formation of the galaxies and the origin of Earth life, to the development of self-reflective consciousness and collective learning, to the emergence of comprehensive compassion and tools to assist humanity in living harmoniously with the larger body of life.”  His work seeks to bridge the "how to live" questions with deep acceptance of reality and big history. This marriage of science and religion forms a thread throughout Dowd’s life and work.  Raised a Roman Catholic, Reverend Dowd had a “born-again” experience at the age of 20 and began attending an Assemblies of God church, eventually earning a Master of Divinity degree from Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary (now Palmer Seminary) and serving as a United Church of Christ minister.  In 1995, Reverend Dowd became the Religious Organizer for the National Environmental Trust, working with religious leaders from a variety of faiths on social and environmental issues, eventually presenting policy ideas to Congress.  Reverend Dowd has also worked with The Portland Sustainable Lifestyle Campaign, and with Global Action Plan’s (now The Empowerment Institute) EcoTeam and Livable Neighborhood programs. His work has been featured in The New York Times, LA Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Newsweek, Discover, and on television throughout the U. S. and Canada. His book, Thank God for Evolution, was endorsed by 6 Nobel Prize-winning scientists, noted skeptics, and religious leaders across the spectrum. Reverend Dowd and his wife, science writer, evolutionary educator, and climate activist Connie Barlow, have spoken to some 3,000 groups throughout North America since April 2002. Reverend Dowd has delivered two TEDx talks and a program at the United Nations, and conducted three acclaimed online conversation series: “The Advent of Evolutionary Christianity” (2011), “The Future Is Calling Us to Greatness” (2015) and “Post-doom: Regenerative conversations exploring overshoot grief, grounding, and gratitude” (2020). Regardless of the format, Reverend Dowd's work provides audiences with applications of evolutionary and ecological wisdom that break through the confusions of these rapidly shifting times. This conversation will focus on the topics related to his most recent “post-doom” work conversation series.  What is overshoot, and how does it connect to a Christian minister?  What does a “post-doom” context have to do with a service-oriented life?  How can traditional religious institutions (and their community members) gracefully integrate an ecological worldview?  How can one become resilient in a way that is aligned with evolution, ecology, and perennial wisdom teachings?  Join us, along with your volunteer hosts Kozo Hattori and Birju Pandya, in conversation with this deep thinker anchored in faith, history, and science.

There’s something heart-gripping about flinging open the door to the things that scare you. Evolutionary Christianity says, “Bring it! Bring your best science. Bring your best scholarship. Bring your best heart on the journey, and let’s see what we find!” 

The message was delivered on Sunday, May 27, 2018, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Rev. Michael Dowd, Guest Speaker. MESSAGE DESCRIPTION A deep-time big picture is vital for staying sane and sober in confusing and contracting times. Such an evidence-based “sacred realism” can help us accept what is inevitable, avoid what is futile, and be a blessing to friends, family, and neighbors in a difficult and uncertain world. This sermon by renowned eco-theologian and TEDx speaker, Michael Dowd, bridges the gap between head and heart and celebrates the convergence of science, inspiration, and sustainability.  *Rev. Michael Dowd is a bestselling eco-theologian and pro-science, pro-future ‘evangelist’ whose work has been featured in The New York Times, LA Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Newsweek, Discover, and on television nationally. His book, Thank God for Evolution, was endorsed by 6 Nobel Prize-winning scientists, noted skeptics, and by religious leaders across the spectrum. Michael has delivered two TEDx talks and a program at the United Nations. He and his wife, science writer and climate activist, Connie Barlow, have spoken to some 2,500 groups across North America since 2002, including nearly 500 UU churches. Rev. Dowd has also conducted two acclaimed online conversation series: “Evolutionary Christianity” (http://thegreatstory.org/ec-participants.html) and “The Future Is Calling Us to Greatness" (https://www.tree-of-life.works/greatness). SUBSCRIBE TO AUDIO PODCAST: WATCH THIS MESSAGE ON YOUTUBE: SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL: GIVE A DONATION TO HELP US SPREAD THIS LOVE BEYOND BELIEF: or text LOVEBB to 73256 LET'S CONNECT: Facebook: Twitter: All Souls Church Website:  

John Haught is a leading Roman Catholic evolutionary theologian and Senior Fellow in Science and Religion at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University. His passion is systematic theology informed by science, cosmology, ecology, and evolution. He’s the author of Making Sense of Evolution; Christianity and Science: Toward a Theology of Nature; and a dozen other important books in the field. Professor Haught has inspired an entire generation of Christian leaders who fully embrace a deep-time, deeply ecological worldview. This conversation, sparked by two of Dowd's Huffington Post blog entries, "New Theists: Knowers, Not Believers" and "God: Personification ≠ Person," clarifies why more than one approach to Evolutionary Christianity is both legitimate and important. Here, John and Michael discuss naturalism, supernaturalism, and what John calls "a third way" between the two, inspired by the work of renowned 20th century theologian Paul Tillich. Theme song "Holy Now" courtesy of Peter Mayer.

Michael Dowd is interviewed for Blog Talk Radio by Richard Brendan. Widely ranging topics from Michael's book, Thank God for Evolution, are the focus of this 50-minute program, including the evolutionary value of religions, how all religions necessarily are evolving, the "evidential wisdom" of science (science as humanity's "global collective intelligence"), science as "public revelation," and the distinction between "practical truth" (carried forward by all long-standing religions) and "factual truth" (the unique contribution of science). Two links are provided here to projects Michael refers to: (1) "Evolutionary Spirituality: Coming Home to Reality" and (2) the 38-audio-interview series "Evolutionary Christianity".

Hosted by Michael Dowd, these conversations with leading Christian theologians, clergy, and scientists were recorded during the Christian season of Advent in 2010. Ten of the 38 hour-long episodes have been excerpted here for an hour-long podcast. Speakers are: Denis Lamoureux, Joan Chittister, Bruce Sanguin, Kenneth Miller, Gail Worcelo, Ross Hostetter, Brian McLaren, Philip Clayton, Gretta Vosper, and John Shelby Spong. The entire series can be accessed at EvolutionaryChristianity.com. Subsets of the series (an Evangelical subset and a Catholic subset) will be sampled in the following two podcasts.

In this episode guest Bruce Sanguin discusses his book, The Emerging Church: A Model for Change and a Map for Renewal, as an important practical guide for both ministers and spiritual seekers who are desiring to shift their culture toward a progressive form of Christianity. The book is peppered with insights from leading-edge science, including the science of emergence, chaos theory, quantum physics, field theory, spiral dynamics and evolutionary science. Tune in for a vision of Evolutionary Christianity and what is emerging.

Was Jesus the one and only son of God or was he simply one of history's many significant spiritual leaders? Was he a miracle worker who walked on water and rose from the dead, or are these stories about his life simply metaphors imbued with timeless spiritual and moral truths? In this interview, my guest Bruce Sanguin, a leader in the Evolutionary Christianity movement, joins Rev. Kelly Isola to talk about how he's applying cutting-edge models of human development to explain why Jesus means so many different things to so many different people.

EICC Fellow and Associate Professor of English at Tyndale University College, Dr. Scott Masson, debates Gretta Vosper on the topic of "A Christianity without Christ," on the John Oakley Show AM 640.

EICC Fellow and Associate Professor of English at Tyndale University College, Dr. Scott Masson, debates Gretta Vosper on the topic of "A Christianity without Christ," on the John Oakley Show AM 640.

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